September 22, 2011
Giraffes on the Serengeti (Photo by Eric Simonson)
You can tell you’ve shifted gears when a day after walking out of Kilimanjaro National Park you are sitting in the Arusha Hotel, eating a buffet that must have been created for kings and queens, and your biggest concern is making your flight out to the Serengeti.
After landing at the Seronera “airportâ€Â (a gravel strip) in the Serengeti we were met by two kind and enthusiastic game drivers. James and Emmanuel helped us to get our luggage into the safari vehicles and not fifteen minutes after landing we were on the road and looking for critters. The three hour drive to the lodge allowed us to capture a peak at four of the Big Five: cape buffalo, elephant, lion, and the elusive leopard.  Today we drive to the Ndutu area and are hoping to see more lions, maybe a cheetah and if we’re lucky more leopards (along with many other animals).  For the rhinos, we probably won’t get a chance to see them until we get to Ngorogoro (where they have armed rangers patrolling for poachers). We’ll keep you posted!
Eben Reckord