Serengeti Day 1 (28 June 2023)

28 June 2023

As it turns out, we planned the trip so far in advance, I had completely forgotten that I added an extra day in the Serengeti, but I'm so glad I did!  We began the day by roaming the roads looking for whatever wildlife we would find.  The wildebeest herd was just outside our camp, so we actually had to stop for a while to work our way through them.  Before too long, we saw a wildebeest carcass hanging in a tree - we actually came back to this spot later and found the leopard that put him there.  Then we went into basically the middle of nowhere and found several lions.  The first sighting was two male lions that were walking near the road.  They were so close that I was inching the windows closed... after that, we found a small pride of maybe 4 lions... then we saw some cheetah's perched at a distance.  At that point, we asked our guide if the lions ever jumped on vehicles, to which he replied "no, that's the cheetah's..." So, naturally we got very close to some of them at a point as well.  I can't believe the photos I took this day.  

For safety reasons, you don't really ever exit the vehicle.  For bathroom stops, you have to ask your guide in advance, and he'll find a nice patch of open road where he's surveyed for predators, then you go out and go behind the jeep (they all call the Land Cruiser's Jeeps. I know).  For lunch, you eat your boxed lunch inside (except for the rare instance of being near a picnic area).  For lunch, we pulled up under a tree for shade, and there was a lion who thought that was a good place for a nap.  Afterwards, we found a lion on a kopi (or rock formation), and on our way back to camp, we saw a huge pride of (we think) 13 lions.  At this point, we guessed that we saw about 32 different lions today!  

This night, we both slept better (one from sleep deprivation, and two, from the wildebeest herd was finally far enough away that we didn't hear the bleeting all night).  Not sure if I typed this, since my last entries were done over 8 months ago, but, I'm very glad we decided to do the safari.  I have been on them in other parts of Africa, but the Serengeti is something else, and lots of good bro time with the cousin.  Check out photos and video below!

 

I alternated between the Serengeti Lager and Kilimanjaro Lager.  They pretty much taste the same, but it's just cool.

This is our Land Cruiser.  I like that the top pops open, so you can see and take photos without the glass in the way.

Sunset by our camp.  JT felt the need to stand taller (this is before he grew to 6' in like a week).

Probably one of my favorite things was riding standing up in the jeep.  It's very surreal to just be riding and ZEBRA! TWIGA (Giraffe)! SIMBA!

This is iconic.

I really want a Land Cruiser.

Someone smell a hippo?

Camp at Sound of Silence.

Lions with a fresh kill.

These guys...

Wildebeests...

Sire, the herd's on the move!

Snake Eagle

Lilac-breasted roller - I'm not much of a bird guy, but I just really like this photo.

Vultures on the lookout.  Don't sit still too long.  These guys are actually protected, because a lot of poachers will kill them so that they don't give away their location by circling over a kill.

Below - There is NOTHING in the world that quite feels like locking eyes with a lion (or cheetah for that matter).  They're really amazing to see up close, if not a bit frightening!  I've camped a lot in Grizzly country, but wow, camping where these guys are running around is something else!

I'll wrap up with an African sunset.  These are some of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen.  More to come, hopefully sooner than 8 months! 

For those following the luggage saga, still no luggage at this point.  However, we DID have cell signal near the Serengeti airport and very weak and slow wifi in the breakfast tent at camp.  Airtags probably saved my trip at this point, as the luggage had gone to Dar es Salaam instead of Arusha.  The KLM flight we took did a point-to-point itinerary, AMS-Arusha-Dar es Salaam-AMS, so they were apparently not going to bring my bag backwards on their loop.