A bed. Big enough for me. Plenty of covers. A pillow. Mosquito netting. Private bathroom. 

A great evening Safari on arrival. Some going in hot air balloon tomorrow to take in some animal sightings from the air. Wow. I am opting for land safari, though tempting. 

My last post I mentioned the maribou stork but looks like spell check called it a storm. A very large vulture looking bird, dark feathers and long beak. One of the ugly 5 – as they are called. This stork, vulture, hyena, warthog, wildebeest. We saw three already here and on this trip to Africa I have seen all 5!  Yay. 

The big five, although my group saw a leopard in South Africa, I only saw evidence of it. Maybe tomorrow. The other 4 I have seen. 

Good night and have a great sleep. 

MORNING

quiet night but up early with those heading out for balloon ride. They left early early. 

Maribou stork flying over. We drive by some school children on way to school carrying little bundles of firewood. They have cooked shared lunch together and everyone contributes 

Yesterday we stopped at village of Narok. Today safari in park. 7 am to 5 pm. It’s crisp fresh morning air. 

Zebra. Another big stork standing alone. About 3 feet tall with massive wingspan. Elephant muffins look fresh. Wildebeest   Impala. Baboons. Giraffe. Thompson gazelle, One horn. Topi is savannah cowboy., The fastest antelope and very brave and faces its predators. Buffalo. Elephant family. Ostrich. 3 brother cheetahs posing for landrover vehicles. 

Some vehicles stuck in muddy backroad areas. It rained again last night and roads are bumpy and washed out at best of times. We stop to help out again. Our vehicle and driver are more capable of assisting. 

We stopped briefly at an airstrip in the park, for bathroom break. Then back to the ultimate safari search. 

A honeymooning couple of lions resting on a rock. Watching small family herd of elephants walking. 

A little jackal. Heartbeast. Zebra. Hyenas carrying carcass and running. 3 warthogs in a mud puddle. Cheetah in a field of dry grass with blood on its mouth, having something to eat. 

4 lions – young. In the small bushes watching a large solo Buffalo. Hippos in the Mara River. 

We stop for lunch. On border with Serengeti and Tanzania with Maasai / Kenya. White markers show the border. Animals as far as I can see. Wildebeest and zebra mostly   . Southern ground hornbill birds 

Back to the river to spy lots more hippopotamus. Egyptian geese. huge crocodiles. Yellow billed storks. 

In a tree we spy the remains of a baby zebra. The closest we get to spying a leopard today.