This is what Mel likes to call the “Circle of Life” picture. It is next to the Tarangire River, where many animals come for water. While this picture only captures the lions (lying on the ground on the right) and elephants, there were actually zebras, wildebeest, and giraffes in the distance. These lions had killed 2 zebras a few hours before.
The experience of seeing animals in their own setting, yet so close, was very unique. While some of the animals are afraid of vehicles, most in Tanzania have grown accustomed due to the large tourism industry. Later on during the safari, we saw an epic “necking” battle between 2 adolescent giraffes fighting for a female.
This is a picture of black kite in Ngorongoro Crater. These birds are more fierce and skilled than we expected. We were warned that they might snatch our food, so we were taking cover under a tree (hovering over our packed lunch). I (Warren) took one bite of my chicken, and this black kite actually swiped it from my hand!
Mel’s favorite animal sighting was this Mama cheetah with her 2 baby cubs. They are about 6 weeks old. They only have a 1 in 20 chance of living as many predators prey on the babies for easy kills. We had an awesome guide, Christian, who we nicknamed the “Cat Whisperer”. We saw 3 adult cheetahs, 2 leopards, and over 30 lions during our trip. We were very lucky!
Warren wanted to bring home this hyrax. Interestingly, the closest living relative of this animal is the elephant. They were all over the Serengeti Visitor Center.
We are back in Arusha today and leave for the beaches of Zanzibar tomorrow.
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