Last year, I had the privilege of spending a week in Kenya helping to staff a men's retreat. After the retreat was over, we spent a day and a half on an African safari. The goal on an African safari is to see the "Big 5", which consist of the African elephant, the African lion, the African leopard, the Cape buffalo, and the rhino. We managed to see four out of the five, and it was an experience I will never forget.

The African lion

As we were driving along the path, we came upon a whole line of safari Land Rovers following a lioness walking alongside the road. We pulled up alongside of her, which was on my side of the Land Rover, with an open "window", consisting of some tarp material which was rolled up. It didn't occur to me at the time that she could have easily jumped right in the window if she wanted. Fortunately she didn't! Once we past her, she gave me a dirty look.

Here is another picture of a lioness sitting, relaxing in the noon day sun, scanning the horizon trying to decide what she wanted for lunch.

African elephant

We saw many elephants, some single elephants, some mother and baby, and some herds. We drove right up beside a mother and baby, and were so close I could hear the tearing sound of the grass being pulled from the ground as they were eating. We also had one who became a little nervous with us being so close and began fanning her ears, then pawing the ground and lifting her head. We left in a hurry!

Cape buffalo

During the day, we encountered a few large herds of Cape buffalo. It reminded me of pictures of the American buffalo across the plains in the early days of the settlers. I couldn't even begin to count the number in some of the herds.

African leopard

The first three animals are usually seen on a safari, (although I'm not sure if it is normal to get as close as we did on several occasions), but the leopard is often not seen. In the next picture, you have to look closely to see the leopard, and it is very hard to tell, but yes, it is a leopard. She is on the lower branches on the left side of the tree. On the right side of the tree is an antelope she had recently killed. The other Land Rover with the rest of our group got there before us, and saw her pick up the antelope in her mouth and move it from the lowest branch up a few branches. They said she made it look effortless!

African rhino

You'll notice there is no picture of the African rhino. It is rare to see one on the safari, and we were not that fortunate. We did, however, see many other animals, including ostrich, antelope, alligators, hippos, wart hogs, and many other types of deer. The scenery was breathtaking, and our guides, who were part of the Maasai tribe, were very knowledgeable and friendly. We also learned that when you get a flat tire out in the bush, it's very important to have your partners keeping watch while you change the tire. When you are outside of the vehicle, you want to be very alert.

Sometime soon I will post a blog about our visit to the Maasai village during this trip. And if I can figure out how to load my videos, maybe I'll do a post with videos of the animals that we saw on the safari. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Africa, and to go on a safari, DO IT, you won't regret it!

In the meantime, Steam on, my friends.