Serengeti

After breakfast we headed out for our morning game drive in Serengeti National Park.  The first thing we saw was a hyena that was half-caked in mud, as well as some warthogs (including babies).  There were also small monkeys, a heron, and guinea fowl.  We found a large amount of hippos in a large watering hole and then spotted our first crocodile of the trip- and he was massive!

The main animals of the morning were zebras- there were hundreds of them on the grasslands.  They were being stalked by lions (we saw two crouched in the grass) and we could hear the zebras putting out some sort of warning call to each other.  One wasn't so lucky though as we came across a massive lion next to a freshly killed zebra by the side of the road.  He was just lying there next to it and not really moving.  At a watering hole later on some of the zebras were trying to build up the courage to drink some water, but they kept getting spooked and would stampede back across the road.

 

We saw a few herds of elephants as well as impala.  The biggest find though was a couple leopards in two different trees.  The first one we came across was easier to see, although it took some time for it to move from its lazy perch and show its head.  The second one was hidden in a tree that also had monkeys jumping around, which our driver Peter said was a rare sight.

We drove back to the Seronera Wildlife Lodge for lunch and a bit of down time.  We spotted this pink and purple agama lizard on the rocks by the restaurant and also had a wander to the pool and observation area before the thunder and rain started.

Our afternoon game drive happened with on and off rain showers, which helped keep down the dust so that was a bonus.  We came upon two elephants by the side of the road that were so close to our van and spent some time watching them.  At one point they both were resting their trunks on their tusks before they walked away.  Next we saw a hippo that was standing outside of the water- a rare sight!  Something spooked him and he ran off fairly quickly for an animal that size.

We also came upon a cheetah that was eating its kill, but it was far away and hidden in the brush.  Then we managed to find two lionesses and their four cubs playing around, with one bouncing up to its mother and jumping on her face.  They were very cute, but far enough in the distance that you had to use binoculars to see them.  Our other lion spotting of the afternoon was a male and female who were mating several times.  As it was getting dark we headed back to the lodge and came across a group of giraffes near the entrance.  It was a pretty amazing day for seeing lots of different animals.  Tomorrow we are doing a dawn drive so it will be a very early morning!