AFT Blog
The Fluid Mechanics of an African Safari
Last week I got back after three weeks in East Africa – my first international travel since the COVID-19 pandemic started. I had some out-of-the-ordinary encounters with fluid flow. So, I decided this month to depart from my usual tech-centric format and have some fun. Here are some brief topics I will discuss and a few photos I took…
- Open Channel Flow – The Great Migration of wildebeest across the Mara River
- Buoyancy Effects – A hot air balloon trip over the Serengeti
- High Speed Propulsion – A cheetah catches a Thomson gazelle
- Cooling Water Spray Systems – Elephants and zebras cooling off in a watering hole
- Mass Transfer – Newborn lion cubs being transported by their lioness mother
- Geothermal Engineering – A gorilla family near some volcanoes
Open Channel Flow – The Great Migration of wildebeest across the Mara River
Location – Tanzania, north Serengeti National Park
We saw five wildebeest crossings. We saw crocodiles. But we did not see crocodiles catch any poor wildebeest. The Great Migration happens in July-September when over a million wildebeest cross the Mara River in search of better grazing areas.
Buoyancy Effects – A hot air balloon trip over the Serengeti
Location – Tanzania, north Serengeti National Park
We took an incredible one-hour hot air balloon trip at dawn over the Serengeti.
High Speed Propulsion – A cheetah catches a Thomson gazelle
Location – Tanzania, eastern plains of Serengeti National Park
We came across this cheetah just after she had successfully hunted a Thomson gazelle. The gazelle was still intact. We watched her for 90 minutes until she had eaten enough – at which point she just walked away. Then the scavengers showed up (vultures and hyena) which we watched for another 90 minutes. At the end of the 3 hours the only thing remaining of the "tommy" was a skull and horns. The hyenas ate all the bones.
Cooling Water Spray Systems – Elephants and zebras cooling off in a watering hole
Location – Tanzania, Tarangire National Park
Mass Transfer – Newborn lion cubs being transported by their lioness mother
Location – Tanzania, eastern plains of Serengeti National Park
Geothermal Engineering – A gorilla family near some volcanoes
Location – Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park (first national park in all of Africa)
Good thing we chose the "short hike" to see the gorillas as it ended up being 6 miles (10 km) through a jungle in the rain forest with a vertical rise of about 800 ft (250 m)!
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