Just a quick post from Cape Town to say that Ric and I made it safely out of Kenya after an amazing safari experience. We didn't get eaten or attacked by any wild animals, although we came uncomfortably close with a large male lion. Our guide said that he was walking towards the car because he wanted to lay in the shade next to it... but this statement came just after he reminded us that lions are cats and could jump into the jeep (which had open sides, no doors/windows) faster that we could say "meow." After several desperate pleas of "please drive away, please drive away" Simon finally turned on the car and rescued us from an almost certain lion fight (and we all know who's winning that one).
We have plenty of pictures to post as soon as they're uploaded, but just to give you a taste of the number of different animals we saw, here's a partial list:
Lions - on the first day we saw a pride of 11 lions. One male, three females and seven cubs. Saw another few the next day (when the guy started walking towards us and got within about 3 or 4 feet).
Leopard - this is THE hardest animal to see any many people never get to. Simon said there's only a 20% chance that you'll see one.
Cheetahs - saw two on our game drive into the Maasai Mara official game reserve and then saw another on our last game drive right after she had hunted (and killed) dinner. She was enjoying the fresh meat quite intently and we got really close to watch. Very cool.
Zebras - about a million of these guys, including a group that tried to cross the river filled with crocodiles. Most made it, but there was one unlucky soul. The crocs had quite a time with the zebra (I think they try to drown it under water) and then they all enjoyed their prize. Interesting thing about zebras is that they have really good eyesight, so they tend to pair up with the wildebeests and travel together. Wildebeests have bad eyesight but a great sense of smell, so they make a good team.
Elephants - one of my favorite things to see. On one drive we found ourselves smack in the middle of a family of 16 that were chowing down on leaves. Simon said they have to eat for 16 hours a day to get enough food. They're really amazing to watch.
Giraffes - another favorite. They are so tall and graceful and when they run it's like they're moving in slow motion. A little skittish, but we were able to get really close on one or two occasions. There was actually a family that lived right outside our camp so we saw them almost every day.
Antelope - didn't realize how many different kinds there were, but we saw Dik Diks, Thompson gazelles, Grant gazelles, Topi, and Impala.
Hippos - there were about 30 that lived in the river that ran right by our camp. We saw (and heard) them every day... they mostly just lay in the river, but get out to sun and gather food every once in a while. Although they look pretty lazy and slow, they actually kill more humans than any other animal.
Warthogs - I love these little guys. Especially how they run around with their tales sticking straight into the air. One day we saw a mom and her tiny little babies. She didn't like us being so close and she ran towards their hole to push the babies inside. She then took off in the other direction to try and distract us. So cool
Baboons - who knew they were so aggressive! The two guys who were on most of our drives with us had a run in at another park where the baboons actually attacked their car, jumped inside, took all their food, went number two on the seat, and then ran away. One of the guys actually got pushed out of the way by the biggest baboon as he headed for the food. I guess they can be a real menace for the camps because they come in looking for people food. Sounds like raccoons to me
And of course the wildebeests. We were told that there are about three million in the park during the migration but it seemed like even more than that. They're really odd looking animals and were everywhere!
So that's your animal lesson for the day. Photos coming shortly!!
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