With a heavy heart we prepared for the last few safaris before we returned to Nairobi for our trip back to Seattle. One of the dead Wildebeest in the river was stinking up the whole place so we bolted to our morning safari as soon as we could.

Simon our guide has told us yesterday that if the lions were successful in their hunt they would be in one part of the park but would be in another place if they were unsuccessful. Having seen so many wildebeest and zebras we were very sure they would have found their prey. We were indeed in for a surprise.

First safari of the morning on the last day:

Zebra
Impala
Baboon
Water buck
Wildebeest
Grants gazelle
Thompsons gazelle
Buffalo
Fish eagle sitting in front of two fighting hippos
Lions in a fun goofy mode
Two Jackals in a playful mood
The lions – one male and four female – were moving on the hunt – clearly they were hungry and had missed getting a call during the night. They were marching one behind the other in a straight line. It was a mystery as to how they communicated among themselves at such great distances and when they could barely see past the high grass. The lion attempted to mate with a female unsuccessfully – the prey were later spooked by some running away warthogs and they ran away as well so the lions decided to end the hunt and walked off to the conservancy to rest for the day – another unsuccessful hunt missed again!! Apparently they are lucky to have one successful hunt in ten attempts. On the contrary we seem to find food every time we try whether we are hungry or not 😉
Topi
Elephants
Warthog
Lone hippo
Lone male lion

We had breakfast and some of us decided to go on the final safari before lunch and heading out to Nairobi.

2nd and final safari:

Ostrich
Elephants
Zebras with a month old baby
Bachelor impalas
Baboons
Banded mongoose
Water bucks
Topi
Two lions at a distance – both females – champ and lioness from the five breakaway group
Got close and looks like they want to hunt a warthog. Unfortunately champ messed up and the three warthogs ran away. One more missed hunt and kill. It’s that hard to hunt in the open savannah.

On our way to the airstrip for our flight to Seattle:

Saddle-billed stork
Black crake
Tropical boubour – black and white bird seen in the camp

The flight was on time and it was a small plane which accommodated 12 passengers total!! Our co-passenger was a veteran safari traveller with close to hundred safaris under her belt and had just seen a kill in front of her eyes for the first time. We have long ways to go before we see our kill then 😄.

The flight to Nairobi was less than an hour. On landing our bus came to pick us up. After dropping off Nagender and Gayathri at the airport and bidding fond farewell we went to the Capital center mall to get some food before our mid-night flight to Amsterdam. Found a good indochinese restaurant and ate to our satisfaction with some Nigerian beer. At Amsterdam we separated from the Chicago gang heading there via Minneapolis. This indeed was an amazing trip and I am determined to make time for a few safaris in the next several years. We definitely left our hearts in Kenya – great company on the trip, great people and an even better place to visit.