THREE LEOPARD DAY

Today was to be the last of our very long days on the bumpy road. Elisante had prepared us to depart at 8 and to not arrive at our destination until at least 6:30. What he did not prepare us for was a day full of wonderful surprises. Seriously, ever day we say it just can’t get any better and it does.

On our way out of town we were wowed once again with the endless procession of wildebeests only today they were putting on a show running and jumping. Unlike most of the animals here, wildebeests have a rutting season resulting in all the babies being born over a 3 week period in February. Needless to say, every second wildebeest had a calf by her side. From there it was a quick swing by the tree where we saw the leopard yesterday and sure enough we were treated to an amazing show. We watched her eat, run up and down the tree and if that wasn’t enough, we saw another leopard. Incredible.

It was time to get on our way and after about an hour of driving, Elisante slows down, takes out his binoculars with no hint of what he has spied, and then turns down a dusty road to present us with this spectacle.

There were two prides of lions resting on these rocks and at one point we were 10 feet face to face with this huge male. He just sized us up and rolled over for a nap.

This is what one looks like after getting to close to a Lion

After a picnic lunch, our next stop was at the Oldupai Gorge, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites where over 60 fossils of hominids have been found and is the only place in the world that has all the species that evolved to today’s humans. It was really interesting and a treat for Sharon, who I just learned has a masters in anthropology.

All around this area were Maasai villages and villagers walking about near and far living a very traditional life. It is such a remote area, it is hard to believe people live like this herding cattle and with so little. I just learned that they do not eat vegetables, only blood, milk and meat from their cattle. While we were waiting for our guide to settle a dispute over our entry fee, some of the Maasai wandered up and agreed to let me take some pictures for a small donation. I was all over that. Fascinating. I also managed to sneak a few through the car window. For the most part they are very private people.

We continued on to our next location at the top of the crater. The view was amazing and a million colours of green. We were shocked to see such a different landscape and even more shocked when a leopard walked out in front of us. Elisante had just told us that you never see them here and this was only his second time in 14 years. They are so beautiful.

As you can see, our long dreaded drive turned into a magnificent adventure. We are in constant awe.

As with all our accommodations, we were greeted at the door with hot towels, juice and people to carry our bags. The place has an incredible view and there were Maasai jumpers in the lobby. As I sit here typing there is an amazing African choir singing and I am crying. It just doesn’t get any better than this.

Here our huge rooms and the lobby.