Capturing the Moment

What looks like a mighty roar, is actually just a relaxing yawn, from this sleepy young male lion. But look at those teeth!   The Okavango Delta has always seemed like a far off, almost mythical place. I grew up seeing books and photos of it. Lions among palm trees, elephants wading through deep water. There were stories of having to sit up on top of the seat of the safari vehicle because you drove through water so deep it came over the floorboards. Having to take small bush planes to access the interior of the floodwaters. It has always seemed a place where the feeling of wild Africa permeates every moment. This is what I wanted to share with Greg and Sue on our epic 'Best of Africa' trip around the continent. We have experienced the Great Migration in the Serengeti, trekking with gorillas in the Virunga Mountains, and tracking leopards in Sabi Sand, but I wanted to finish with the feeling and experience that only the Okavango Delta can provide.

  Its hard to pic a photo of the day, but this might be it. We put in our time after finding this leopard resting high in the branches of this fig tree. It moved once to an open branch, which was great. But climbing down the tree to grab a drink in a nearby creek was better than I could hope for. Patience pays off again. Our day in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve began with one of those sunrises you don't forget. It reflected off the infinity pool and over a lone acacia tree in the savanna beyond. After a big camp breakfast, and plenty of Kenyan coffee, we climbed into our open sided Land Cruiser with our expert guide, David, and set out for a full day safari.

  We traveled for a while, soaking in the early morning misty plains of the Serengeti from our extended land cruiser safari vehicle. Our morning reverie was interrupted by a group of vultures fighting a hyena over a freshly killed wildebeest. It was the groups first fresh kill. Not everyone was into the gruesome action. You couldn't even see some of the heads of the vultures since they were neck deep into the carcass. But this is the circle of life. Pretty soon there won't be much more than bleached bones left, thanks to the vultures and hyena. We continued on after the vulture show, and quickly came upon two male lions and a female. As we hung out with them we were surprised to see a third male lion pop up, and then a little later a fourth male lion popped up! The mane male and female were the same mating pair we had spotted two days earlier. She now looked like she was pretty over it, and disengaged from the male every time he attempted anything. The mating pair, and two of b...

  The inquisitive stare of a new baby lion.     Today our group woke up in the most beautiful tents, with the sunrise streaming in as our butler laid out our coffee platter. We were eager to get out and see what else the Serengeti had to offer so we opted to have our breakfast out in the bush during our extra long morning game drive. Our driver/guide, Godliving, yes that was his actual name, took us first to these beautiful rocky outcroppings called kopjees. A brief glimpse at a mama lion with her tiny, month and a half old cub. We only got this glimpse for a second, then they disappeared back into the bush.     The kopjees are a different environment that what we had been in during our Kenya leg of the safari. We found rock hyrax and klipspringer antelopes using the rocks as a habitat. Then we got word that a lion was up ahead. We could just barely see her moving around, catching the flick of a tail here, and the movement of an ear there. I was able to see her ...