On Safari

I spent yesterday in Lake Nakuru National Park, near Nakuru, Kenya. I didn't have high hopes of seeing all of the animals, given how few animals I saw on safari in India. That all changed within the first hour of the first game drive of the day. Within minutes we had seen zebra, rhinos, water buffalo, gazelle, warthogs and more flamingos and pelicans than imaginable. The park was just teeming with life. The first lion siting was brief, with two lionesses disappearing into the brush as soon as we came upon them. A little further on we came upon some giraffes, which are by far the most graceful animals I have seen so far.

At lunch we had some unwelcome guests in the form of a dozen or so baboons. They came right up to where we were and stole a loaf of bread and a bag of rolls. The guide tried to chase them off (he actually punched one in the back of the head twice, which had no effect), and eventually they gave up and left. Luckily we had enough food left so we were able to eat, too.

The second game drive was nice, but we didn't come across any of the "desirable" animals to view. After we set up our tents (we spent the night in the park, with no fences between us and the animals), we went out for the final drive of the day. Jack pot. We came across 5 lions, 1 younger male, 3 females and 1 cub. They put on a good show, stretching, yawning, licking each other and making threatening gestures at us. It was great.

I was able to take a ton of great pictures during the day. Connection speeds are still way to slow at the moment to upload any pictures at this point. Hopefully I will be able to soon.

We are making our way back to Nairobi, then on to Tanzania and Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater. I hopefully will be able to complete the Big 5 in the next week or so.