We started out great--with a lion sighting at 9 am-there was a huge traffic jam for all to see it up close. Up until this point, we saw 28 lions, now the total was at 32! A mother and 3 cubs.
We also saw five hyenas. The took turns mating with the one female and made a strange strange singing noise.
While we waited patiently for the wildebeest crossing (which we didn't see--missed by a day), we saw about 50 vultures eating a few dead wildebeest. Many wildebeest don't make it across the Maru river and the vultures have a feast. One vulture was picking at the head of a wildebeest, you could see the horns bobbing up an down as the beak pulled and pulled at the neck. It was disgusting.
We waited patiently for the wildebeest crossing but gave up at about 4:30. We did see wildebeest get close, go down to the river, but then turned around and came back up. We watched the animals with our binoculars back and forth, forming a line, marching, sometimes galloping but nothing happened.
We decided to go back at 4:30 and just our good fortune saw a stand-off between 2 elephants and two lions!
First we saw the lions walking. One was a big male with a mane. We heard a big roar. It was a chase! We didn't realize the elephants were scaring off the lions. The baby elephant actually pushed away the lions! It was so exciting and the perfect ending to a long day of waiting. Live action!!!!
Our final elephant count was 34.
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