Some highlights of the day:
Birds! The driver, my friend and co-worker Dave, is an avid bird watcher. My sister gave me the book “Birds of East Africa” for Christmas, and I am now starting to keep track of all the birds I see. Dave has good eyes to find the birds and can usually name the bird family immediately. This is then followed by a frantic search through the book in an attempt to identify the bird before it flies away. Some we got pictures of, some we didn’t. The birds here are unreal to me; the variety and colors amaze me. What a creative God we serve! I never imagined birds being a focus of a safari, but with Dave there, they certainly are. At one point, he cried out “Bird emergency!” and quickly shifted into reverse so we could get a better look at a bird we had nearly missed seeing. That might just be me in a year or two…
A Leopard! Though none of us got a picture to prove it, we did indeed see a leopard. He was lazily perched in a tree about 50ft away from our car. Dave spotted him first, and we all sat in shock. Then during our frantic scramble for binoculars and cameras, the leopard slowly stretched and descended from the tree. One of our crew got a picture where you can kind of see his tail if you know what you’re looking for. Nonetheless, we saw him, and people go on many safaris and can’t ever say that.
Crazy Roads! We are now in the middle of rainy season here (even as I write it’s pouring outside). This means that some of the roads in the Serengeti weren’t exactly smooth and friendly. We had a few close calls in the Land Cruiser, sliding around on the slick roads, sometimes a foot deep in mud. As a passenger in the back with no responsibility for our safety, I felt like a kid on a roller coaster and had the time of my life. Near the end of the day, one bump came out of nowhere and I think I hit the roof. Great fun!
