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GAME DRIVE #4 PICTURE LINK - FIRST SET
GAME DRIVE #4 PICTURE LINK - SECOND SET
GAME DRIVE #4 PICTURE LINK - THIRD SET

On today's game drive, the goal is stay out to almost lunch time. We would have a "bush breakfast" provided by the camp. Very cool!

Since we weren't under a time restraint, we turned right out of the camp and went very far outside the park into the Miti Mbili Plains. The land here looks different from areas we've seen in the Masai Mara. Jackson said that the Masai people had burnt the tall grass recently so that green grass would grow. And where there is green grass, there's a lot of wildlife!

We drove for about an hour before we saw anything. We were driving through areas of tall grass and Jackson said the wildlife was there, but it's just hard to see.

The first thing we finally came across was a pair of ostriches. This was our second set of ostriches to see and I thought they paired up for life, but I've since learned that this isn't true. We then saw a large herd of elands and topis. Topis have a characteristic habit of standing on high vantage points such as termite mounds to observe their surroundings, and that's just how we saw one!

Our next wildlife encounter was with a pack of hyenas in the distance. And where there are hyenas, there are usually lion prides. Sure enough, we came upon a pride of four -- a lion and four lioness. I still can't get over how close you can get to them. It's just so amazing and life changing to be so near to them in their natural habitats. It's going to be really hard to ever go to a zoo again!

Not far from this pride we saw our first wildebeest. Jackson said that not all of them migrate back down to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, as a few actually stay behind. Some day I would like to see this large migration. It must be mind boggling to see these fields filled with a million wildebeest and 100,000 zebras!

We next made our way back into the park and over to the first airstrip we had landed at when we came to the Masai Mara. Next to this airstrip is a very large pond filled with lilies. As we were driving around it, I noticed that some of the lilies were moving. Then up would come a hippo letting out a big sigh!

As it turns out, we are going to have breakfast here. Jackson laid out a blanket and pulled out our boxed breakfasts that we had ordered the night before. We sat here for about 45 minutes, enjoying our food, each other, and watching the hippos and bird life. This was a really neat experience!

We then went to the Governor's Camp so we could use their bathrooms. We walked around the camp to check it out, and we happened to meet back up with the camp representative who we had met previously on the plane. Small world! We had a nice talk, and then headed out.

I had told Jackson during breakfast that if we could see again the cheetah that had the five cubs (the ones we had seen on the first day), that would make my whole trip. He radioed around, and sure enough the cheetahs had been spotted today. So we took off in pursuit of finding them.

We were so lucky to see them again! You have to spend some time really enjoying these pictures that I took. They are absolutely the most breathtakingly beautiful pictures I've ever taken in my life. I had such a hard time narrowing it down to a few, so I've posted a lot for you to see.

The five cheetah cubs were so incredibly adorable! Their mohawk fur looked so soft, and they were so playful. While we were watching them, the mom nursed the cubs. She also kept getting up and looking around at all the wildlife that was around her. After about 30 minutes, she got up and left her cubs. They tried to follow, but she snarled at them to stay. Jackson said she was going off to hunt, and we were about to experience one of those once-in-a-lifetime events.

Jackson figured out where she was going and we made a very large circle around to the backside of a gazelle herd that had one lone wildebeest in it. He turned off the engine, and we watched through our binoculars for about 30 minutes as she very, very slowly crept up to the herd. My heart was pounding like crazy! Although cheetahs are the fastest land mammals on earth at 65 mph, they can only sustain this speed for a few hundred yards. A cheetah needs to get within 65 yards of any animal to be effective.

We were situated upwind of the herd, so they couldn't smell the cheetah as she crept up on the other side. Plus the herd was watching us. When the cheetah was within 100 yards of the herd, something spooked that wildebeest which sent the whole herd scattering in every direction. The cheetah took off running after a gazelle but since she wasn't close enough, she ran out steam and didn't get it. I would have loved to see her make a kill. But wow, what an experience to have!

After all this excitement, we headed back to camp. On the way there, we saw the largest herd of giraffes of the whole trip. Part of this herd was standing near a herd of zebras. (And, of course, all the zebras turned so I could see their butts!)

We also saw a baboon troop, and I only got one distance picture of them. Over the couple days that we've been here, I have figured out that baboons are also shy. You have to be very quick to get even one picture of them. This soon became an obsession that eluded me for the rest of our whole trip in Africa!

Enjoy the three picture links above, especially of the cheetahs!


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