After leaving the Maasai village we continued our journey to the great Serengeti.
The Serengeti National Park is where "one of East Africa's greatest natural dramas plays out" ~ the great migration. Thousands and thousands of wildebeest travel in search of grasslands each year. "In this most superlative of East African parks, time seems to have stood still."
We continued to find interesting animals and birds ~
Kori Bustard ~ spend most of their time on the ground, with up to 70% of their time being on foot
the jackal ~
as we continued, the skies darkened
well, it is the "light rain season" and Lynn thought it could be interesting to experience rain on the savannah . . . we'll see
Kori Bustard ~ the male Kori Bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight
ostrich ~ these ancient birds escape predictors by running away at 50 mph or lying flat on the ground to resemble a pile of dirt
The roads we traveled were rough and rutted always being altered by the weather, and they allowed us to . . .
pass right through the middle of the animals!
Jackpot! A whole pride of lions ~ right next to the jeep!
They looked so soft and cuddly ~
. . . and the vulture ~ waiting
There's dad, taking a nap ~ only one male allowed
Ooh, that sun feels so good~
We drove along and found another male who had selected a female and separated from the group to start his own pride.
He was taking his afternoon bath.
I tried to include the rail on the jeep so you can see how very close we were.
Oooh boy ~ King of the savannah
When he stands, you see his power and strength, however it is the females that do most of the hunting because they are lighter and therefore faster.
We drove along and David spotted the cheetah ~ bonus ~ they are not often found and so close to the road.
Beautiful!
We circled back around to check on the lions and decided to stop here and have lunch among the lions! (Can this be real?)
Another good box lunch ~
I have to include all of these pictures because these animals are so beautiful up close and this whole experience is unreal.
As we drove along we noticed some rocks, but they were moving! They were not rocks but the "dung beetle". These beetles roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or brooding chamber.
We continued driving and the skis decided to open up ~ Lynn got her wish.
It was not good. It poured. The roads instantly turned to mud, the windshield fogged up and the roads disappeared. We don't know how David managed to keep going but remember, this is only the light rain season so it gets much worse by the end of March and he is a pro. It got quite exciting at times ~ just think of some of our snow and ice storms. We were doing donuts and sashaying across the savannah.
The road?
The windows ~ defrosters couldn't work fast enough so Dana kept wiping the windshield.
Hum ~ which way to go? We weren't lost but the question was ~ where is there enough traction to drive.
Some drivers have actually been known to get lost out in this area. Another driver followed David out and he kept checking to make sure he was still following.
And then that crack of blue in the sky ~ and it was over but we couldn't find the rainbow :(
It was a VERY eventful afternoon and now that we are out of it safely we can say it was interesting and exciting to experience.
These jeeps really take a beating
The rain actually washed off a lot of the mud. The black thing on the side is the engine air intake. Notice how high it is ~ so that when the jeep (engine)
Is under water it can still get air.
We continued our drive on our way to the lodge for the night.
We spotted our first hippo ~ soaking in the water
Finally we made it to the lodge ~
again we were greeted with warm wash cloths and fresh juice. Come to find out ~ this is the safari custom. After your long dusty day on the savannah, you are greeted to wash away the dust from your face and your throat.
These lodges are very different than Dana's safari in a tent so we didn't really know that to expect ~ we were pleasantly surprised. But even on her tent safari she was greeted with a warm wash cloth and juice.
Our lodge ~ we were in one of the lower units
Our room ~
Walkway to the bar and restaurant
Bar area ~ guess I never did get a picture of the restaurant but you get the idea. The food was delicious. Two nights were buffet that was great and one night a five course menu.
After dinner was music and entertainment in the bar area.
As you can see we have had long, fully packed days so it was off to bed.
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