Alas, all things must end sometime...

East Africa



You're probably wondering what you're supposed to see in this photo. It's a long story, but I figured you have time if you've been reading my rambling up to this point... =)

It was our lastday in Tanzania and we were driving from our lodge in Ngorongoro to Arusha then on to the airport. At that point of the trip, we were talking about being bummed because we have not seen a leopard and one of the other vehicle in our group has seen one! So, we were all resigned with the idea that oh well, we did not see a leopard but we have seen plenty other animals. We had our cameras put away and we were just talking about all the animals we have seen when suddenly our guide told us "chui", right in front of our vehicle! Our mouths dropped, because right in front of us, is a female leopard!!! We all got really excited then and started squeeling leopard!!! By the time we remembered to get our cameras and take a photo the leopard, all we got was what you see here. The leopard actually walked over to my side of the vehicle, looked at me, then disappeared in the grass! And yeah, I didnot get a photo because I was too surprised with what we were seeing! Oh well, some things are really just for our eyes. We still couldn't believe it that we saw all the big five animals!!! I was also surprised that the leopard looked kind of small. Our guide told us it's a female and it must have come out of the grass because it was wet. That was very lucky of us that the leopard decided to get out of the wet grass!




Now, this is not the leopard we saw but the one from the other vehicle in our group! Okay, I was not able to ask for permission to post this photo, so, if Frank and Al wants me to take this down, please let me know! They took the photo. Doesn't the leopard look amazing? Love the pattern on his coat! The one we saw was smaller and she was on the road in front of our vehicle.

This day was our last day in east Africa. Good-bye's are always sad but we were really glad for all the experiences we had during our short stay in Kenya and Tanzania. I still couldn't believe how colorful and diverse the wildlife there is eventhough it looks likethere's nothing for them to eat there! =) East Africa is a beautiful and magical place!

Another day, another hope of seeing the big 5!

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania



Yep, this is not Ngorongoro... This is the beginning of another exciting day of animal sightings with the hope of seeing the big 5! So far, we have seen 4 of the big 5, yet to see a leopard! Hehe! Technically too, we have only seen white rhinos... No black rhinos yet! Well, back to this photo, our day started out really promising with this beautiful sunrise from our lodge! =)




    

We're on our way to the crater! Again, for the life of me, I can't remember the name of the bird in the photo! Hee-hee! I have also forgotten what that hive looking thing on the tree is, I just remember it being really interesting during that time! =)


    

Here's one of our first animal sightings! A bunch of Thomson gazelles! (I think, these are Thomson gazelles...)




Some more birds that I cannot recall the name... Hee-hee! If you know what they are, let me know!




Pumbas! I mean, wart hogs... =D Gotta love the Lion King!




Best side of a jackal! I thought before that jackals were much larger... They're really small, more like the size of a cat!




Of course they're together! The zebras and wildebeests! Our guide said that the herd here does not migrate since they have lush grass the whole year round. Unlike the herds in the Mara/Serengeti who migrates for greener grass.


    



Is this a pretty face, or what? hyuk-hyuk! Seems like love is still in the air when we were there! =D




Rocks in the water? Nope, hippos! The mountains you see in the background is actually the wall of the crater we are in! Ngorongoro crater! This is the first time I have been in a crater... Well... I guess a second time, the first crater I went to, we didn't really go into...(Ubehebe crater in Death Valley, CA)


    

Here I go again with birds I can't remember the names... Well, it may come to me someday... So just in case, I'm sharing their photos here. =)




What a cute kitty, right? Except, I wouldn't want to pet it. =D That lioness was pretending to ignore us but you can tell she's keeping an eye on us!





We got another chance of seeing wild flamingoes! We were not able to come as close as we did in Kenya, but still pretty cool!





Seeing these wildebeest frolicking in the water was also pretty amazing!



    



This was the first time we saw a spotted hyena up close. It kinda looks cute, doesn't it? What's amazing is he's just walking there in broad daylight without a care in the world! I guess it helps that there are no cats there... Look at the other hyena just sleeping out in the open.




Now this bird I remember the name. It's a kori bustard! I remember it because we were all laughing at the name "bustard"... Hee-hee! It is one big bird! Though, not as big as "Big Bird" from Sesame Street. =D





Here's another beautiful end to a successful day of wildlife viewing! We were still a little bummed that we haven't seen a leopard yet!!! Hehe! Oh well.