Serengeti National Park – The Serengeti Never Disappoints

This morning Daniel our waiter, apologized for being five minutes late delivering my delicious coffee. It was still pitch dark outside - and there was a buffalo on the property. Don’t worry, he was safe; he was armed with my latte.

The drive from Ngorongoro to the Serengeti takes about four hours, and by the end of it, I understood why so many people choose to fly. At the gate of Ngorongoro Crater, which we had to transit through to get to Serengeti, we bid farewell to paved roads for the rest of our safari.

The roads are rough, dusty, and rarely level. The jeep spends much of its time leaning at an angle that your body doesn’t agree with. The road noise is too loud for conversation and your hands are constantly occupied finding something to hold onto. Our brains are rattling. Items from the back of the jeep jump to the front. Every passing jeep leaves behind a cloud of dust. There isn't much to do except look out the window and watch the scenery slowly change – hoping the African massage is over soon.

We stop for lunch at the Serengeti’s main gate. While we’re standing around waiting for some details of our tour to get fixed, I spot a “viewpoint” sign. Edward catches me headed that way. “It isn’t always safe. Sometimes there is a lion,” he cautioned.

I decided I would live if I pass on the viewpoint.

We got back in the car and Edward heard the click of Greg’s seatbelt. “Seat belt? No seat belt. The roof is open.” I love this part. It felt like an open invitation to go on a wild adventure!

At nearly 14,800 square kilometers, the Serengeti is difficult to comprehend. You can drive for hours and still feel like you've barely scratched the surface. It is a wide open plain - you can see for miles and miles. It’s very different than the other national parks that are full of trees, long grass, and bushes.

We discover right away that it is impossible to look anywhere without seeing a gazelle. They dot the landscape the way squirrels do back home – then multiply that by ten. They seem perfectly content to stay out in the open for all to see.

We drive for a bit and come to our first Big 5 sighting: a group of female lions laying down. 

Even though the lions are doing nothing but trying to rest, it is pretty impressive. 

However, Edward is ready to move on.

“Good?” Edward asks every time before we leave a scene. No, not technically. I could stay here indefinitely, just watching them. But I know if I don’t tear myself away, we won’t see anything else.

Since we found the female lions, and lions live in prides (families) within their own territory, Edward knew the males would be “nearby”. (Territories can be 50 square miles or more.) He wants to go find Mufasa.

Edward is busy driving and scanning the horizon from below, while I am standing on the seat with my head out the top. The bumpy terrain turned my post into a balancing act that required constant effort. Imagine trying to stand up on the seat of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones ride – for hours and hours, not three minutes.

The reward was the view. You can see for miles in every direction. The grasslands seem endless. Every so often I would duck back inside to escape the dust kicked up by another passing vehicle before climbing back up to continue the search.

It didn't take long to discover the most effective wildlife tracking technique in the Serengeti: find a parked jeep.

It worked surprisingly well.

Most of the time, a stopped vehicle meant lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, or some other exciting discovery. Occasionally it meant the occupants were, as Edward politely put it, "marking their territory."

The jeeps lead us to our next discovery: a large, dried out bush. It is something we’d easily drive right by without the help of the parked jeeps. Bushes are everywhere in the Serengeti. But this one is worth a closer look. Hidden beneath the branches is a mother cheetah and her cubs.

If you look closely, you can see white with black spots

Edward guessed the cubs are about 4-5 months old

Before this moment, Greg and I don’t know the difference between a cheetah and a leopard. Cheetahs have black tear lines running down their face – and their spots are clustered, not uniform.

 Surprisingly, next we find Mufasa. He is asleeping on a small mound of grass. He’s not budging. “Lazy lions,” Edward says.

We continue on our way and pull up to our next set of jeeps. “Honeymooners,” Edward comments. I thought he was talking about the young couple in the jeep in front of us.

I didn’t even notice the two lions sitting in the grass below them.

They’ve left the pride for a few days because the lioness is in heat.

It feels like a scene straight out of the Lion King. Watching Simba and Nala, I’m singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” in my head.

We get comfortable to stay for a bit. Edward explains this can be quick or it can take a while, depending on how long they’ve been on honeymoon. What’s funny is that the female is completely in charge of the timing. She decides. And the male is at the ready.

Only Nala doesn’t seem one bit interested. She clearly has other things on her mind. She moves and Simba jumps up, ready to pounce. Then she plops back down, just teasing him. “Aghhhh,” comes the collective groan from a nearby jeep.

I'm not quite sure how to react as the lions head straight for our jeep. Instinctively, I duck down into the vehicle - but they don't even care about us.

It’s been a very long day. It’s time to start the 2-hour drive to camp.

On the way, we stop alongside the road with a couple other jeeps and try to figure out which direction they’re looking. They’re looking at a big tree off in the distance. We need binoculars or a zoom lens to see why.

It's a tree.

It’s a leopard. They are solitary animals that live in trees for protection.

Wow, what a day. We’ve only been here a matter of hours and already found the three big cats! “Ok, you found me my cats, thank you,” Greg says to Edward.

“I very much like adventure,” Edward replies. And then, “Do you mind if we get to the lodge a little late? I want to go see something.”

This is Edward’s territory and he knows it well. He finds another big tree. With another leopard.

We don’t see how this could get any better so we allow ourselves to let our guard down. And yet, the day isn’t over yet. On the quiet road that leads only to our camp, I look down and spot what I am convinced is a tiny cheetah. Of course, I’m wrong. “It is a serval cat. To see them is just luck,” Edward  informs us. “We saw 4 cats. I appreciate your luck.”

Usually evasive, this serval cat is just hanging out along the road

Exhausted, we arrive at camp, and are greeted with a warm welcome. We are staying at Lala Salama, a brand new luxury camp owned by our tour company.

I never imagined a safari would be such an adventure - the waiting, the anticipation, the suspense, the action! When Edward said the Serengeti never disappoints, he was absolutely right. In half a day we found four of the Big Five—and every big cat I had hoped to see.

Our escort to our tent is a Maasai warrior who spent his life protecting his village. He carries a flashlight – and a long, very sharp spear.