Monday, April 8, 2019

Day two in the Serengeti - Wildebeest migration

We woke up to a beautiful morning in our camp.



Our cabins were new but the floors were tilted, the plumbing loose and it felt hastily constructed. On the other hand it had electricity, running water, comfortable beds and mosquito nets. It was much nicer than we were expecting when we were told we were going to be staying in a safari camp. 






We were treated to a great breakfast before we headed out for the day. 




Our fearless drivers and guides.



We had a resident visitor join us for breakfast as well.



 The kids were playing with the camera taking pictures of each other at breakfast getting ready for another day of hunting for great pictures of animals. 












Ready to go.




At the entrance as our driver got out to pay for the day we were enchanted withe the hydraxes in the trees. They were nimbly eating the leaves while navigating branches filled with thorns blithely ignoring all of us watching them. 





Some of my favorite pictures from the day...









I didn't know that wildebeests and zebras were such great friends but we pretty much saw them together all the time and I guess they migrate together. 








View from a distance...




up close...the zoom on the camera worked well to get great pictures.





Lunch today was eaten in the car since a picnic next to dangerous hippos wouldn't be a good idea. We did slip out for a quick picture though. 








There were a LOT of hippos.







I liked this picture of the tree with the clouds and the grass that was only green underneath the tree (it's hard to see in the picture)





 A lot of the birds were just as fascinating to watch. 






Great day!  We took turns switching cars so all of us could spend time together. 










Crocodiles in the background...don't get too close!









Us and our two drivers...







Potty breaks were behind a bush or behind the car ... watch out for snakes!




As we were driving we came across smoke and burning in the distance. At first I was worried but our guides said it was a controlled burn and not to worry. 




It was still eerie as we drove by it. I guess they burn the grasses to allow for new growth. 






We came across a pack of hyenas.












A baby baboon on his mama's back.






Joel wanted to see a wildebeest migration so our drivers got us into the middle of a group of them. We stopped the car and were surrounded by them running through the stream right next to us. 













Again zebra were running alongside them the whole time. 









Most of the time we were on safari we were standing up in the car as it bumped along dirt roads. You would never know what you would see around the corner but hunting for more of the elusive animals could take hours a patience. 






The Cheetah was one of them that were elusive but our patience paid off as well as these great shots of lions including a mother and her cubs. 










































At the end of the day we were staying in a lodge inside the park. Our cars got separated so we were waiting for the other car at the top of the hill where we were going to meet and go on a little hike we ended up waiting quite awhile so we took some pictures as we waited. 










Finally all together we were ready to hike...along with our guide who had a loaded gun for our protection. (It took awhile to get used to the fact that everywhere we went we were accompanied or watched over by night by people with guns)









A zebra skull on the trial..




While we were walking we met up with some Maassai that Jeff gave some snacks to. 


Dean got stickers in his socks and wasn't happy about our hike. 





We were rewarded at the end of a long day with a stay in one of our nicer places and the best meal at the lodge. It was delicious!




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