Central Serengeti - Day 2

This morning it was really quiet at breakfast compared to the last couple of days. Alladin wanted to drive out to the South West of the park today and we were soon on our way.  

It was a fairly calm start to the morning. We were entertained by a group of banded mongeese, stopped at a hippo pool, spotted quite a few different birds and stopped at a picnic place with one of the nicest views.

Then late morning another guide told Alladin he had seen a leopard in a tree. We discussed whether we should go and see if we could find it and decided it was worth a go. The guide gave Alladin some basic instructions, the final one being “he was down that track in a small tree”. So off we went. It was quite a drive and we passed no other cars on the way. About half an hour later we were therefore driving down a track looking for “ a small tree”!!

We eventually identified what we thought was the correct tree but couldn’t see anything. We retraced ours steps but after a while came to the conclusion it had to be “that” tree. Again we searched the tree using binoculars and then suddenly Alladin cried out “I can see it!,”. After describing to us where it was Pete and I also both managed to see it.

While we were watching, the leopard moved around a bit and we got a better view.

Then after about 5 minutes he jumped down from the tree and started walking towards us and crossed the road right in front of us. Brilliant.

He then walked off into the undergrowth on the other side of the road. At this point Alladin called to us “Watch him. Don’t lose him”. He then drove back down the road to a junction and then drove back down the road on his right so we would now be on the opposite side of the undergrowth hopefully with the leopard walking towards us again. However……during the short drive Pete and I lost sight of the leopard!!

We stopped approximately opposite where we thought he ought to be and scanned the undergrowth. Once again Alladin suddenly called out “I see him”. I think he had laid down for a bit and was then only properly visible again when he sat up.

We then became aware that there was a group of mongeese around who having become alert to presence of the leopard had sounded their alarm calls and disappeared underground.

The leopard could obviously hear them as well and decided that they could be a possible snack so tried to find them. We watched as he wandered around and eventually found where he thought they were, under a mound, and settled down to wait and see if they reappeared. Meanwhile the alarm calls were still going on.

We had now been with him for the best part of an hour and were just debating how much longer we would wait (it was now well past lunchtime), when he must have decided to give up and so got up, crossed the road in front of us again and disappeared into the wilderness. A great sighting with no one else around. Probably our best leopard experience ever.

It was now gone 2pm so we drove to the picnic site nearby at Lake Magadi and had our lunch. A nice peaceful place. There were even some flamingoes.

However as we were finishing eating it started to get very dark and Alladin announced “Ok time to move!” and we promptly packed up and left.

Our afternoon game drive took us back in the direction of our camp whilst avoiding any of the areas where we could see it was raining. We saw more birds of course but also a hyena lying in the road and some elephants who had enjoyed their time in the mud.

By now it was looking pretty dark in all directions and we decide to head back to camp. It definitely seemed like the rainy season was starting here even if only in the afternoons. It certainly wouldn’t have been worth setting out on a late afternoon game drive today.

After showering we had a drink in the bar and met Alladin for dinner. A lovely day away from the crowds.