Tanzania Day 7 -8

The past two days we've gone on long game drives in the Serengeti National Park.  Our morning game drives are the longest, starting yesterday at around 7 am and today at 5:45 AM.  The animals are more active and visible very early in the day and we have certainly had our most exciting viewing on those morning drives.   Yesterday morning we saw hippos going into the water and actually in it, a few lions off in the distance, and we spent a very, very long time watching a leopard who started out in a tree and then came down quickly and went after prey.  We saw it catch something and that it had it in its mouth but then the leopard disappeared in the grass for a very long time.   We left there and went for a stop at the local airport to pick up three of our group who had done a balloon safari and when we got back in our trucks we went back to the leopard tree where the leopard was eating his kill.  We waited a very long time for him to finish and climb back up into the tree.  We also saw wildebeest, zebras, and hyenas and thousands of gazelles and impalas.   We also saw a very small animal called a dik dik, which looks like a very tiny deer.    Yesterday afternoon we went in a completely different direction and saw a rhino off in the distance and then found an area where there was a pride of lions.  They were very far off across the grassy plain near some big rock outcropping and we could only see them as tiny little dots.  We saw elephants, giraffes, some hyenas with very young pups, a couple of grand gazelle males fighting for dominance, and hippos again.  

Today our morning drive was spectacular as we returned to where we had found the pride of lions yesterday and they were out and active this morning.  We watched them for almost three hours and followed them as they moved around. At one point they all moved over to an area where yesterday we had all gotten out of our Jeeps and stood up on the rock outcropping for a group photo.  TOday we saw the alpha male, his brother, at least 10 lionesses, and many many cubs.  It was fantastic, as the lions were right next to our vehicles, close enough to touch and we were able to watch a young male lion get put in his place by his father, we watched the alpha male lion following a female in heat, watched the lionesses and their cubs moving around, playing with one another, climbing on the rocks, coming over to our trucks to check us out.  It was absolutely fantastic to be so close to them and to watch them for so long.  This particular pride is quite large.  The guides all said this was an unusual viewing and we were really lucky to be able to see so many and to watch so much activity.  On our afternoon drive we saw a leopard, followed a cheetah across the plain in search of prey, saw lots of cape buffalo, giraffes, families of elephants, gazelles, impala and hyenas, wildebeest and zebras and on and on.  The Serengeti is just teeming with wildlife and everywhere you turn there is something to see.   The game drives do require patience,however.   There are times when we are just sitting in the truck looking out over the grassy expanse waiting for something to happen.  The guides are very skilled at scanning the horizon and seeing what's happening. They also understand the animal behavior so they know what the animals are likely to do and how best to position us to see them. 

This is our last night in the tented camp and I am more than ready to get back to more comfortable lodgings!  I've never been one for camping and I am completely ready to have running water, good plumbing, hot showers when I want them, electricity for a hair dryer, access to the internet etc.  Mind you, this has been fairly comfortable camping by camping standards, but for me, it's been a bit of a stretch.  I don't regret it because it is only by being in this camp literally in the very center of the Serengeti that we have been able to have the kinds of game drives we've enjoyed and they have been fantastic.  But I will be happy to get back to civilization tomorrow evening!