Cats, Cats and more Cats!!!

The cub with lunch.

As frequently occurs after a vacation I start by posting a lot of our photos but then slowly lose my momentum and don’t post the last days of our vacation. This time I am going to try to push through, so while it has been months since we were in Africa I will try to post the last photos from the trip.

The day we left Ndutu lodge we headed into the park to see some more animals. Our hope was to see some large cats. We were aware that it was going to be unlikely but held out hope. What would follow would be an unbelievable day of cat sightings. We started out by seeing a couple of lionesses which Caitlin had mentioned wanting to see as we had only seen male lions up until this point. After which I asked her what she wanted to see she mentioned a leopard, half joking. Little did we know we would see a leopard with her cub after the lions lounging. We watched the leopards eat for some time, eventually Prosper asked if we had seen enough, while I think Caitlin would have been happy spending the rest of the week there we headed out.
I had to request a pit stop to pee, I had figured any tree would do, but to apparently Prosper was a little bit more cautious and drove into the middle of a field with short grass. His apprehension and location of choice made me more than a little worried. I had the mental image of me trying to out run some large animal while peeing on myself and dying that way. It did not make for the ideal eulogy. Thankfully that did not happen for more than one reason.
After the bathroom break we continued game driving and came across a couple of cheetahs. At this point Caitlin was on cloud nine. I didn’t think it could get any better. But after spending a long time with the cheetahs we headed out and came across a family of lionesses and managed to spot another cheetah in the distance. The day was becoming more and more amazing.
After staring at the lions sleeping we had lunch and headed toward the Serengeti. I asked Caitlin what was left to see and she mentioned baby lions. Enroute to the Serengeti we stopped at a rock outcropping that looked like something from tremors and as we rounded the rock we came across another family of lioness with about 14 cubs. It was like Caitlin made a wish list and everything on it was coming up. After looking at more lions sleep we started heading back to our Lodge. On the way I asked prosper what cats we hadn’t seen. He said only 2 that were in that region and showed them to me in the book. The first one looked like a large domestic cat and the second one a Serval he said you didn’t usually see in the Serengeti. As we were running late he started to drive a bit faster to make it before dark, but low and behold a Serval ran across the road in front of us. Unfortunately I had packed up the camera and didn’t get a good shot by the time I got everything out. I had figured there was no more to see. So Caitlin got her day of cats and saw just about every type imaginable. We thought it couldn’t get better but the days just kept on building.
We watched this elephant tear down a tree. He then ate one leaf and walked on.
Marabou Stork.
Wildebeest.
The stereotypical Safari shot.
The cub wasn’t so agile and kept dropping the bird he was trying to eat.
Mom sleeping above.
Trying to hang on to lunch.
Starting to lose it.
Bath time.
Mom going down to retrieve the bird.
Cheetah yawning.
Look at those teeth.
Caitlin liked the scruff of their neck.
Doesn’t look that ferocious.
Looking at something.
Absolutely stunning.
Walking around.
Got distracted by a hawk.
Lionesses lounging. Clearly not too worried about predators.
The flies were bothering them.
Not quite asleep.
Looks very comfortable.
Thats how close we got.
They didn’t mind us at all.
I loved the scenery and sky.
I miss wide open spaces.
Cruising across the park.
Lovebirds hanging out at the lodge.
Flamingos digging up food.
Their wings are so much brighter.
Wildebeest, apparently this isn’t very many.
Looks like a real life Farside comic.
Rock formations that jutted up in the middle of the Serengeti. Made me think of Jesse and how I’m sure he would explain this to his students for a lesson.
Amazing skies and scenery. No creative editing, this is just what it looked like.
Sleeping mom.
This guy had climbed to the top of the rock.
The little guy had a faux hawk.
Bath time.
The mothers share the duties of raising the little ones.
No problems climbing over each other to get some food.
Passed out on the rock.
Feeding time.
Pile of lions.
The view as we rounded the rock.
As we drove away.
Out of focus Serval.
Also out of focus but you can kind of make out the cool design of the ears.
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