This morning we jumped on a bus to a dirt runway airport near Lake Manyara. We need a bus because our five Land Cruisers drove to the Serengeti last night – a five-hour very bumpy ride. But because we safari tourists have tender bums, we get a 30-minute flight to meet them. Yeah, I paid for that.
I have high hopes for the Serengeti (Swahili for “Endless Plains”) and its 5700 sq mi (14,763 sq km) area. And it did not disappoint. Within 20 minutes of landing we met a local elephant.
Then within another 20 minutes we found our first leopard. There were already a dozen vehicles around the tree when we got there. The leopard is to the top right, where his freshly acquired “snack” is to the lower left.
Over the next five minutes the leopard finally turned his face to us.
We drove across the plains for two hours before going to our hotel. We found our first Giraffe in the wild.
We also discovered a small pride of lions, with an adult female and six adolescent males and females.
During our final minutes driving to the hotel we found some frolicking hippos.
The Four Seasons Safari Lodge is amazing. Artfully situated among surrounding boulders, placed in the middle of the Serengeti with full modern services. This is a big change from the rather old and outdated (but fun) hotel in Ngorongoro Crater. Quick fact, there are many Hyrax running thru the hotel grounds. Despite their appearance, they are not rodents – they are actually closer related to elephants.
After lunch we went out for an afternoon game drive and found assorted other animals.
Tomorrow we leave before breakfast for an early game drive. Out guides say we probably won’t see rhinos before Kenya, but we are on the hunt for cheetah. We are here for three nights, so we have many chances.
I should update folks on the camera. Starting with Ngorongoro Crater I’m been using my 100-500mm lens about 95% of the time. Once we left the bushy area and starting driving across the plains, you need the more powerful glass to reach out and get the image. Many of the images are still cropped 50-70%, so the 45MP full-size frame really helps keeping the pictures clean. I’ve very happy so far.