Sneak Peek

Yesterday we arrived back in Arusha after six full days of safari adventure. We have enough video footage to put together a full length documentary for the Discovery Channel and enough pictures to fill an entire photo album. It really has been a once in a lifetime experience and there is no way I could share all of the things we have seen and done so here is the top ten.

#1) Seeing a cheetah up close after it had jumped on top of another safari vehicle.

 #2) Driving into the Serengeti and quite literally finding ourselves on the set of the Lion King. We are convinced this 'kopje' must have been the inspiration for the movie. It also helped that there was a female lion with two cubs sitting on top.

#3) We saw lions every day on our trip. This particular group of lions we found lying in some grass. They got up and walked right in front of our vehicle so we followed them down the road to this tree where they proceeded to climb up one by one.

#4) This wildebeest was right on the side of the road. It was fascinating to watch the vultures fight over the carcass.

 5) Tis the season for African animal babies. Here are a few we got to see.

#6) We were fortunate enough to catch the end of the wildebeest migration from Masai Mara game park in Kenya to the southern Serengeti plains. We have video of the migration but here is a still picture of the plains.

 #7) This is a picture of the tree climbing lions from before that we followed down the road. In Ngorongoro Crater we encountered another group of lions who crossed over directly in front and behind our vehicle. I was actually afraid they might jump up and in through the roof. We followed the same pride and got a chance to see them sneak up and then attack some buffalo. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful.

#8) We saw some amazing views on our trip including the Rift Valley and Serengeti plains but watching the sunrise in Ngorongoro Crater was definitely the best view.

#9) My favorite animal is the hippo. In the crater we were able to witness two male hippos fighting. That one is also a video but here is a picture of some other hippos we saw.

#10) I loved just being able to watch the animals in their natural habitat. Zoos have been forever ruined for me! It is so amazing to see how these animals interact with one another and go about their daily lives. Below is one elephant we saw with a short trunk. It was interesting to see how he had adapted to this deformity. It was also really neat to see giraffes as we hadn't seen any in Uganda.

We are now in Zanzibar enjoying some rest and relaxation on the beach.