Dave Taylor's African Safari: Ngorongoro July 8: A Day in the Life of an African Eden - 08:05 Bush Buck

Ngorongoro July 8: A Day in the Life of an African Eden
08:05 Bush Buck
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The fog has lifted a bit and the forest has changed as I and my fellow travelers descend the narrow road to the crater's floor. Now that we are slightly lower in elevation, the trees have changed. They look a little like the Acacia tortillis or umbrella trees you see on the Serengeti plains. They, too, spread at the top and are thorny. Unlike their relatives though, these trees drip moss. They are Acacia lahai trees. I note that they are fairly evenly spaced with no tree growing under the canopy of another. Below them is a dense layer of underbrush. I don't recognize it but I know that there is stinging nettle someplace there and I have been warned by the guidebook not to touch it.

Acacia lahai trees grow on the exposed ridges and on the sides of canyons. It is here that the first animal of the day appears: a bush buck. Bush buck are related to the larger eland and bongo. Their back is slightly arched like most forest antelope. The arched back serves a purpose. It helps streamline the antelope so that it can make its way through the underbrush. Most plains antelope have straight backs.

The A. lahai forest soon gives way to a forest dominated by Croton trees. These have pale bark and open, leafy crowns. By now I am below the fog and can see the grassy expanse of the floor. Sunlight is already breaking through in places.

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