Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Africa: Day 7


We left at oh dark hundred this morning and made our way to the central Serengeti, the thing to see in the Serengeti is the Leopard, and since we didn't see one where we were staying....we drove five hours to find a leopard.  FIVE HOURS!!!  This buffalo was awake to see us off.


I avoid driving in the snow and ice at all costs.  Other then going to work, nothing can get me out of the house in in climate weather.  That being said, it had rained yesterday, and the roads were awful on our way to see the leopards.  We almost did a three-sixty while hydroplaning on mud.  It was crazy.


On the drive we saw a pride of lions...and we got sooo close to them that we could hear them breathing.  It was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life.  You could see their golden eyes looking at you.


These cubs were soooo cute!!!!


There were at least 12 different lions in this pride, sleeping and basking in the sun.


They would occasionally stand up, look at us, and then lay down again.  The adult lions were ambivalent towards us, they understood that we were not a threat.  The little cubs would look right at us, trying to figure out what we were.


Umm, so we drove over five hours and waited over an hour and fifteen minutes in line to see this sight...can you guess what it is?  After three minutes of staring at it, my father still could not figure out what it was. 

We drove up to a huge line of cars, maybe fifteen cars deep and our guide says, "we are about to see a leopard." I got really excited, expecting it to be pouncing about, doing tricks (I'm being sarcastic).  Well I'm not sure what I expected to see, but when we got there, I saw what looked to be a swatch of two dimensional leopard print fabric.  We spent a few minutes gawking at the lump and drove away.  

The guide looked at my father and said, "did you see it?"  And my father said, "no."  So our guide had the driver turn around the car.  My dad was protesting, "You don't have to do this for me.  I'm fine."  Our guide looked at my father like he was a moron.  "Peter, we drove five hours to see this leopard.  We are not leaving until you see it."  Well ok then.  :  )


As we waited for another half hour, I prayed that we would see some sign of life.  Thank goodness that the second we pulled up to see the leopard it started to lick it's fur.  We officially saw a leopard!!!!


Many people make the trek to Africa and leave without seeing a leopard.  We were lucky enough to see two in one day.  There is a Leopard in this acacia tree, can't see it?  Thats ok, neither could I.


Well here it is.  We got extremely lucky twice in one day.  After a few minutes of looking at the tree, the leopard stood up and moved to a lower branch on the tree.  What a sight to see.


Finally we made our way home after a long day of driving.  On our way home we saw our family of cheetahs again.


Aren't these the cutest things you have ever seen in your life?  I loved these cheetahs.

Love Always,

Meg

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