Big Cat Diary

The plan for today is to explore the Seronera or Central Serengeti area. The first thing I noticed is that we finally found the tsetse flies. They really pester you, and bite! Right away, we saw a cheetah in the long grass. Soon we saw more elephants, both Thompsons and Grants gazelles, ostriches and other birds (roller, bustard, hawk, eagle, shrike, goose), giraffes, vervet monkeys, buffalo, and a Coke's hartebeest.

 Next, we saw 3 lions sharing a tree sleeping, then 3 lions next to a herd of elephants, who just walked off. Later we saw a male lion in the grass, and another in a tree. We also saw a lion stalking a zebra. They seemed to be everywhere.

We visited a hippo pool which smelled horrible. They just swim in their toilet area. You couldn't see much as they were mostly submerged, you just saw the tails flick water to keep their backs from getting sunburned, then the heads pop up for a few minutes. There was more field burning along the way also.

 I was so glad we had a pop top type roof. The people in the open tops seemed to be baking in the sun. I get many jealous looks as I drive by with only me in a large vehicle, when they might have 6 people squeezed into a smaller vehicle. It is great for me. I can spread out my equipment and move from side to side.

I considered a night drive, but there were not enough people signed up to run it. What a great day!