Safari Day 3: Serengeti pt. 2

There is something quite magical about waking up in a tent on Africa’s Serengeti!  After watching the sun rise with a hot cup of coffee in hand, we enjoyed a full breakfast before loading once again into our LandCruisers to continue our exploration of the Serengeti.

Our animal checklist checklist grew with Crocodile and Hippopotamus sightings.  But the animal of the day was the Lion.  So many Lions!  Most were found resting in the late morning heat under shade of the acacia trees while  very actively keeping an eye on the nearby Zebra.

We did have a chance to see the pre-Lion and post-Lion states of the Cape Buffalo:  alive and dead.  We came across a group of Lion guarding their fresh Buffalo kill.  This caused a minor skirmish between the Lions and a group of Elephants who came to use the watering hole.  Real life Wild Kingdom stuff!

Out of necessity, we had our lunches in the vehicles.  Reason being that our biggest surprise of the day was waiting for us at our picnic site.  Once again located on a bluff overlooking the plain, our picnic area had stone tables and benches shaded by trees.  But hidden within tree branches was our rarest sighting of all:  Leopards!  Three Leopards had taken to the trees for rest and tourist watching.  We were quite lucky to see these amazing cats so up close as they are, by nature, nocturnal and wary of humans.  Best to stay in the car and eat rather than get out of the car and be…

After lunch, we said goodbye to the Serengeti and headed back to the Ngorongoro crater rim for an evening at the spectacular (and I mean it) Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.  Each of our rooms have a terrace that overlook the amazing crater.  Tomorrow we will venture down into the crater for our final day of safari.  Everyone is hopeful to spot a rare Black Rhino to complete our African Big Five bingo card.