Another Amazing Day Filled with Surprises

Our second day in the Serengeti started at 8:30. Richard was waiting for a game drive. When we were out for about 20 minutes we were surrounded by what looked like several thousand zebra. Richard said that they were also migrating. At one point they were going around both ends of our car.

We were still on the hunt for leopards and male lions. Pretty soon we found the male lions again.

We also saw the remains of a hunt. Richard thought that the wildebeest had been taken down by a hyena, who we saw in the area. By the time we saw the kill, it was being scavenged by vultures. Gory to see, but part of the life here in the wild.

We followed an elephant for a while and then came upon a group of 9 female lions resting under a tree. They were all asleep and moved into humorous positions. We saw one very interesting tree, called the candlestick tree.

We returned to the hotel around noon for lunch, exercise and resting. While having lunch a herd of elephants, around 20, came to the water hole just outside the pool area. There were several babies in the group. They came to drink and toss water onto their backs. They were fun to watch up close.

At 4, Richard picked us up and promised a big surprise. Bob had asked him to find a herd of elephants in the wild. He said he would try and not 20 minutes from the hotel there they were. There were at least 25 elephants, to include a baby that Richard thought was about 2 weeks old. We watched them for some time and saw that as the herd got closer there were 2 other elephants that joined the mom and baby. The 3 large elephants formed a triangle with the baby inside. They did this to cross the road in front of our parked vehicle. We were all astounded by this behavior.

We then continued on to our surprise. We saw some beautiful giraffes along the way.

And then we got to our surprise. It was a huge pond filled with hippos. They were grunting and splashing. We really enjoyed seeing them and watching their behaviors. There were also crocodiles in this pond. In addition, Richard had set up a “sundowner” for us – drinks and snacks. All in all an amazing day.

We have an early night tonight, our safari tomorrow starts at 6:30 AM and we are going to the central Serengeti area to hopefully find leopards and cheetahs. Stay tuned!