Samburu and Buffalo Springs
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- Lions seen: 6
Lions not seen: 2
During the night, our camp is visited by two lionesses from the local welcoming committee. The game wardens drove them off before we had a chance to meet and greet them, but also before anyone had a midnight snack. The tracks between the sleeping tents and the meal tent are quite enough to make us feel very...welcome? Now tell me, why couldn't Steve have woken me up for this? Impala hallucinations seem far inferior. They are, however, spreading.
While no further leopards grace us with their presence, we did meet a very nice pride of lions. They were napping in the shade under a tree -- or rather, the adults were napping and the cubs were restlessly annoying each other. The similarity of lion prides to large families on a car trip is remarkable. Just as the cubs were settling down and getting a bit boring, things perked up with the arrival of a herd of impala. Standoff! The lead impala stood between the herd and the lions, standing tall and snorting impressively. The herd started nervously, the lions raised their heads curiously. The impala obviously knew the lions were there, but didn't run away. The lions obviously knew the impala were there, but weren't hungry. Like any good daytime serial, there was no resolution when we had to leave. Stay tuned. Same lion channel, same lion time.
The afternoon game drive is a bit slow. The animals, having earned the commission in the morning with the impala/lion show, seem to be taking their union break. We entertain Australian tourists by taking endless group photos from the top of a lovely hill overlooking the park. Perhaps the lions watch in amusement at the role reversal as they sip their coffee.
Our group is getting rather good at the safari lifestyle. We can wash our hair in buckets, we zip our tents to keep the monkeys out, we spot animals right along with the drivers (I suspect they humor us a bit). The camp seems like home. We are running low on some necessities of life, though -- film, batteries, toiletries. We happily pool our resources and dive into duffels for the common good. As we pack up to leave, I realize that we have over 20 rolls of exposed film. Boston Photo will love us. I am so used to changing lenses and loading film that it comes as a bit of a shock to realize that my camera won't be over my shoulder on my next trip to New Jersey.