Hakuna Matata and All That Jazz: Rains Down in Africa

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." ~John Ruskin

Cindy:

Sunday:

We had an early morning getting packed and to the airport for our 8:40 flight. We had to leave the lodge at 7:00am. Willy insisted that we have breakfast because when we landed we were going on a game drive and then to the Four Season's for lunch. So, off we went to the airport - along the way, we saw buffalo crossing the road from the top of the crater to the basin.

When we got to the airstrip, my fears were challenged again. Our next flight will be on a 12 seat plane.........ok, I can do this........so, we load up and the pilot takes the plane to the end of the dirt runway (yes dirt) and here we go, gathering speed, faster, faster and then we are up in the air just as we clear the cliff........I grabbed Nicki's hand......OMG.

35 mins later we land in the Serengeti with Willy, and met our new driver, Omari, we will miss Freddy, but look forward to getting to know Omari.

We also have a new animal designation - it's ALT, meaning Animal Like Thing- I had two of these over the last couple of days. Our guide, Willy's had one and Nicki's clear so far.

We saw giraffe, hippo, and a male lion.....wait for it.....then a female lion....with her three cubs resting after their breakfast.

When we arrived at the Four Seasons we had lunch on the patio overlooking the pool, overlooking the watering hole where a herd of elephants were enjoying the water. This was just so cool and so relaxing. Nicki and I enjoyed watching the babies and the teenagers playing. Then they moved out for the zebra and water buck, meanwhile, the baboons crossed over headed in another direction.

It's amazing that the animals really get along. The predators only kill when necessary for their survival. Once they are satisfied they sleep and life goes on. I really noticed this yesterday when we saw the two lions after the killed the wildebeest - all of the other wildebeest, antelope, water buck, zebra, etc. went back to eating ......once the kill was made, the drama was over, and life continued on for all the animals.

We went on another game drive about 4:00 pm and we were supposed to be back about 6:00 but the rain came........and I mean, it poured, so we watched the hippos for quite a while - they were sooooo happy and very lively.

On our way back, the road was flooded so we had to wait until the water went down before we could get back to the lodge. Fun adventure!!!!!! We had drinks with Willy and talked about the day and looked at the pictures we took. Nicki and I had dinner and went to bed kind of late.....sorry for not posting

But, we're making up for it now.......

Nicki:

Sunday:

This morning, we left the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and headed for Serengeti National Park. It took us an hour and a half to get to the airport at Lake Manyara, and then it was about a 45 minute flight to Serengeti. Once we got there, Willy introduced us to our new driver, Omari, and we all set off for a miniature game drive before heading to the hotel for lunch. As soon as we landed at the airport, I spotted some giraffe that we know had been told to be there to greet us upon our arrival.

For being a relatively short game drive, it was vey successful. We saw lion within the first half an hour of getting on the road, and there was other wildlife everywhere!

When we got to the hotel, my mom and I basically started acting like little kids, because when you looked outside, there was a watering hole, and at that particular moment, there was a whole herd of elephants splashing around in the water. I felt bad for the lady checking us in, because we could barely concentrate. Once we settled into our room, we went to grab a bite to eat, because we had the early afternoon to rest and explore the hotel. We had lunch out on the deck, overlooking the pool and the watering hole. The elephants decided to put on a show in honor of our arrival...

Here as some of the other animals that we saw while enjoying our afternoon:

At 4:30, Willy and Omari picked us up for our afternoon game drive, and the rain clouds were just coming in. A dark cloud loomed over us as we headed out, but that just made it more fun. None of the animals seemed to enjoy the rain except the elephants and the hippos.