Serengeti Sunrise

We were up at 5:30am every day ... to see what we could see ... which was an amazing amount ;-)

Our routine was to take in as much as possible between sunrise and 1 pm every day, then head back to camp. Perhaps a short snooze after lunch and then we were out again from 4 pm to 6 pm ... but we were a bit later back than that on a couple of occasions. 

The first time we had managed to get two punctures in one day, the second puncture just before we were about to head back to camp. Michael, our guide, had a couple of challenges changing the wheel, but we enjoyed it immensely as we were in a great spot to take in the fading light with a grand view over the Masai Mara. More on that later.

The second time was a little more planned. We had organised to have our sundowners atop a crest as we watched the sun set over the Masai Mara and Isuria Escarpment.

The mornings were fairly cool and the sun was very welcome when it started to warm up. By 8 am we were ready for breakfast and we typically set this up under a thorn tree a little away from the Mara River, but in sight of the big herds of wildebeest on the other side. If they started crossing we were ready to jump into the Landcruiser and get into position closer to the river to start taking photos.

By midday it was often about 30+ degrees Centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit) and we were glad of some shade. Towards the end of our stay the wildlife was thinning out as the herds moved further south but we always saw zebra, giraffe, impala and often hyena and baboons early in the day. We frequently saw buffalo as there were several pairs who lived near the camp, but they were the one animal Michael steered clear of.