Brotherly love

Brotherly love

This has been a safari of many 'firsts' for me... We saw two cheetah brothers minutes after leaving our check-in at the ranger post in Ndutu...

Brotherly love 2

... and then within less than a mile, another two brothers... Lions!

Maybe these were the two we heard roaring later and finally chased from too near our luxury camp. One of our trusted drivers and guide Vincent, was only too happy to pose so you could see how close we can get to them. They were both too tired to even acknowledge our presence and continued in the dreams of lions, tails and feet twitching occasionally.

Ndutu to Serengeti

Hyena Family

On the way from Ndutu to Serengeti we were very amazed to see mating lions, huge herds of thousands of zebras and a first time for me, a communal hyena den! I had just read about this in "Cry of The Kalahari", by Mark and Delia Owens, so it was very exciting to see the various moms, aunties and pups having a late afternoon romp outside the dens.

Wild encounters

Wild encounters

On the way through Ngorongoro Conservation to the Ndutu area, we drove through the edges of the great wildebeest and zebra migrations. It is greener than I've ever seen it and the herds are dropping thousands of babies.

At the lodge, in less than 24 hours, we had giraffe, hartebeest, zebras, wildebeest, elephant and Cape Buffalo come through camp, just to name a few! At night we heard lions defending their territories as well as hunting. Fortunately, we had very able Maasai who chased away two male lions when they killed a buffalo a bit too close for comfort.

Luxury Camp

Luxury Camp

As we settled into our luxury camp, a welcoming fire was tended by our Maasai protector. This camp was voted the highest ratings for excellence in food and service. We had two nights to enjoy the luxurious tents and proximity to the animals.

The following day, herds of zebras, wildebeest, giraffe and even these shy Hartebeest meandered grazing by our tents.

Luxury Camp 2

Ngorongoro Caldera

Ngorongoro Caldera

Ngorongoro Caldera and Conservation Area

Considered by many to be the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', we descended in our 4x4's for over twenty minutes along the escarpment wall to access the floor below. As we moved closer, all of the little black dots turned into living breathing herds teaming around us.

The scope and immensity is difficult to capture, so I chose the cute factor of this photo for today. We watched a family of Golden Jackals playing, two cubs and the parents. This cub was scared and went for the safety of the burrow. In the background are Grant's Gazelles, Wildebeest and an Abdim Stork. We also saw two rhino's off in the distance, completing the sightings of the Big Five.

Tomorrow we head off to remoter parts to visit a few tribes, one of which is the Hadzabe Bushmen. They are still hunter gatherers and one of the oldest original tribes on earth.

I'm currently taking reservations for the next safari... Will you join us?