The Big Five

Leopard, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, Lion.  Originally, they were the five most dangerous to hunt on foot.  They tell us now that these are the five most endangered.  (fyi the Maasai men are no longer required to kill a lion in order to prove their entrance into adulthood).

By February 15 we had seen hundreds if not thousands of four of the big five.  Only the leopard had eluded us.

Our Tour Director Gabriel had guaranteed we’d see them in the Serengeti.  And true to his word, he delivered on that very first day.

But first, after enjoying our box lunch, we drove along the grasslands seeing literally hundreds of thousands of animals.  We even saw a lioness sleeping in a tree.

Then, in the distance.  We saw it.  A leopard, relaxing on a big limb in a huge tree up ahead.  We were ecstatic.  We drove up to it, it moved to a higher branch.  So we quite literally drove under it.  With our top up.  I got some great shots as did the other guests.

We continued and again, were amazed at the changing scenery.  Huge trees were in this area, tall green grass.  The zebras loved it.  I can’t say it enough, there was wildlife as far as the eye could see.  

The Serengeti covers over 5,700 square miles, so you can expect quite a bit of variety within it in both landscape and wildlife, flora and fauna.  The word Serengeti is from the Maasai, and it means “endless plains”.  There was even an area with huge rock formations, very much like the American west.   

On day two we spent the entire day driving and observing.  We saw four more leopards, hundreds of elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, wildebeests.  It was beyond incredible.

On our final night our tent camp (another amazing lodge with great food and service) provided a farewell bush dinner.  We took turns one by one talking about our favorite part of the trip.  Without exception, every single one of us said the trip greatly exceeded our expectations.  Many of us intend to return, including me and Doug. 

On February 16 we packed up for the final time, loaded into our land cruisers, and headed to the airstrip.  Along the way we found a huge pack of lions less than one mile from our tents.  We also spotted two lions, brothers, checking their territory.  I have some great videos of them roaring.  

Giraffe, zebra, elephants,cheetah, they all seemed to make sure we saw them as a final farewell.  

We boarded two 12 seater planes and flew back to Arusha.  We were taken to a gorgeous hotel and given individual hotel rooms in which to spend the remainder of the day (it was early afternoon).  We had our first hamburger in over two weeks.  

We were picked up at 6PM and taken to Kilimanjaro airport, where we boarded a huge KLM plane and headed on to Dar es Salaam.  There we stayed onboard the plane as more passengers were loaded, then off to Amsterdam, and from there Atlanta, and from there OKC.

All in all, it takes over 40 hours of travel to get home.  We left the Serengeti on Saturday morning, 8:30, and arrived in OKC Sunday evening, 7PM.

Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  Will I return.  Again, absolutely.  I hope you can join me.  Stay tuned.