Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is undescribable. The vastness of the endless plain of grassland or savanna and the incredible array of wildlife make for memories for a lifetime. We spent two nights in the south and two in the north at Lobo -- five of the most memorable days of our lives. For a wide-angle view of all 16 lions in the big pride we saw on our last day in the Serengeti, click here. And if you are confused about all the different sorts of antilopes, check this.
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Our first look at the vast Serengeti, the "Endless plain", in the Maasai language Grant's and Thomson's gazelles, the latter with the black stripe on their sides, Shadows across the grassland savanna of the eastern Serengeti Serengeti welcome committee
Elephants on the march Female waterbuck Sunrise in Serengeti The rising sun lights up the hillsides.
Large herd of African Buffalo Ever feel like you're being watched Ever feel like you're being watched? :) Morning light on the Serengeti grassland
Acacia, grassland and kopje Secretary Bird coming in for a landing Secretary Bird, with its funny topknot Even elephants are dwarfed by the Serengeti scenery.
Oxpeckers (birds) pecking a giraffe -- does that make them giraffepeckers? Hippos seem to be very social animals. But you don't want to get downwind from their pool. They do everything there. A peaceful hippo pool Beautiful Serengeti scenery
Hippo hotel -- or hippo heaven? Lions resting in the shade of acacia trees ... and one in the sun African spoonbill Marabou stork
Marabou storks Big crocodile Nice pond, with crocodile Cute and colorful birdie, but what is he?
Shelley's starling Rocks and candelabra cactus near the park visitor center Warthogs sometimes kneel to reach the ground in order to eat. Nice tusks
Giraffes Wise-looking Yellow-billed stork, oracularly waiting for Egyptian geese to ask him a deep question Egyptian geese. Now we know why it's called a goose step. Reedbuck - note the thick coat
Baboon mother and child Giraffe spreading his front legs to eat a low plant; usually they eat from tree-tops. Yellow-billed oxpecker, here "pecking" a giraffe Fischer's lovebird
Ol' leopard just hangin' out down in that big tree... It's a sausage tree. Leopard napping in a tree Alert impala
This male agama lizard looks like Stickyman, or whatever he is called. Mme Agama View from our hotel room, just before the rain started The lesser rainy season started as we were in the Serengeti.
The next morning, there was a dik-dik just outside our hotel-room balcony. Morning after the rain Topi Several topi in the woods
Jackal Red-rumped (or mosque?) swallows in a very thorny acacia Small stream or watering hole A hoopoe, which we had only seen in India and in our own back yard (once), though they are supposed to exist in Egypt also
A lioness and her cubs dining in the shade of some palm trees Hey, lemme have some too. Lunch Mmm, good
Meow? Pleeeeease rub my tummy. Endless Serengti plain Grass and hills and enormous sky
Elephant family in the shade of a tree Lazy hippos napping Three giraffes Flat-topped acacia
Hippo rolling over to show us her tummy. Yuk. Retima hippo pool. Fortunately, the picnic site was upwind from it that day. Ever feel like you're being watched? Buzz off!
Rain coming. And it did! Kopje near Lobo Coming in to the Lobo area -- The lodge is behind that hill. Yellow-billed oxpeckers pecking an ox -- well, an African buffalo
Dainty klipspringers -- Their black hooves make it look like they are standing on their toes. Sunrise over Lobo Room wing of the Lobo Wildlife Lodge The Lobo Wildlife Lodge is built mainly of beautifully maintained wood and is inserted ingeniously into the rocks of the kopje.
Path leading over the kopje, past the restaurant and on to ... ... the swimming pool, one side of which is the rock itself. Wonderful, but too cold for us. Landscape and clouds Topi with calves
Kllipspringers Tommies and warthogs Tommies Running impala
We were told we would see lots of ostriches and we did, like this female. Male ostrich Wildebeest posing for the camera Zebras
Topi, perhaps younger (lighter color) A small stream Road, trees and sky Land and sky -- both vast
Small herd of zebra huddled together under a tree Lobo landscape Manny posing on a rock Some kind of heron?
Zebras in the woods Wildebeest, zebras and hartebeest Wildebeest, zebras and hartebeest Elephants do it
Over the bridge, to the swimming pool View from the pool Lobo Wildlife Lodge, nestled in among the rocks Rock hyrax on a rock, what else?
Lobo plain, seen from the pool American tourist exploring the rock Rocks by the Lobo Lodge Another sunrise ...
Another wonderful day Nursing hartebeest Hartebeest Still more Tommies...
How big the sky seems over flat countryside, Trees over the road Pretty river with Egyptian goose and crocodile -- You do see the crocodile? The crocodile
Impala licking each other; such social grooming permits the removal of insects one animal cannot reach on himself. A whole herd of impala crossing the road Impala in the woods Yawn! Manny said that after she yawned, she would go out to hunt. Well, she just went back to sleep.
Baby warthogs Oops Huge croc Croc
Crocodile coming This enormous elephant apparently did not like being photographed, as he followed our car with malevolent intent in his eyes. We left! Two of a pride of 16 (sixteen!) lions we saw -- in the rain. Nine of the sixteen (Ok, eight and two thirds...)
9 + 5 = 14 14 + 2 = 16. To see a wide-angle view of all 16 lions in the pride, click here . Doing his claws just like a house cat Intimate group
Herd of elephants playing in the water They like to muddy up the water, then spray it onto themselves as protection against insects and the sun. Giraffe dining on the top of an acacia tree Giraffe
The magnificent, vast Serengeti grassland. Everything is so flat, it seems like the air is sandwiched in between the grass and the clouds. A kopje, or rock outcrop that has survived erosion Shelley's starling at the picnic and check-out as we leave Serengeti (sniff...)  
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