I saw the top two African killer animals...

And lived to tell about it! I can finally check off a tour of the Serengeti from my bucket list. It was beginning to be a bit embarrassing – to think that I’ve lived within a few hours’ drive of one of the most amazing game reserves in the world these past six months and it took me this long to see it. I have Kurtis and Carla to thank. I spent the past weekend with them and they suggested we go for a game drive. We hit the road before the crack of dawn and watched the sun rise over the Serengeti plains. As we drove along, we saw the shapes of giraffes, antelope, and elephants pass us by. The next five hours consisted of driving along various designated tracks and keeping a sharp lookout for anything that moved. Peter remarked how cool it would be to see a hippo out of the water for a change and, wouldn’t you know it, out walked the biggest hippo you have ever seen! He lumbered into the road on his stubby little legs, turned his head towards us, gave us this look of disgust, turned his rump in our direction, and shuffled right back to where he’d come from. Hard to believe that something so huge can walk on legs that short and be considered the second most dangerous animal in Africa. We continued on our merry way when, all of a sudden, I spotted something dark to our right. Kurtis hit the brakes and up popped three black heads – Cape Buffalo, the most dangerous animal in all of Africa! They are easily recognizable by their unique set of horns propped on top of their heads. They are completely fearless and will charge at the slightest hint of danger instead of running away like most animals. We sat in hushed silence, taking a few pictures before slowly driving away.

As we drove onto the vast Serengeti plains, we spotted a herd of about 30 elephants making their way slowly to a fresh feeding ground. The largest female took the lead and directed the others. It was quite the sight to behold as they moved majestically as one group, the newborns in the midst of the pack for protection. They crossed right in front of us without giving us a second glance. And then we hit the jackpot! Peter thought he saw some lions in the distance tracking a kill and, slightly to the left, some dark shapes were slinking away. His guess was cheetahs, a rare sighting! The lions were too far away but we were determined to see the cheetahs. The only way to do that was to follow a “path” off the main track. We were able to drive right up beside five (!) cheetahs lounging under a bush, keeping an eye on the lions in the distance. Some time later, we came across the same pride of lions taking it easy near a riverbed. One of the lionesses was taking her sweet time following the others and just as we stopped, she decided to catch up to the others. She walked right by our car window!!! Man, she was all muscle and, up close, her head looked completely out of proportion to the rest of her body – it was huge! She looked fierce.

A word of advice: If you’re ever in the Serengeti and are having trouble finding animals, just survey the horizon and find several safari vehicles at a standstill – you’re guaranteed to see something. We turned the corner of a pile of rocks and nearly slammed into about five safari vehicles crowded around one tree. We had no clue what they were looking at. Peter leaned out his window and asked another safari guide what was so interesting. A leopard, the guide casually replied, as if this was an everyday occurrence. We freaked! Just to give you an idea how rare a leopard sighting is, Carla has been living in Africa on and off for over 20 years and has never seen a leopard. The leopard was so well-disguised unless you knew where he was hanging out in the tree, you’d completely miss him. We just sat and stared in awe, waiting for the slightest movement to give us a better look.

What a day! We ended off by lunching and swimming at a nearby safari lodge. It was exhausting and exhilarating to have seen so much in one day. Our first safari tour and we’d seen just about every animal imaginable!