Amboseli ... The Second Day - Christmas!

We had such a good time during the first two days of our African Safari in Amboseli and at the Serena Lodge, that Suzanne really didn't want to leave.  She said that she was afraid that "we might be leaving the best place behind and we might not see any more animals!" Well...I kind of chuckled at that and told her that we needed to push on and see what adventures lay ahead....secretly hoping that I was not wrong.  Man, was I ever NOT wrong!

It was Christmas Day... we woke up to crazed monkeys and baboons playing outside of our room, just off the patio.  What fun it is to watch these guys play.  All the baboons are not the giant, angry ones that we saw in The Omen - in fact - they are pretty cute, swinging from tree to tree, falling a lot, big ones chasing little ones...it's really a three-ring circus that we watched for hours!

We had two official "game-drives" that Christmas Day...one in the morning and on in the evening.  You don't really have to go far from "camp" to see the animals that live in Amboseli...there are zebras and monkeys and giraffes just outside of the gate...and it doesn't take long to see the elephants.  Our "game van" was an older Toyota - kind of like an "Inova" as they have here in India... but the top opened-up for easy-viewing.  Amboseli if famous for it's great herds of elephants.  The African elephants are distinguished from Asian ones that are common here in India and Thailand, etc. - most noticeable are the HUGE ears on the African ones (they use them to fan themselves and keep cool in the African sun, which can be intense!! They have lots of circulatory veins in those big ears, so - it works like an air-conditioning system for the whole body.  The African variety is also a big larger overall, has a concave backbone, both male and female have ivory tusks and are much less hairy than their Asian cousins.

On our game-drives this day, we saw a wide variety of God's creatures...the big male lion we saw - (see photo above), hyenas, giraffes, a bald eagle, lots and lots of African elephants, the stately impala (I couldn't tell if they were '63 or '64 Impalas, actually, badda-boom!!) and many others.

The photos for this day are found on this Facebook Album: Africa Volume 2 - Amboseli to Tanzania

The last few snapshots in this album are actually from after we crossed the border into Tanzania (quite an experience!) - more about that later!

Next up: Leaving Amboseli behind, crossing the border at Namanga, lunch in Arusha, and into Tarangire National Park!