And we're back!

            What a way to end a birthday! We’re back from the Serengeti, which was everything we had hoped for and more. It was nothing short of amazing and although it’s sad to leave, what we’ve seen has definitely lived up to expectations.

            After 564 pictures in 4 days, I’d say I had a lot to edit when I got back to camp. But after going through it all, my memory has been refreshed on everything we did. Our schedule consisted of two exercises a day: bird watching in the morning and carnivore searching in the afternoon. For three days we got up at 6:00 am and went out to count species of birds we saw for 4 hours and then we would head back to the camp site for a rest and lunch. After lunch, we would complete the carnivore exercise, which was essentially driving around to observe carnivores and their activities at different times in the afternoon. Although there was that academic side, most of it was really just enjoying the wildlife and taking pictures (which none of us were complaining about!).

            I can proudly say that after this trip to Africa, I’ve finally completed seeing the “Big Five” – lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants, and rhinoceros. In the Serengeti, we saw more leopards than we expected to! And although it’s not on the Big Five list, we saw a handful of cheetahs as well! None of them were close enough to take clear pictures, but we were able to see them on multiple occasions through our binoculars. No crazy-National-Geographic-cheetah-running photos, but still so cool!

            One of the most memorable moments we witnessed was a stand-off between an elephant herd and a lion pride. The lion pride (about 15 lions) was sitting under some trees for shade. As we took pictures, we really didn’t notice the herd of elephants (about 15 as well) coming towards the same area the lions were resting in. They were walking so slowly and quietly that all of our attention was initially just on the lions. But the lions, unlike us, were paying attention to the elephant herd, and as they came closer, the lions began to get up and move away from the trees they had been sitting under. But the elephants kept coming closer to the lions and eventually trumpeted at them, scattering the lions in front of our car and across the road to the other trees. Both the elephants and lions were extremely vocal – growling and thundering at each other. Luckily, I was able to record the entire exchange! So the next time you see me, I have the video evidence!

            We packed up early this morning and are back at camp for the next 2 days until we leave. We have a free day tomorrow for shopping, hiking, and relaxing. And on Sunday we close with a group dinner and closing discussion about the program. It’s unreal to think that I’ve been here for a month already. But I am ready to go home! I’ll save the sappy stuff for my last post, but until then here are some of the pictures from the expedition! Check Facebook at some point later today for some more!

At a pit stop on the way to the Serengeti

Saw this little guy just hanging out!

Storks sleeping on an early morning bird watching drive

Leopard!

Not a bad view from our campsite!

Best picture of a lion all trip came on our last day - not zoomed it at all!