Safari

We just got back from our safari and are now settled into L'Oasis Lodge for our last night in Arusha and Tanzania. The past four days were amazing. We saw all of the 'Big Five' animals, even if the rhino and leopard were from a bit of a distance. We saw plenty of lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras, wildebeasts, buffalo, baboons, monkeys, and various types of gazelles. We also had the chance to stay in some nice safari lodges while enjoying the time together as a full group. If that were all there was to our safari, it still would have been a great success. However, we had the incredible good fortune to be in the right place at the right time on the morning of Day 3 to witness something that most people can only hope to see on a National Geographic video.

When we arrived on the scene of this epic event in the Serengeti, we saw a group of four lionesses slowly approaching a herd of buffalo. They were still about 200 metres away from the herd when we got there, and they spent the next 20-30 minutes gradually inching closer and closer from downwind of the buffalo. This was all happening about 300 metres away from our trucks. When one of the lionesses was within range, she pounced on the herd and scared them into running in the direction of her three fellow hunters. The entire herd ran toward the road and crossed between trucks only a couple vehicles behind us. The lionesses gave chase, and they managed to separate one of the buffalos from the herd just after they crossed the road. The solitary buffalo then veered back toward the trucks and crossed the road again right between two of our vehicles. The lionesses were right on his tail and tackled him only metres away from our trucks. One of the other buffalos followed into the melee and attacked the lionesses from behind, giving the downed buffalo a moment of reprieve to get back on his feet. However, the good samaritan buffalo was quickly faught off and the lionesses returned their full attention to the intended prey. We watched for about 15 minutes as one lioness hung from the buffalo's neck tearing at its face, another jumped onto its back trying to bite at the base of its neck to crack its spinal cord, the third attacked its legs, and the fourth lioness ripped at its stomach. The buffalo put up a valiant fight for life, but eventually it went down. While three of the lionesses feasted, a fourth went to gather several cubs that were waiting nearby. Again, all of this was happening little more than about 20 metres away from our trucks. It was undoubtedly one of the most exciting, intense, and unforgettable things any of us have ever seen.

After a fantastic three-week adventure, all of us are now looking forward to getting home. Our flight departs Tanzania tomorrow night and we return to Canada on Tuesday. We'll see everyone then.