One of the crew wakes me with a loud "good morning" as he delivers a pitcher of boiling water for washing. You mix it in your sink with one of the pitchers and have a nice warm sponge bath before breakfast. As usual, Joe and I are eating alone joined by Phanuel just before time to leave. Clint rolls in as usual 5 minutes before we leave and never in time to eat. Phanuel explains we are to pack a lunch from a table set out for us. I pack mine and Clint packs two for him and his father. We then pile into the land rover and head into the wild.
The first animal we see is a warthog. We declared it our lucky animal after Joe bought two carvings of them at the shack a couple of days back. It is a magical creature per the Harry Potter series (Hogwarts...ok I know its a stretch but we find it funny and just go with it) and we embrace the ugly creature as our own. I find it very odd how they run with their tails straight up in the air.
Our next animal encounter is a group of hippos. July is the dry season and this means the hippos get concentrated into small pools with lots of other hippos. The result is rather malodorous. As you can see in the photos below there is almost as much hippo dung as hippos in the pools. They did not seem to mind, but it put me off hippos a bit.
There was also a crocodile lazing in the sun near the hippos.
On the way out of the hippo pool, we saw a marabou stork and the elusive dikdik. Dikdiks are very tiny antelope and skittish little guys. He ran off once we stopped to take pictures. I did manage to get one decent shot.
You almost get used to passing giraffe grazing in the trees regularly. Oh and there's another herd of zebra or cape buffalo meandering along side the road. The impala are numerous in the park. The curve of the horns and sleek brown body give the male impala a majestic look. I am beginning to like them better than the little tommies.
We come across two giraffe right along the road. They are so big up close. They must be close to 20 feet tall. the elegant walk of the giraffe is amazing. Its lope is unique and quite lovely to watch.
We also encounter more herds of elephant wandering and munching on grass very close to the road. These creatures too are so large but are very quiet when they walk. The elephant population in the Serengeti seems to be healthy based on the size and number of herds we saw. I am glad to know the anti poaching enforcement is working. Tanzania is such a wondrous place, it should be preserved for future generations.
As the day progresses we see our second leopard. It is rare to see them so we feel lucky and stake out a good viewing spot. We watch it sleep for a while and occasionally lift its head and reposition. Just as we are ready to leave, Phanuel says, "she is about to move to a higher branch". How he knew this we don't know, but the patience paid off as we got some great shots of her moving up to a higher branch.
We drive for a bit then encounter a pair of lions, one male and one female. Phanuel says they are on their honeymoon. We observe them for a while then leave them in peace to mate every 15 minutes like clockwork. Phanuel says this will go on for days.
We come across two cheetahs near a river. They are not hunting but are running around playing. They eventually fade into the tall grass and are gone.
We stop under a shade tree to eat our lunch. Since there are not many restrooms in the African savanna, when you need to go, you just stop on the side of the road. This practice does not bother most men. However, in the back of your mind you remember how well the lions blend in with the color of the grass and how stealthy they are. You keep a keen eye out as you go quickly then hop back in the truck to safety. As we continue our drive we encounter a new species of antelope called a tora or topa (sorry I can't remember). We see numerous species of bird near the water sources. There are big red and black lizards near the copes but no big game.
We see a few tiny steelbuck antelope. They ignore us unlike the dikdiks of similar size.
We encounter more tommies along the road. The Thomson gazelle seems to be doing well. Then we see there is a lioness stalking a herd of tommies. This is our first chance to see a hunt. See comes along side the truck so close you could touch her. She patiently worked her way to the downwind side of the herd. She crouches and stalks up to about 100 feet. The tommies are in the tall grass and that gives the lioness cover to get close. The all of a sudden, one of the does spots her and takes off. She lunges but is too late the antelope are fast and she will stay hungry until next time. It was exciting to watch.
We see some hippos out of the water sunning themselves. There is also a pair of young ones play fighting in the pool. They were far away but I managed to get an ok picture of the mock joust.
We are all tired and start head back to camp in the early afternoon. We still enjoy herds of elephant, zebra and gazelle and we make our way home. We encounter a troop of baboons close to camp and get some decent shots of them. My favorite has a warthog running past two baboons with that tail straight up! It seems fitting to start and end the game drive with the lucky magical warthog.
We enjoy our last night in the Serengeti with a beautiful sunset and drinks by the campfire. A new family from LA arrive in the camp but keep pretty much to themselves. We have a nice dinner then head off to bed for the last time here. We are all very aware of the short amount of time remaining in this peaceful and beautiful landscape.
These photos are amazing!!!
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