Suddenly, it leapt forward. More followed in a hail of splashing and noise. This river is not nearly as deep as the Mara in Kenya, and the banks not as steep, so the animals were quickly across and onto the other bank. In some places, they hardly got their hooves wet.
But the relative ease of the crossing didn’t diminish the noise, the drama, the heady sensation that the spectacle induced.
Everywhere, dark wildebeest poured across the stream. The air was filled with dust, splashing mud and the animals’ uproarious gnu-ing. We watched the scene, dumbstruck and strangely elated.
The crossing had become a frenzy. I trained my long lens on the bodies and keep pressing the trigger, bagging some amazing shots. Animals were leaping from a high bank, some of them landing on the backs of others in a melee of writhing bodies.
A lone wildebeest had broken a leg and was struggling through the shallows. An enormous crocodile cruised into view, ready to take advantage of the stricken animal. The sinuous shape was all power and menace. I held my breath. With a mighty swish of the tail, it grabbed the wildebeest by the head and dragged it away. There was a moment of thrashing mud, flailing hooves and spraying water: then it was over. The other animals kept crossing, hardly noticing their slaughtered kin.
And still the ’beest kept coursing across the Grumeti, an unending flood of vibrant, striving life. It was sublime, thrilling … a sight I’ll surely never forget.
From the river, Roger then drove us to the nearby grasslands where wildebeest were happily grazing, having made a successful crossing. They stretched to the horizon, a battalion of blue-black bodies. All those thousands of mouths were munching away at the long grass.
‘Over the next few months, these herds will make their way north back towards the Masai Mara in Kenya,’ he said. ‘It’s like a slow, beautiful tidal wave.’
By now, it was nearly lunch time. Where had the hours flown? We headed back to camp, our minds filled with images of flying wildebeest, of mud and blood and of high African drama.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ISTOCK
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