After our Masai Village visit it was time to finally head into the Serengeti for the day. As we started heading there the land felt vast, flat and desert for days. I felt like you could see across the world it was so flat. The 2 hour drive from the Masai Village to the Serengeti seemed endless with a sparse amount of animals. We would see the occasional ostrich or some other lone creature. Then we entered through the Serengeti gates! We finally made it to the famed Serengeti desert and it still felt lonely up front. Another 30 minute drive into the heart past the gates and we were there. Pockets of areas with grassland and watering holes. The first thing our group got to experience...SIMBAS (in Swahili 'Simba' actually means lion, thanks Lion King). It was a pride of lions and cubs! They were just lounging around and napping without a care in the world. Multiple vehicles pulled up and we all sat in awe while just observing them. These cats were clearly unphased and went about their daily routine of relaxing.
Driving around the Serengeti searching for animal activity is what a safari is! All the guides have their radios on and they help each other when they spot something interesting for people to view. During one of our stops we spotted one of the rarest animals to see, the leopard! This one was lounging in the tree taking a nap as most of do during the day, but our guide said they are very hard to spot and rarely seen, but when they are its always a treat.
The Serengeti was plentiful with all sorts of animals, animals that we saw from a distance in Lake Manyara were walking on the car paths just as if they were crossing the road (without much regard to cars). We had this lovely giraffe get so close to our car I was able to get this portrait image of him...what would you name him?
Even herds of elephants were showing up along our drive. I thought we were only going to be able to see them a few times, but it they just happened to be everywhere! I really felt like I was far away from home and I was being immersed into this African Safari.
An assortment of gazelle and antelopes were all around in these gigantic packs and herds. They came in all shapes and sizes. My favorite being the SMALLEST of antelopes called the Dik-Dik. It was the size of a small dog!
I even got to see the predator side of an African safari. "You got to see a hunt?!", some of you are saying, I wish. I only got to see the aftermath of a fresh hunt or a pack of vultures picking away at the scraps of someone else hard work. The circle of life was evident. A lioness has got to feed her cubs!
It was a great afternoon in the Seregenti and as we pulled up to our lodging for that night, which by the way was IN The Serengeti, we were accompanied by some Hyenas on the side, and this gorgeous sunset to follow. That night we were also greeted with our first African thunderstorm which we saw brewing in the distance and then decided to downpour on us during dinner. It was a refreshing site to see/hear from what I usually get in Los Angeles. One more full day in Africa!
!steemitworldmap -2.190357 lat 34.984747 long The Serengeti D3SCR