Serengeti

The Serengeti, meaning “endless plains” in Maasai language, truly lives up to its name. Everywhere you look, the land just continues far beyond what the eye can see. Finding the animals took a little more effort than what we were used to so far, which also made it more exciting. We’d so far seen three of the big 5, or four if we believe Mia and her rhino 😝. While rhinos are rarely seen here, there is a very high possibility that we will see a leopard but as Johnson reminded us, leopards are highly elusive animals and extremely different to spot so don’t get our hopes up.

We never tire of seeing these magnificent creatures. Each time we see them we learn something new. I never knew that female elephants had human-like breasts from which their babies feed on.

Mama and baby Topi, the largest specie of gazelles.

The buffalo, one of the member of the African big five game. Kids think he looks so funny with his wig on!

Mates. We were told that these lions only stay in pairs during the mating season. And it is true, they do sleep a lot. We saw them early in the morning and they were still in the same spot when we drove by on our way back to camp eight hours later!

Timon and Pumba!

Eyes that pierce right through you.

Vultures seeking shade from the searing morning sun.

Well camouflaged in the brownish green grass, it is easy to miss these scavengers.

Seeing this lion sleeping on the rock took our guide, Johnson by surprise. Just minutes prior he’d told us that this area of rocks was the domain of the leopards and that we will not see other big cats in the vicinity. Lions being highly territorial will not tolerate other big cats. So how is it that this lion is here where the leopards roam? Johnson: “Hah... the lion is king. They go wherever they want!”

So with this big guy here, there was no chance a leopard would be nearby.

 But just a little further down on another rock formation, there he was. All stretched out hidden in a little nook in the rocks fast asleep!