Once we got on the road, we quickly came upon several large buffalo grazing their breakfast. Soon after that, we hit the highlight of our safari. Our guide took us over to a rocky hill upon which we spotted what looked at first like one female lion. Soon, we saw she was joined by another lioness, and then, one by one, three lion cubs popped out of the den. The noises these little creatures made were unbearably cute and we could not get enough of them. Two of the cubs were two weeks old and the other was just over a month old.
We weren’t done getting our fill of lions, though, as just minutes later we came across an impressive roadblock that refused, understandably, to yield.
We weren’t done getting our fill of lions, though, as just minutes later we came across an impressive roadblock that refused, understandably, to yield.
Yes. He’s sitting right in the middle of the road. Yes. We drove around him. This may have been the first time we felt truly frightened, since as you can see, our presence did not go unnoticed.
We then headed further into the center of Serengeti and found a pond chock full of hippos, grunting as they tried to use one another as pool toys.
Then, just before lunch, we drove past a remarkable lioness who had enjoyed a successful hunt and earned a snooze in an unexpected spot.
Luckily, she didn’t jump out on our Land Cruiser (although, she was certainly close enough to do so). Candidly, the guides had no idea how she climbed up there since the tree had no branches lower than the one she was sleeping on. Oh well - a fun mystery to stumble upon. Also note that this was the second time we felt truly frightened on safari.
Finally, after lunch we saw a few more of Simon’s favorite - elephants - before exiting the park and heading for the Ngorongoro Crater and our lodge for the night.
Unfortunately, soon after leaving the park gates, the notoriously rough Serengeti roads gave us some car trouble, but George at Kilimanjaro Brothers made sure that our safari could go on as planned, so we went to sleep at the Rhino Lodge prepared for our final day.
This morning we woke up at our lodge on the walls of the crater, had a quick breakfast, and then began our descent in our new Land Cruiser. The crater is a natural enclosure for a wide array of wildlife and we were lucky to get close views of several new animals, including jackals, water oxen, and crown cranes. We also saw many, many more warthogs, hyenas, lions, wildebeest, hippos, buffalo, zebras, and elephants.
Alas, the leopard eluded us, but we will have to catch up with her during a hopeful return visit!
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