June 2, 2014: Now officially a crew of photographers, with our guide Randy Hanna and our drivers, we leave our lodging early in the morning, hoping to beat the morning traffic. We catch the rhythm and discord of a typical workday morning. Throngs of school children in Catholic uniforms. Bank clerks in business attire. Women wrapped in brightly patterned kangas (rectangle cloths) who are effortlessly balancing baskets bursting with market vegetables or laundry. They are all intermingled, walking along either side of the road. Cars, trucks, and mopeds confidently weave around each other. The scene still feels very rural against the ubiquitous red soil, but it is kinetic enough for us to all enjoy.

Our destination is a small airport where we are shuttled off to the Serengeti National Park. This one-hour flight takes us by a volcano and its perfect, clean circle of a mouth. It’s exciting to see, but, after landing, we are even more bewildered by the wildlife and its setting.

The Serengeti is just coming out of the rainy season, but the dearth of rainfall has already depleted the green. The first thing that strikes me is the grass: it’s in the most beautiful shades of pale gold and ochre. It’s pastoral and heavenly, thick in layers and yet feels ethereal when hustled by a breeze. And it carpets the landscape in endless waves, we notice, as we depart in our first safari drive in Land Rovers with pop-up roofs. “Even if I don’t see any animals,” I gush to Jeff, “I will still be so happy.”

…Twenty minutes later, I don’t even have a chance to see if that still rings true. Our driver Robert has secured a spot for us beneath a tree, and we’re watching a male leopard spill his limbs and paws over the branch like it’s a chaise lounge. Only miles from the airport, and already we’re spotting one of the most elusive game.

I also get to hear my first roar from an unseen lion. It’s nothing like how it is in the movies. Instead, it’s low moaning thunder, bellowing from somewhere unreachable but still menacing all the same.

-k

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Yellow-billed Stork in the Serengeti from Jeff Paradiso on Vimeo.
Sleeping leopard on the Serengeti in a tree from Jeff Paradiso on Vimeo. Wildebeest on the Serengeti from Jeff Paradiso on Vimeo.
Wildebeest: Female impala:Topi:
This might be a black-headed heron:

Black-headed heron:

Yellow-billed stork:

We couldn’t identify this bird—anyone know? Spotted hyena:
Hartebeest:Guinea fowl:
Thomson gazelles:

Might be a Grant’s gazelle: