Lion Bait

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Day 19

We had two game drives: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Cloudy morning and looking ominous!

It started raining, and the roads turned muddy. There weren't many animals visible that day...perhaps they like rain just as much as people generally like rain. A truck driven by a less experienced guide followed our truck in search for animals. However, while driving on a side road, we got a flat tire. While Julius, our guide, was changing the flat, we all got out including the passenger in the other vehicle. Since we were in the middle of the Serengeti, we thought it best to stay by the truck, however, the other tourist starting walking around and we were joking that he would make great lion bait. YouTube here we come!

Well, nothing happened and the tire was replaced. As we were driving back, we saw a full grown lion standing up, and you could see his mane moving in the breeze. So beautiful!

Went back for buffet lunch at the lodge (correction: buffet for Ezio, and staring at food for me). BTW, I find it interesting that I can eat food cooked while camping and at local eateries, but it takes fine dining to give me food poisoning!

During the afternoon game drive Julius spotted a leopard, and a group of young, male lions close to the road. We were very fortunate to be the only ones around the lions. They were playfighting and at one point approached the truck as if to playfight with us. The look he gave us! I wouldn't want to be a recipient of that look when I'm not in a vehicle.

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