Two more of the Big Five

Checked out of Kamara Lodge early this morning and drove 2 hours south west of Arusha to Tarangire National Park. Africa's Big Five animals everyone wants to see are: elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, leopard and lion. All of these animals were hunted and later poached in great numbers for prestige and value. The elephant for ivory tusks, rhino for aphrodisiac property of the horn, buffalo for the horns for display and the cats for their skins.

Of the big five...... Yesterday we saw the Cape or African Buffalo. (I still cannot believe we were walking among them! I wouldn't even walk that close to cattle.) Today we saw two more of the Big Five. We saw herds of elephants. First of all we saw them at a distance but later they were just a few meters from us. The adults bulls are huge!! The babies get tusks showing at about three years of age. The tiniest ones were only a few months old. Some of the teenage males were play fighting. The mothers would put their body. Between us and the baby.

Fred spent all day on the lookout for lions. We never saw hide nor hair of one. Near the end of the afternoon we thought we spied one on the opposite bank of the river (just a trickle at this time of the dry season, but will probably dry up completely before June when the rainy season begins.). Sure enough there was a female lion sunning herself on the sand. She was very difficult to see so we looked through Raymond's enormous binoculars. Not only did we see the one female, but two more females and four cubs. They were all very sleepy in the hot mid-day sun. Three of the cubs were laying on grass in the shade. Gorgeous. Now we only need two more to be as to say we have seen the big three!!

Here are some elephant photos and a group shot in the safari jeep with the roof up. Great for viewing the wildlife! Sorry no photos of the lions. Don has some great shots on his camera, but we do not have access to those yet. Only can use photos off the phone sorry!

Tonight we are staying at M Tent Lodge. Our room is far more than a tent. I would love to have this as a cottage. It is huge. Technically it is a tent (canvas walls), but it has a wooden floor, a thatch roof overhead, indoor plumbing, solar lights and a four post bed with mosquito netting. We really are roughing it!!