So I woke up to the sound of warthogs grunting around, to find out apparently I know nothing of animal sounds. I told Eric that the animals don’t sound like they are supposed to. Zebra bark like dogs, hyena cackle, hyrax sound like birds, and impalas sounds like pigs. It was impala that were grunting waking me up this morning.
The hunt
Today was about the hunt, upon departing this morning we saw a leopard stalking some gazelle and set upon to watch how things would transpire. Unfortunately, some hyena came upon the scene and thwarted the hunt. You would think that they would chill let the leopard do its thing and enjoy the scraps, but no there is more of a territory war with leopards and hyenas and hyenas do hunt themselves and don’t like the competition. We thought we had a moment where the leopard would scramble up the tree to catch some action but he slinked off into the shadows and continued on ground to keep the hunt going. We did lose him after some point in time but kept in the area to see if we could pick up once the action started again.
Once you see a few vehicles parked more will come out and hang out with you. Once safari truck pulled up and a lady asked ooh, what are we looking for. The guide who hadn’t checked with anyone else at the time said cheetah. Now that the group in the vehicle seemed to know what to look for all of a sudden one lady exclaimed I found him and gestured over to this tree. Knowing that we are not looking for cheetah and they wouldn’t be this close to where a leopard is I was curious to see what she was looking at. While I peered to where she pointed to, she continued to say oh he’s just sleeping. I’m really good at spotting the animals, I watch National Geographic. I couldn’t help but laugh as what she was looking at as a sleeping cheetah was just a pile of dirt at the base of a tree with some grass tufts. I was disappointed that their guide didn’t check what they were looking at and correct them, let alone talk to the other guides to find out we were looking at a leopard not for cheetah.
Heading off we were soon upon that large pride of lions we found the other day who had all the cubs, two of the lionesses were off on the hunt. A few of the other lionesses were on a hill mound with the cubs to keep them at bay to not disturb the hunt. There was quite a few gazelle and zebra who were wandering down to the stream for water and the lionesses were waiting. One took off quick but was unsuccessful, at this time the animals were on alert so it wasn’t going to happen even though she tried once more. She must have been extra hungry to try again even after the herds were aware.
Next thing on the agenda was to get some good shots of a male lion. So we went off to the kopjes to find the big cat. Driving around one grouping of rocks, to the next, to the next. Nothing. Another loo with a view moment was necessary before we started the long, long journey back. One final turn and we found him. Well we found him and an unhappy lioness glaring at him in the background. A lioness had captured a few gazelles but the pride’s pecking order is that the male lions eat first, then the lionesses and then the cubs. While she was hungry I guess it was his time to eat and he was going to town so happy with his little meal. Once we got the shots we were off head off to Ngorongoro and say goodbye to the Serengeti.
So long Serengeti
Back at the park gates we stopped to do the reentrance process to Ngorongoro and took a break to use the facilities and grab lunch. Getting out the vehicle I slipped off the step and good luck me my top popped open (this is why I don’t like wearing tops with buttons – this seems to happen to me more often than I would think).
What can I say, I loved the Serengeti. There were times when you actually just were in awe and recognized that this is why this is a bucket list trip while realizing this is one of the best moments in your life while in that moment. A lot of times usually that is something you look back on afterwards and recognize but this was one trip and time where it was while you were actually in that moment you were able to appreciate it. Asanti Sana Serengeti! I will hopefully one day be back to see you once again.