29 Sep 2014 - The Magnificant Serengeti

The Hippo Pool - poop in your neighbour's face and then complain when you don't get enough room.

Not the best place to rest your head if you're a hippo!

At the watering hole.

Hundreds of thousands of Wildebeest & Zebras.

These two youngster push, shoved and wrestled...so cute!

They are so beautiful and majestic.

I mentioned in my last blog that this lodge has no fence around it so the animals are free to wander at will. I was getting ready for bed last night and heard a sound and then Corky asked what the sound was. I opened our balcony door and listened for a minute until we both heard it again and it was LIONS! They were probably in the valley below our hotel but it was an eerie sound and I made sure I locked the door.

We left the lodge at 08:00 for an all-day game drive. We might be a little optimistic as it will be very hot at noon and we have a picnic lunch…however, we are down to our last few days and want to experience as much as we can in the time we have left. It turned out to be a spectacular day, as all the others have been before this one.

The first stop (after several short stops to view birds or unusual stuff with animals) was the Hippo Pool.  Our previous visit to a Hippo Pool in Masai Mara was quite calm compared to this stop.  This pool had at least 75-100 h-u-g-e hippos in it, all grunting and each other and being crabby for their own space. The best part was that we could stand by a railing overlooking the pool and once we got over the putrid smell that wafted up, we got some great photos. I looked up the river a bit and saw this gigantic hippo steam rolling down the river to join his friends in the green yucky water and more than one hippo moved over to make room for him. He was the size of a small airplane!

I think one of the biggest joys of this trip so far has been the opportunity to get up close to so many elephants of all ages and size. We seemed to see them every time we turned a corner and there were old bulls and tiny calves and everything in between. We got to see them in a pool drinking and flinging mud over themselves as well as two youngsters that just wanted to push and wrestle with each other until one gave in. The number of elephants seems to be good although poaching is still a major problem. The Masai Mara GR has lost over 80 this year so far and it is only a fraction of the size of the Serengeti. I am sure I have a few hundred photos of them and I cannot wait to see them on my computer screen at home.

Our next big find was 3 lions with a fair mane on each. Guide Vincent said these were probably brothers that were now too old to be in the pride and were on their own for a few years until they matured enough to take on another male for his pride. Shortly after seeing them we found a pride of 13 lions and other than 3 females, all the younger ones were males. Vincent pulled the jeep right up beside them and as per our last encounter, they did not even raise their sleepy heads when we pulled in. We watched them for quite a while and they rolled around or stretched but did not give us the time of day.

I think the highlight of the day was seeing a leopard s in a sitting on a branch of a big Acacia tree watching all the wildebeest in the plains in front of him. I had been complaining for a couple of days that I needed this photo to complete my trip and there it was! One of our travelling companions said she would always refer to this leopard as Lynne’s Leopard whenever she looked at their photos.
We’ve been extremely lucky with our tour group. There are only 5 of us….an older couple from Vancouver, a single lady from Calgary and Corky and I. It took us a day or two when we started the Kenya/Tanzania leg of our trip to realize that we were going to spend the next 2 weeks together. Fortunately we turned out to be very compatible and are all satisfied with where we sit in the jeep, when it’s time to return to the hotel, etc. This could have been a miserable holiday if we really didn’t like one another or get along with each other.

We will be leaving in the morning for our last adventure in the Ngorongoro Crater. If it lives up to its reputation, it will be quite a beautiful spot with animals galore. I’m looking forward to it and as much as I have loved every second of this holiday, I’m also looking forward to going home. The best part of going away is always going home.

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx