The Serengeti

You read about the Serengeti and see it in such movies as The Lion King but you can never be prepared for the reality of it. It is HUGE. It is miles and  miles and miles of uninterupted grassland. It is aptly named "the Sea of Grass." We explored it for several days and it took all day to drive across it. If the Ngorongoro is closed this is completely open and seemingly limitless. At times it seemed devoid of any wildlife and at others teeming with wildebeest and zebra.

Zebras, Wildebeest and Thompson's Gazelles gather here by the hundreds of thousands waiting to start the annual Great Migration which will take them to the Masai Mara in Kenya. The numbers  of animals that we saw for miles and miles for as far as the eye could see was incredible.

There always seemed to be a storm brewing somewhere off in the distance, but luckily we hardly encountered any rain.

Kopjes are called "Islands in a Sea of Grass." They rise up in the middle of the open plain and provide habitat for a wide range of plants, animals and birds.

 It was thrilling to ride in the truck searching the area knowing that at any minute anything could pop up. And it did.

              First a lion on the side of the road and right after about a half mile down the road...

a leopard in the tree. The tail hanging down was the only clue that he was there.

And birds, oh my, there were so many birds!

Ostriches

Kori Bustard

Von der Deckken's Hornbill

Black-Bellied Bustard

d'Arnaud's Barbet

Next up...the little known Tarangire National Park