The overwhelming beauty of nature on the hoof

a colorful lizard
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We got up for an early round of sightings.  A 6:30 beginning.  We came across two female Lions trotting down the road coming right past us.  Abbas turned the jeep around and we came up on the slowest of the two who stopped and huffing a bit made some deep grunting calls looked about for a while and then took a 90 degree turn into the grass.  We saw Topi, a large herbivorous antelope, a fish eagle, more baboon, impala, Zebra giraffe, gazelle and ostrich.  We rudely awoke a resting warthog.  Then we spotted a group of hyena.  A youth was within 15 feet of the jeep.  At a river crossing we startled a Hippo into the water where he did a bit of growling and grunting before he settled down with the 5 or more other hippos we could see wallowing about.

Leopard just hanging out
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The rest of the day involved packing, lunch and the drive out of the Serengeti and up to the rim of the crater called Ngorongoro or bowl in Masaai.  We found a leopard snoozing in a tree with legs adangle.  We added Grant's gazelle to our list.  Another group of Elephant were crossing the road ahead of us a jeep disturbed them enough to have the lead female give a trumpet and a dance of protection to her young.

I am moved by the Serengeti the same way I was moved by Rome.  It is a place I want to return to and stay.  To be able to absorb the variety and complexity and beauty.  To see it in different lights and seasons.  To know some of the detail of its workings.  My vote for one of the 7 wonders of the world goes to this place.  And particularly to the great migration.  As we were heading to the exit of the park we cut through just a small portion of the estimated 2.5 million animals that move like a seasonal clock across the Serengeti and up into Kenya's Masaai Mara reserve.  I don't think there exists on this planet anything like it.  To put yourself in the midst of these channels of animals passing across the plains of grass well beyond eyesight.  As a North American I can only think of what the bison on our great plains must have been like.

Gnu crossing
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We pull to a stop at a line of Wildebeest which are funneling down into a one by one crossing of the road.  Standing guard on the flood are a group of zebra.  They appear to direct the traffic as they wait blocking the massive number of beast behind them to let our jeep pass.  Nature's road guards.  We drive for half a kilometer bn what appears to be a thinning number of animals only to find another crossing with thousands more in both directions spreading out and disappearing in lines far far away.  The Wildebeest make small grunting sounds as the pass.  The zebra stop for breaks and cross their necks across the backs of each other in what a appears to be a very loving gesture.

My camera cannot capture the scope of the herd
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Being in the Serengeti and actually witnessing this movement of animals makes my heart feel good. It makes me hopeful and so grateful that such a large piece of land remains open and free for the nomads.

Having camped two nights we were back in a lodge this time on the crater rim.  The lodge has a knockout view of the crater from every room.  That is when the weather cooperates as it did when we arrived.

When we awoke the next morning things were not so clear.