Serengeti - Last Day (sigh)

It was a pretty good feeling, waking up on the last day of the safari with absolutely no expectations. We had seen pretty much everything we'd hoped to, plus had amazing weather even in the wet season, with only a few other tourists to boot.

Perfect.

Soooo, when the Serengeti surprised us with an amazing last game drive – who were we to complain?

We left the camp around 7:30am for another early morning drive – after a slow start, we struck paydirt, with another sighting of our elusive leopard. Unlike last time though, we were able to get within 50 to 75 meters, which is actually remarkably close for this type of, well, scaredy-cat ;)

Catching him in the early morning, he was content to just laze on the branches, and we all got our fill.



Next – we started slowly meandering out of the park, on the way to head back to Arusha. Adam, our amazing guide, spotted some vultures circling and took a small side path.

It paid off – first, with a group of well-fed lions, with even a few cubs to boot, lounging by a river. But, the best was yet to come.

Now I'm not normally one for vultures – they do a necessary task of cleaning up the environment, but aren't, well, the most aesthetically pleasing birds out there.

But, this was different.

We came across a group of about 15 birds clustered around the remnants of the lions' recent kill. They were a noisy bunch, and were distinctly anti-British in their approach to queuing up for the spoils.



Lines? There was no line – it was all about the biggest bird.

We were in a perfect position – catching an early view of the late arriving birds swooping in to join the party.



Finally, we had had enough, and decided to head for the gate, but the Serengeti had one more surprise in store.

Just as we joined up with the main road out of the park, we came across two young male lions, just lounging by the side of the road. It could have been lethargy from the sun, but they were content to just lay there while we shot away.

There was a little thrill involved too – because these guys were definitely in their element, and at times when something grabbed their attention, their eyes became incredibly focused and feral. It was at these moments that our open-sided van seemed more than a little flimsy protection!





That was about it though – we said good bye to the park, driving through herds of zebras and wildebeests, then took a few hours to get back to Arusha, where it was time to prepare for the next trip – climbing Kilimanjaro!