One mass, thousands of individuals

Hello from Nbutu Safari Lodge in the southern Serengeti! http://www.ndutu.com/ There is so much to report, but again I must keep this short because I don't have a lot of computer time.

I have been in the Serengeti for a week now, and have taken well over 1000 pictures! I wish I could show a few to you here. But connections are slow. It reminds me of when I had dial-up! Once I'm home, I'll upload some of the highlights.

Right now 'the migration' is passing near Nbutu--thousands of wildebeest and zebras moving across the plains. It is an overwhelming site! Yesterday I also had the privilege to see a male lion in his prime striding along looking all tough and 'don't mess with me'. There were also two female lions guarding cubs and he didn't see them, but they sure saw him and were on full alert until he passed out of sight. He was their alpha male, but since their cubs were so young (we didn't see these cubs, but I have seen some from another pride--SO cute!) they try to stay away from him until the cubs are old enough to go along with the pride.

We also saw hyenas mating! It's quite different from the lion encounter from the other day. They have very different styles. Perhaps I'll go into more detail about it later. I did get some photos of it (feeling a little creepy to be taking pictures of such a private moment ;o) but they might be too graphic for the blog!

At the end of the day we saw some cheetahs hiding in the grass. Wow, are they ever gorgeous and sleek. I'd hoped to see them take off and chase something, but nothing was around for them to hunt. Also, our guide told us that in this group of four there were three brothers all wooing one female, so their minds were not really on hunting. (Boy, there sure seems to be a romantic theme to this blog entry, doesn't there!)

Today we are moving on to Ngorongoro Crater http://www.ngorongoro-crater-africa.org/ which is supposed to be absolutely spectacular. It's hard to imagine anything topping what I've seen so far, so I'm intrigued. I'm hoping to see a rhino and some ostriches up close. We've seen the ostriches from a distance, but I haven't gotten any good photos of them yet.

So all is not only well, it's fantastic! I feel great and while I miss my family and friends tremendously, I'm SO glad to be having this incredible experience!

More soon!