Well, last night was memorable. We left late afternoon for another game drive. Even before our driver came, Tom spotted off in the distance a leopard in a tree from the balcony of our camp's lobby. Of course, our guide already knew about it, so we headed off in that direction. On the way out of the camp, we stop to pick up a Masai warrior. He rides in the front seat with our driver. He is dressed in full gear with a red wrap, beads, spear et al. I guess even if you live here, a leopard spotting is still exciting.
On the way to see the leopard we run across a lion lying in the grass. We stop for just a few minutes and then continue. When we reach the tree we find a leopard has killed and taken a Thompson gazelle up into the branches. We stay and watch for quite a while.
It is dark by this time, but we have a spotlight. We finally leave in search of another leopard. We drive by the Mara River. We come across an area with lights and small fires. Our driver pulls in and asks us if we want to have dinner. The camp has set up an outdoor dinner party in a beautiful remote area next to the river. Everyone from camp has been transported out there. As we get out the jeep they offer us a drink called 'dawa', which is Swahili for medicine. We have dinner by lantern light. The stars are out and we see the Southern Cross.
Driving on the way back, the Masai warrior scans the grass as we search for hippos. We see several of them. Usually during the day they are in the water and we only see their heads. Now they are on land and can move fairly fast. When they see us they put their heads in the bush. I guess they aren't very smart. Their heads are hidden but we can still see them.
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