It’s Friday morning and we are off on safari again.

We left camp at 6:30 AM after packing a lunch. This means safari until 3:30 or so.

We hit some of the same good spots for seeing the migration of animals and a few new ones as well.

Today we are looking for the Leopard for the most part. We have seen the other four animals of the “Big Five” many times over and thousands of all the other animals. We saw rhinos making new rhinos a few days ago off in the distance in the jungle.

The commercial poaching problems have have been completely eliminated here in the Serengeti. Some local people still poach but only for eating to survive. This is great news for all of us who want to protect animals and their habitat.

We saw many hyenas, zebras, giraffes. Several elephants crossed the road in front of us and one looked into the land Cruisers to see what was inside. I could have reached out and touched him. They were all waiting for a young member of their group to cross the road. They are used to us and seem uninterested and surely unafraid or such small, weak creatures as our selves.

Eventually the radio crackled and the news was good. A leopard had been spotted sitting up in a tree less than a kilometer away. They spend most of their time doing that and watching for a meal. It’s baby was hidden in a bunch of rocks a few hundred yard away. She was sitting with her back to us as we approached in our vehicle. Her long tail hanging limp until she swished the tip of it back and forth just a little. She was very relaxed.

My wife takes most of the photos with her very small Cassio camera. It can focus on things a mile away without being large and cumbersome. The photos are clear as can be most of the time. Why some people carry those large cameras is lost on me. The new tech makes that mostly unnecessary as far as I can tell, but I’m no expert on this topic.

The morning skies are covered in wispy clouds rolling in from the north. They are tinted pink and yellow with the morning sunlight.

The migration follows the rain pattern. Many fields of tall dead grass have been set on fire by lightening or man. The smoke can be seen floating skyward miles off in the distance. Burning the grass lets the new grass start to grow. It is an endless cycle. A large twister filled with dust can be seen dancing across the landscape.

The fields are noticeably greener after the rains of the day before. If the fires hadn’t been started, the new grass wouldn’t be ready for the arriving animals.

We had visitors in camp last night again. The wild animals roam through our camp at night as there is no electrified fence in national parks to keep them out. There was a lion and her cub passing through her last night. The footprints tell the story.

We will be here two more days. One more day of safari and then we head for home. It has been nearly a month away but a very interesting and enjoyable trip.

We have made a few new friends and learned a great deal along the way.

More tomorrow. Don’t miss the videos on Facebook and Instagram at R.C. Hand.

“Sunrise, Sunset,” my book of short stories and “Kazu, sun of Oshida Kamasaki,” my ancient Asian adventure romance are now available on Audible.

As always, thanks for stopping by.