Day #8 Southern Serengeti, Tanzania

Our last morning in the Serengeti NP was fantastic. We reached the Kopjes area at sunrise and parked high on a hill. Scanning with the binoculars down into the plains we caught up with three different groups of Cheetahs. Two single ones and a mother with two cubs. We stayed with the family although they were in a patch of rather tall grass. Later in the morning a group of young Lions climbed one of the Kopjes and slept the whole morning there, giving us plenty of photographic opportunities. We left them as the light got too harsh and went to check what the Cheetahs were doing. We caught up with a single one who climbed one of the Kopjes, probably looking for shade or a vantage point to look for prey. It wasn’t a good decision as from the rocks a Lioness emerged and chased the Cheetah away from the Kopjes. Terrified, the Cheetah climbed another Kopje and sat on the top. As we drove around the rock we realized that just below where he was a whole pride of Lions was sleeping in the shade on the rocks. At first the Cheetah didn’t see them, but after a few minutes he realized the danger he was in. Luckily it managed to escape before they woke up. So he decided to sit in the grass, much safer for a Cheetah in this area! We then had to leave to head back towards the Ngorongoro Crater, last stop on our trip. I thought no place on earth could rival the Mara in terms of big cats sightings, but this area certainly comes very close!