Wildebeest migration in the Serengeti

As we went into the park, we soon encountered a large her of Wildebeest on the move. We couldn't see the end of the column of animals 3-5 wide. We traveled about a mile to where they were crossing the road and couldn't see the other end. Our vehicle confused them and the column stopped short of the road, so we pulled up a bit and the migration continued. Hard to guess how many there were, but clearly several thousand animals. We went a little further along and there was a male lion sitting near the road with at least one lioness nearby. Part of our crew had gone ballooning that morning (rising at 3:30 am). They all seemed to enjoy the one hour flight at about 10-50 feet above the ground with a champagne breakfast.

As we continued south into the Seronera valley, we soon found a leopard lazing in a tree. He was hard to see in the shadows of the tree branches. We stopped for lunch on a rise from which we could see all the way across the plains to the Ngorongoro area we had left yesterday. Continuing on we found a second leopard in a tree, this one actually moved from one branch to another, disappearing from view.

Picnicing on the Serengeti

Further along we spotted a large crocodile in a pool with hippos, some Reedbuck antelope then the hit of the day, 9-11 lions lying in the shade of an acacia tree. As the shade moved, one would occasionally get up to move into the shade again.

A group of us retook yesterday's walk, armed with left-over muffins and cookies which the kids appreciated. Along the way, we could hear music from the third day celebration of a funeral. We stopped for a beer in the village and then proceeded to walk toward our camp to see a little more of the village. On the outskirts, they were finishing the slaughter of a pig, something us city boys don't see anymore. All in all, quite a day.