Serengeti

We passed straight from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the world famous Serengeti National Park. 

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We stopped for a snack at a rest stop and were quickly judged by a very pretty bird.

At the stop was a small hiking path up a hill (which is a nice term for the little bump on the Serengeti).

But it gave some spectacular views of the vastness that is the Serengeti.

The Serengeti is a much different landscape than the crater. It stretches as far as the eye can see and the grass is sometimes so tall there could be a whole herd of lions lounging and you would have no idea. We were lucky enough to spot some cheetahs!

How I feel about lions is about what Danielle feels for elephants. I was able to get my joyous tears over last year, but this was Danielle's first experience seeing African elephants in the wild. It took until the end of the last day, but we finally came upon a herd of elephants.

After staring in awe for a while, we headed out and pretty much stumbled upon a leopard. Probably the sneakiest of the Big Five, leopards are very good at hiding and love to lounge in trees. This guy was just taking a nice afternoon stroll by the road.

Although there was one other car when we ran into the leopard, after only about 4 minutes of watching him walk, this is the scene he created.

But he can't help it that he's so popular...

The sun was beginning to set as we headed to our camping site for the night. But, before we made it very far, we ran into, yet again, a herd of elephants.

.. with a very playful baby!

As we drove away, these giraffes lumbered by with their loyal tickbirds on their backs.

Sometimes in life, you see something that you couldn't have even dreamed of. As these elephants passed by behind the giraffes and we drove away, the sun was setting and we just just stared in awe of all these amazing animals and how lucky we were to experience them.

When I saw that we would be camping during our time in the Serengeti, I wasn't exactly thrilled. But when we drove up to our accommodation, it was pretty impressive. Although it was technically a tent, it had a full running bathroom with a hot water system for the shower.
Not exactly a hardship.

Stargazing is one of my favorite things. Nothing like staring into space to make you feel small, right?

The next morning, we watched hot air balloons take off across the plains while eating our breakfast.

We stayed in the Duma tent- which is Swahili for Cheetah! We learned quite a bit of Swahili during our time in Tanzania, including most of the animal names. Most surprising? How much real Swahili was in the Lion King! The word for lion is- you guessed it- Simba. Even our trusted Rafiki has a name that means "friend."
The best of all? Hakuna Matata is a genuine phrase that people often use. It never gets old to hear!

The Serengeti is a huge open plain so I was worried that there wouldn't be as many animals- there is nowhere to hide! But once again we were lucky. 

Driving around in your four wheel drive while searching for wild animals is unlike anything else. It's a bit scary as you know you are on their turf but it's also animals that you have seen in a zoo or in pictures a million times. Truly though, when you see them in person it is so incredibly different.

But then something happens that makes you remember that they really are just animals.
Like this impala that scratches his head just like my golden retriever. 

..and gracefully sticks out his tongue.

We had our second leopard sighting that morning although he was napping in a tree quite a ways away. 

Who doesn't love a good giraffe selfie?

We stopped at an information center to learn more about the wildebeest migration. And I spent most of the time looking at lizards.

As well as one of my new favorite animals- the rock hyrax. 

After a great morning out among the animals, we headed back just as a rainstorm was beginning. We opened up our tent and watched the rain pour down- from under the covers. I do love a good rainstorm and this one might be the most epic.

You could tell the storm was coming before it arrived by the epic cloud battle taking place.

After the rain stopped, we headed out to see what animals were still out and about. 

We did find some giraffes and a cute jackal, but mostly found a bunch of birds searching for that early worm!

We ended our last night in the Serengeti with a beautiful sunset and a bit of a lightening storm. 

As we left the next morning, a herd of elephants passed by the camp to say goodbye. 

We raced back through the Serengeti to find our last destination. It was a bittersweet goodbye as we were coming on our last day and we knew the Serengeti would be pretty hard to beat.