October 31st, 2006 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

October 31, 2006
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Happy Halloween!!

We woke up at about 5:45 this morning and saw an awesome sunrise. At 6:30 we left on an early morning game drive. It was a great drive. We saw numerous birds, zebra, lions, giraffe, hyena, and a leopard. We even got to see a lioness hunting! We watched as she stalked a herd of gazelle. In the end, she was too slow and did not catch any of them. We followed her as she walked across the plain (right on the road) looking for more prey. As we approached her she stopped and looked right at us. It was amazing to look into the eyes of a hunting lion.


At 10:30 we returned to camp for breakfast. We quickly consumed our food and then set out on another game drive. Our first stop was a large watering hole (the only water I have seen so far in the Serengeti) and it was filled with animals. The first animal we came across was a lioness sitting under a tree. We then saw more zebra than I have ever seen together (over 150). As followed along the water we then came across a large group of elephants. It was an incredible seen. The elephants were playing in the water and another group of zebra was inching toward the water. At one point the elephant let out a loud trumpet and the zebra scattered away. Once the elephants left the zebra flooded into the water and immediately started drinking. It truly was an oasis in the desert.


What happened next was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my entire life. We continued along the waters edge and saw a two lionesses creeping through the brush. We pulled ahead of them and parked our car. All of the sudden on of the lionesses jumped and ran towards a zebra. She chased it away from the herd. Just as quickly as she started she stopped. At this point the second lioness chased down the zebra, grabbed it around the throat and pulled it to the ground. Over the next several minutes the zebra lost its life. This entire process occurred quite close to our vehicle!

After killing the zebra, the lioness took the zebra into the shade and sat there with it. After a couple of minutes we saw another group of lions in the distance. While we initially thought that they were part of her pride, once they arrived they chased the lioness that made the kill away from the zebra! The new group of lions proceeded to tear the zebra to pieces over the next hour. They were still eating when we left and headed back to camp for lunch.

After having lunch and chilling out for a while it was time to head out on another game drive (15:00). This time we saw waterbuck, hippo, elephants, buffalo, and more lions. When we returned to the site of the kill the lion pride was still eating the zebra. It was almost only bones. Nearby, the two lions that made the kill were relaxing under a tree right next to the road. We got very, very close to these two females and (as usual with the lions) I took way too many pictures. Another amazing event that occurred during this game drive was that we came across the largest group of elephants that I have ever seen (more than 20 individuals)!

After the game drive we visited a beautiful lodge in the middle of the park. We watched an amazing sunset and had a beer. B also paid 2 dollars to have his camera battery charged. When we were done relaxing we returned to camp for dinner.

At about 21:00 B and I decided to get into the Halloween spirit and go trick-or-treating around the campsite. We grabbed fashioned the only costumes that we could and went as sleeping bags…Unfortunately, we did not get a great response from the other campers. Most of them laughed but the only things we got were a half eaten container of Pringles (from the Irish), a teabag, 2 sandy suckers (from Holly), and some toothpaste. In fact, most people did not even realize that it was Halloween.

Still, It was one of my favorite days of the trip so far!

NOTE: Before I forget, I promised my sister some good lion pics so these are dedicated to you!!