Tanzania 2001 - Serengeti

Rosemary at dawn on the Serengeti.

Hartebeest

We saw huge herds of wildebeest and zebra grazing or migrating together.

Zebras often stand head to tail in pairs or groups of four. This allows them to share a 360-degree view of the surrounding area, and gives them a chance to rest their necks.

At last, a tree-climbing lion! The lionesses climb to get a better view, to get out of the itchy grass, and to get some relief from playful cubs.

When she left the tree, we decided to follow her.

She led us to the water hole where the pride was relaxing.

Two of the cubs join her for a stroll.

She pauses to exchange a greeting with the pride male.

The cubs seem very affectionate.

The male got up to take a walk.

By this time, the lioness had climbed back into the tree with her sister. The male tried to join them, but he was too heavy.

He decided to spend some quality time by himself.

Travel Diary

Wednesday (June 6) - Serengeti

Steve: Over dinner last night, we were discussing how much we had seen and what we still wanted to see. For me, it was lion cubs and for Rosemary, it was a cheetah. Well, today’s the day!

Rosemary: What a day! We saw a lioness in a tree. Nearby at the water hole was her whole pride - five females, a big male, assorted cubs of various ages.

Steve: Hassan heard on his short wave radio a report of a lion, so off we went. When we arrived at the site, there was a large male sitting on top of a small rise, but first we went to see a female up in a tree.

When we went back to see the male, we found a creekbed next to the rise with an entire pride of lions. For me, this was the highlight of the trip!

Rosemary: We spent a long time watching their activities. It was such joy to see them. Little cubs following their mother, lions greeting each other, playing in the grass.

Steve: There were three adult females on the bank of the creek with four or five kittens about two months old and four or five cubs about six months old. The kittens and cubs played with each other as the females rested. All looked like they had eaten recently.

A couple of other females (including the one from the tree) came over and the lions greeted each other by rubbing the sides of their faces.

As the females left the creek, their offspring followed. To watch the family dynamic here is amazing. At one point, one of the kittens started crying for his mother, as if he was lost. As a couple of females and their cubs went back to the tree, they passed within about 5 -10 feet of our jeep.

The two females climbed into the tree and the kittens and cubs tried to follow, but couldn’t. The male also followed and tried to climb the tree, but he was too heavy. Rather than lie down and be bothered by the kittens, he left.

One of the females came down and went off into the brush, maybe to hunt, but had to come back when her three kittens started to follow her. After clicking off three rolls of film in 30 minutes, we left this pride. Not long after, we came across three young males and two young females lying in the road, with another four to five adults lying in the grass nearby. A big day for lions, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

Rosemary: Hassan points out that if the male we saw is the only one the pride has, the cubs' chances of survival are slim. Most prides have two or three males, brothers who defend the pride from invasion. (Although eventually, age gets the better of them and new males move in.) If a pair of new males ousts the current male, they will kill the cubs. Without cubs to care for, the females will come into heat, and the new males will father the next generation. It's possible, though, that this one has a brother who was resting in another location. In any case, Hassan commented that this guy looked very fit - obviously the females are doing a good job of hunting and keeping him well fed.

Steve: The Serengeti is full of herds of zebra, wildebeest and gazelle. There are literally thousands of them at this time of year.

Hassan got word that a cheetah had been sighted, so we rushed to the location. There was a cheetah lying under a tree, but all you could see was his white tail flicking upward every so often. We waited for a while, then went off to have lunch.

We arrived at the picnic site just in time to see a vervet monkey climb into an open jeep and steal a Snickers bar. As we walked through the nature exhibit, a large group of vervet monkeys stampeded right past us, obviously frightened by something.

After lunch, we passed a pool where some hippos were lying on the shore. This is the first time we have been close to them out of the water. At another small pool, we saw a crocodile in the water, waiting for his lunch to walk by.

Later, we came to a male and female lion lying in the sun. Hassan thought they were a mating pair, so we waited to see if anything happened. Lions mate for seven days. At the beginning, they copulate every five to ten minutes, but towards the end they slow down from exhaustion. These lions were near the end of the seven day cycle and were going to rest for a while, so we went back to see if the cheetah had moved.

When we arrived back at his location, the road was full of jeeps, with more on the way. Every once in a while, the cheetah would raise its head, but then would lie down again. A lot of people lost patience and left, be we noticed some behavior, similar to our house cats, of potential movement. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the cheetah stood up and walked out into the open. In that brief moment, I was able to get some good shots - I hope they come out.

On a hunch, we went back to the mating pair of lions to see if anything had changed. They were in slightly different positions and the male started to appear active. After a short wait, he went over to the female and woke her up. After a bit of mutual growling (foreplay?), he mounted her for the best 10 seconds of her life. That quickly, it was over and they both went back to sleep. With several jeeps around, I said (perhaps a little louder than I expected), "So THAT’S the king of the jungle?".

As we headed back to the lodge, we saw a long line of wildebeest, all moving in the same direction. We believe that this is part of the Great Migration that takes place around this time of year.

Rosemary: In the late afternoon, the air was heavy with smoke. The rangers burn the dry grass so that new grass will sprout as soon as it rains. This helps provide more food for the herds.

Some of the animals we saw today: Lion, cheetah, baboon, vervet monkey, zebra, hyena, rock hyrax, elephant, vulture, egret, goose, stork, crocodile, hippo, giraffe, buffalo, mouse, weaver bird, gazelle, impala, water buck, and the usual variety of small birds.

Steve: We reached the lodge at 5:30, exhausted, having been out since 8:00 AM. We showered and went to dinner.

Thursday (June 7) - Serengeti

Steve: We awoke at 5:30 AM for an early morning game drive. The baboons that had been along the road yesterday morning were still asleep.

We saw the "usual" herds of gazelle, wildebeest and zebra, plus a few hyena along the road. At one point, we saw a number of hyena all in one spot. A closer look showed them getting ready to attack a baby zebra, which was not more than a couple of days old. Hassan kept saying, "They’re going to kill the baby zebra." As exciting as it was to possibly see a kill in action, we were obviously rooting for the zebra. As the hyenas tried to attack, two adult zebras tried to keep the baby shielded from them, with a third adult chasing them off.

Rosemary: The zebras were amazing. They would face the hyenas, lower their heads, and charge. This was just intimidating enough to get the hyenas to back up. If the hyenas tried to attack from the side or the rear, the zebras would kick with their powerful back legs. No hyena wants to risk broken bones.

Steve: At one point, we thought the hyenas would be too many to fight off, but the zebras won this battle, to a sigh of relief from all of us. It was fascinating to perceive the strategies of each side as it unfolded.

On the flip side, we saw a female lion who looked hungry. We followed her for a while as she tried to sneak up on a wildebeest, but she kept getting spotted by them. Fickle humans - rooting for the prey, then the predator. We gave up and headed back to the lodge, barely making it in time for breakfast. A couple of hours off, then lunch and an afternoon game drive.

At lunch, we were the only people in the dining room until around 1:00, with everyone else having a picnic or hadn’t returned from their morning drive.

After lunch, Hassan got a report of a leopard in a tree on the main road from the lodge. It took a little while to find him, but he was stretched out on a limb, asleep. We went off the road and got right underneath him, but he didn’t move. Hassan commented that the leopard "was supposed to be in another tree" which raised several questions to us, such as: How do the guides tell one tree from another? It’s not like there are street signs here. Had the leopard moved since the report?

We saw lots of zebra again and saw a spot with a lot of vultures in a tree. Down below was the corpse of a zebra, killed by a lioness. The vultures were nervous because she was still in the area and soon she walked out of the tall grass.

The rest of the afternoon we spent sightseeing, going to see some interesting rock formations. One was called "Gong Rock", because one of the boulders, when struck with another stone, made a ringing sound. Long ago, the Maasai used it to communicate with each other.

In another place, we saw some Maasai paintings on some rocks where they once lived in a cave. The Maasai lived in this section of the Serengeti until around 1950, when the conservancy was formed and they were displaced.

Still more enormous herds of zebra everywhere as we headed back to the lodge, arriving just as it was getting dark. A long day, as we were tired an hungry as usual.

All during the trip, we had been hoping to sample some local dishes. Dinner tonight was a buffet of what was supposed to be African cuisine, but it was the worst meal we had at this location. We loaded up on what was edible and went to bed.

This was the "terminal building" at the Seronera Valley airstrip where we left the Serengeti.

Friday, June 8 to Saturday, June 9
Serengeti to Arusha
Kilimanjaro to Amsterdam (via Dar es Salaam)
Amsterdam to Los Angeles

Steve: Our last day in Africa started early so that we could pack for the trip home. We were going to fly from Serengeti to the Arusha airport. On the way, we saw two female lions stalking a herd of wildebeest, but they ended up lying in the shade after passing a few feet from our jeep. Our last lions, as it turned out.

We went to a small grass airstrip we named "Serengeti International Airport". Strangely enough, the parking lot began to fill up as there were three small planes of about twelve seats each all getting ready to take off at about the same time.

We said our goodbyes to Hassan, thanking him for all he did and the great time we had, leaving him with a bottle of Deet, before he started the nine hour drive back to Arusha.

Our flight took about an hour, during which we could see the circles of the Maasai villages below us. We were met at the Arusha airport by Ibrahim, who took us to the Bushbuck Safari offices for a "de-briefing" by Mahool, the head guy. We praised Hassan and gave good comments to all of their services, while telling him about our minor complaints regarding some of the hotels and the food.

We then went back to the Mountain Village Lodge (our original stop) for lunch and a day room. The buffet lunch was the best meal we had all week.

And now another word from one of our sponsors: Pepto Bismol chewable tablets. By regular use of these and careful avoidance of any local water, dairy or raw vegetables, neither of us have had any stomach problems during the trip.

We attempted to nap in our day room but it was too noisy. While getting dressed, I realized that I had left my belt pack with my passport, airline tickets and money in the dining room. After looking all around and getting the hotel staff involved, I found that one of the waiters had discovered it on the floor and had given it to Ibrahim, who locked it in his jeep.

A short drive took us back to the airport at Kilimanjaro and a relatively easy immigration process. We had a snack in the first class lounge after buying one last souvenir in a gift shop.

We took off for the short flight to Dar es Salaam, capital of Tanzania. We deplaned for the 90 minute layover. This is a nasty little airport, with not a friendly face on any of the staff, including the receptionist at the first class lounge.

We reboarded for an eight hour flight to Amsterdam Service on KLM was good as usual and we both got a little sleep, arriving at 8:00 AM local time in Amsterdam. As our flight to LAX wasn’t until 11:30, we spent a couple of hours in the lounge.

The flight to LA was twelve hours long which, despite being in first class, is WAY too long to be on an airplane. Neither of us slept, so we watched parts of the several movies on the personal video screens. KLM gives out little ceramic houses, representing different styles of homes in Holland, filled with a liqueur. We had four of them from the two trips (and Rosemary has started collecting them on eBay).

We got through customs in a breeze, still having only carry-on luggage, and I called the limo service we had arranged for, who said that the driver would meet us at the curb. Upon surfacing in the terminal, we were met inside by our driver, a stocky Russian who seemed familiar. Turns out he was the driver that picked us up on our return from St. Barth in December. We only realized this, though, as we pulled up to our house. The problem was that his company was NOT the one we hired to pick us up. Martine did call them to get a price and had to give them our flight info in order to get a quote, but they were never hired. The driver of the company we DID hire didn’t show up while we were waiting for the other driver to get his car from the parking structure, so their on-time record couldn’t have been too good. I had to fight with both of them when I got back into the office to avoid being charged full price for both drivers.

Anyway, we got home Saturday about 4:00 PM (4:00 AM Sunday in Tanzania) after being awake for almost 48 hours, and immediately collapsed into bed for a few hours sleep before waking up hungry a few hours later. We went out for a quick bite and fell back asleep until Sunday morning.

All in all, we arrived in Tanzania tired, we stayed tired the whole trip and we returned home tired. Nevertheless, this was a trip of a lifetime for both of us. Although it was Rosemary’s dream to go, I was also eager to see what we could see. Judging by others we’ve spoken to who have made similar trips, we were very lucky in all regards, from having our own driver, to the amount of animals we saw, to our health, etc. The pictures will help us remember the specifics, but what I’ll remember most is the look of joy on Rosemary’s face for the whole two weeks.

Rosemary: This trip was a lifelong dream for me. I had often said that if I could take only one trip in my life, this would be it. And I still say that. It was everything I could have asked for. Steve, thank you for making my dream come true. I'm so glad I got to share it with you.

Steve: I love you, Sweetie Vai!

 

Tanzania 2001 - Maasai Village, Olduvai, Serengeti

This is an arena or conference center in the middle of the village. Note the fence built of trees. The women line up on one side of the area as they prepare to perform a song.

A toddler joins the adults forthe dance.

Both men and women wear a lot of jewelry. They pierce both the upper and lower part of the ear and wear big earrings through elongated holes. The colorful blankets are also part of their everyday clothing.

The choreography is simple. The men take turns seeing how high they can jump.

Steve pays full retail for some Maasai jewelry.

Olduvai (aka Oldupai) is a hot, dry place.

Three brothers lounge together on the plain. If they do not already lead a pride, they soon will.

Our presence did not interfere with their naptime.

This distant cheetah was barely visible in the tall grass.

If the sun isn't too harsh, hippos will come out of the water to graze or nap.

Male giraffes resolve conflict with a form of wrestling known as "necking". The sound of their huge necks slamming into each other is shocking, but they rarely get hurt. When the battle is over, they resume their friendship.

A savanna hare, just before it leaped up and raced away.

Bad luck for the zebra - a windfall for the vultures.

A secretary bird looks for small rodents and lizards in the grass.

Leopards spend a lot of time resting in trees. When they kill something, they will drag the meal up into the tree, out of reach of most other predators, to eat at leisure.

Wildebeest form a long line, migrating toward the rain and greener grass.

A wildebeest calf stops for nutrition.

A road on the Serengeti.

Travel Diary

Tuesday (June 5) - Maasai Village, Olduvai, Serengeti

Rosemary: We left the crater area and drove to a Maasai village. They performed a traditional song and dance. Women on one side, men on the other. The women sing and the men "dance" by seeing how high they can jump, one at a time, as the spirit moves them.

We were given a tour of a house. These are little round huts built of mud, cow dung, and sticks. Extremely dark inside. Leather beds. A smoldering fire to keep the bugs out. Our host has three wives. Each wife has her own house, and he must move from one to the other.

Of course, we bought their jewelry - beaded bracelets, necklaces, and a "fly chaser". They don't sell their earrings, which I would dearly love to have.

Steve: Woke up to a foggy day atop the crater. After breakfast, we drove back to the main road along the crater rim, to arrive at Serengeti that night.

On the way, we made a couple of stops: first, at a Maasai village where the natives encourage visitors. Upon arriving, we were met by one of the tribe who spoke English. He welcomed us and encouraged us to take as many pictures as we wanted. This was a gracious gesture on his part because many Maasai want money if you take their picture.

We went into the middle of the village, where the women sang and the men danced. According to Hassan, the dance was to celebrate the circumcision of a 15 year old male. Part of the dance was that each male jumped up and down on both feet several times. If I had been circumcised at 15, I’d be jumping up and down too.

Our host then invited us into his home, a hut made of straw and cow dung - not as disgusting as you might think. It was very small, with a sleeping area for him, a separate area for his wife, a fire pit in the middle, one small window for ventilation and a spot for a guest to sleep. It was very dark inside, so much so that when he invited me to take his picture, I couldn’t see his face through the viewfinder.

Afterwards, we were led outside to where the women displayed their beaded jewelry. We bought a few pieces and as we were trying to add up how much everything cost, one of the tribe members came over with a pocket calculator to assist. We could have negotiated on the prices, but they were so low we figured that the Maasai needed the money more than we did.

We then saw the school, where I gave the teacher two boxes of ballpoint pens I have brought just for such an occasion.

We left the Maasai and went to the Olduvai Gorge, site of the oldest human fossils ever discovered. This is the place where Louis and Mary Leakey worked for over 40 years.

The Maasai village after the tourists leave.

Rosemary: The real name of the place is Oldupai, not Olduvai. Apparently the first European scientist to come here misunderstood the name, and it became famous that way. There is a small museum and a local guide who gives a short talk about the history of the place. He thinks the "p" vs. "v" mixup is hysterically funny.

On to the Serengeti.

Steve: We had a box lunch at a nice little picnic area and climbed to an observation point at the top of a hill. "Serengeti" means "endless plain" and it is aptly named. It's almost 15,000 square kilometers (you do the math) and goes on forever.

On the road to the picnic are we saw lots of gazelles, some zebra, ostrich and eland, which are the largest antelope. Hassan thought there might be some cheetahs there, feasting on the gazelles, so we back-tracked a bit and went off road, into the grass. We saw all of the above (except cheetahs), plus a savannah hare and the skeletons of some recently killed zebra and wildebeest.

Rosemary: Lots of male lions. A group of three brothers just lying together on the savannah. We got close and circled them. One had a wound on his eyebrow. They were just relaxing, not bothered by us at all.

Steve: We then saw another couple of solo males, all of which were sleeping.

Further on, we saw a huge herd of zebra, some gazelles and more wildebeest. At one point, one of the gazelles, after running quickly for a while, started hopping along, like a circumcised Maasai.

Rosemary: Lions, savannah hares, eland, topi, gazelles, zebra, vultures, wildebeest, hartebeest, bustard, ostrich, warthogs, eagles - and more!

We saw plenty of dead animals, nothing left but a little skin and bone, or just bone. One zebra by the side of the road was still being worked on by a flock of vultures.

Lions on the rocks. Big rain in the distance - the gazelles start hurrying toward it.

Steve: As we made our way to yet another Sopa lodge, we could see it raining across the plains and we got a little sprinkle. A lot of the animals were headed towards the rainy area for water and hoping for some new grass to grow in the next couple of days.

We arrived at the lodge a little after 5:00 PM, showered and went to dinner.

Rosemary: We have a fabulous view from our room. The plains, hills in the distance. Nearby giraffes are eating the trees. Unfortunately, there is no screen on the glass door, so we can't leave it open for ventilation. No ceiling fan, but there is a table fan in the room. It's very hot here. As usual, hot water is rationed. Plumbing weirdness, also as usual. They put a bidet in every bathroom, but can't or won't install a properly designed shower. I suspect it's a plot to keep people from using the hot water.

I really like the Serengeti, the little I've seen this afternoon. The smell of the grass and the rain, the huge blue sky, animals everywhere. We drove off road for a while, and it seemed as though we were the only people there. It's so vast, it really does seem endless.

This Serengeti lioness was wearing a research collar.

 

Tanzania 2001 - Ngorongoro Crater

This was our first view of the Ngorongoro crater, standing at a popular vista point before turning up the road to our lodge.

This hyena and his pals were very comfortable resting in the road a few feet from our vehicle.

Lions love to nap.

The bright red coloring of this male ostrich indicates he is ready to mate. Unfortunately, there were no females nearby.

There is not much left of this buffalo, probably killed within the last week. As time goes by the bones will be gnawed and scattered, with only the skull left to mark the spot.

The zebras like to pause for a quick drink before crossing the stream.

In the distance, three rare black rhinos graze quietly. They are about the same size as buffalo.

These two playful zebras engaged in some mock wrestling.

Flocks of flamingos enjoy the lake.

Wildebeest head for greener pastures.

A baby zebra stops to wonder what we're doing.

There are not many large trees in the Ngorongoro Crater.

Travel Diary

Sunday (June 3) - Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro

Steve: After the usual breakfast of fruit, omelettes, meats and juices, we left the lodge at 8:00 AM to go to Lake Manyara National Park, home of the famous tree-climbing lions. Upon entering the park, we immediately saw huge groups of baboons of all sizes and ages. Some were eating, some were grooming each other. Quite the little society!

We saw an elephant with a damaged tusk. He probably broke it off on a tree or scraping some rocks. More impala, giraffes and zebra, but we were really looking for leopards and lions - love them cats!

We found some warthogs, who finally didn’t turn away and run when we tried to take a picture. Only the good folks at Disney could make an animal this ugly so popular. Oh well, Hakuna Matata!

After a while, on the road near the lake, I saw a leopard run across the road. By the time I could say anything, he was gone so Rosemary never saw it. What a great looking animal.

Later, we spotted a black-backed jackal on a side road and got a good picture. At one point, we saw a dik dik, the smallest breed of antelope. He kept moving back and forth, as if he was trying to get through the brush but couldn’t. Got a couple of shots of him through the leaves.

At last, we got a good view of a leopard, lying on top of a toppled tree trunk. Snapped a couple of pictures and ran out of film. Changed rolls and got a couple more shots as he climbed down and disappeared behind the tree. This was easily the highlight of the morning.

We saw some vervet monkeys and blue monkeys, a few storks, a giraffe sitting on the ground, some miscellaneous birds, a couple of monitor lizards and a crested eagle.

Unfortunately, we never did see any lions, either on the ground or in the trees, but I’m sure we will see them later in the trip.

Back to the lodge for lunch, which was the best meal of the trip so far. After lunch, we hit the road to go to the Ngorongoro Crater (hereafter "NG2"), the crater so nice they named it twice. Drove through farmlands and a small town, where the road was blocked by a procession celebrating the local bishop’s 50th birthday. Someone told us that, as a gift, his wife was taking him on a trip to California.

Rosemary: A drive over miles of incredibly bad road to Ngorongoro. It is beautiful here. At a higher elevation, and cool, so there are no mosquitoes!

Steve: We arrived at the entrace to NG2 National Park and saw about 15 vehicles waiting to get in. We knew it would be crowded, since everyone we overheard at Lake Manyara seemed to be going there. A few miles ahead was the first place you could get the first glimpse of the crater from the edge, so everyone stopped to take pictures.

The first look at the crater is an awesome experience. It seemed to be larger than theSan Fernando Valley at about 100 square miles, and it had a large lake in the middle. The unique thing about NG2 is that most of the animals don’t leave the crater due to not liking to climb the steep walls. We are told that it is an unbelievable adventure.

Our home for the next two nights is the Sopa Lodge at NG2, the same hotel chain as we stayed in Tarangire. The lodge is perched on the edge of the crater at about 8,000 feet. The view is breathtaking and our room has a small sunroom where I can see much of the crater while writing this journal. Hopefully, the food here will be better than at Tarangire. We will leave at 8:00 AM tomorrow for a full day of viewing on the crater floor, taking a picnic lunch so that we don’t have to drive all the way back to the lodge.

We went to the bar before dinner for a drink. Because of the altitude, we actually wore our jackets for the first time. The bar was cozy, with a fireplace and snacks for "happy hour". Dinner began at 7:30 and, unlike our first two hotels, there are a lot of people staying here. This is one of the two larger lodges in the area, and NG2 is a popular spot.

Rosemary: Watching the sunset from the bar of our safari lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, drinking white wine and listening to American pop music ("What if God Was One of Us"). I'm exhausted, looking forward to some sleep (luckily everyone goes to bed early here).

Steve: Dinner was very good (for a change) and as an added bonus, the staff performed some African songs in a manner similar to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. We went to bed around 9:30, hoping not to be kept awake by a group of school children who had to pass our room to get to their own.

Monday (June 4) Ngorongoro Crater

Steve: We had a good night’s sleep, partly because of exhaustion and partly because, due to the altitude and drop in temperature, there are no mosquitos.

After a good breakfast, we descended into the crater. We saw a couple of elephants in the highland jungle, then encountered the first of many wildebeest (or gnu). Over the course of the day, we must have seen at least 1,000 of them. Unlike the wildebeest on the plains, these do not migrate, but live in the crater all year round. Several other firsts today - Thompson’s gazelle, hartebeest, black rhino, a brief look at a serval cat and (drum roll please) LIONS!

Rosemary: First thing, hyenas, just snoozing in the road. We drove right up to them and took their pictures while they calmly watched us.

Steve: Surprisingly, when they are not ripping at your flesh, they are fairly attractive and somewhat dog-like in nature.

We saw our first lion fairly soon. It was a female napping in an open area. We and another jeep were no more than 10 feet from where she was sleeping. Even while asleep, you could sense the power of the beast. As more vans arrived, she awoke and walked to a nearby rise, where she promptly lay down to sleep again.

All over the crater we saw large groups of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle (both Thompson’s and Grant’s), waterbuck, buffalo, with smaller groups of warthogs and the occasional jackal.

Rosemary: So many wildebeest! Many zebras and gazelles. The flamingos eat in the saltwater lake, but go to the section where fresh water flows in to bathe.

Steve: The crater was crowded with many tours, but in some ways that was a plus. The drivers exchanged info via short-wave radio and a van that was stopped sometimes indicated some unusual game. One of these times, we saw a couple of jeeps parked in front of this little mound of brush. Only when we got right up to it did we realize that there were between six and ten lions hiding and sleeping, with young males and young females. They didn’t seem to be lying in wait for any prey, but merely resting. In fact, when we passed the same spot about four hours later, they had spread out to nap in small groups of two or three each. Later, from a distance, we saw three male lions napping in a dry creek bed.

We had a box lunch at a picnic area overlooking a lake full of hippos. All we could see (mostly) was their ears, eyes and nostrils.

After lunch, we went to look at a black rhino we had seen on the way and then saw a group of three of them a great distance from the road. Black rhino are very rare and only 25 of them live in the crater; we’ve seen four of them.

We saw a serval cat in the road ahead, but as we tried to approach, it ran faster, finally disappearing into the brush. Still, an unexpected surprise, which made us the envy of all the other tourists we told.

After a full day of driving, we went back to the lodge, tired as usual. Riding around in a Jeep doesn’t sound like it should be tiring, but the roads are very bumpy, so the ride is a constant struggle to stay in your seat, plus all the standing up and sitting down in order to take pictures.

We saw fields of pretty flowers blooming in the Ngorongoro Crater.