It was a beautiful morning - the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. As we approached a hillock, you could see across the plains to the escarpment to the west and Kenya to the north.
The first thing we encountered was a pride of lions. The lioness was the same one we saw yesterday, we believe, because she was injured. She had four cubs with her. The male was eating a zebra. I got a few photos of the cubs before the lioness decided to move them and hide them. She actually approached our vehicle and growled at us. She was not happy that we were blocking her way. So we backed off and let her and the cubs pass.
In the meantime, we positioned ourselves so we could see (and I could photograph) the male eating the zebra. It was a full-grown male with a full mane - something I had told Severin I wanted to see. He delivered! The lion tore at that zebra, tearing off a leg at one point. Wow.
Our flight to Stone Town in Zanzibar was about an hour and 35 minutes. Nothing much to report except we saw the peak of Kilimanjaro. It was clear when we left but by the time we go to Kilimanjaro, it was pretty cloudy but its peak was jutting up above the clouds. So we did see Kilimanjaro!
Landed in Zanzibar City, took a cab to our place in Stone Town. We're six degrees south of the equator. It was cloudy and humid when we landed and by the time we got into our hotel, it poured down rain. I think that's a normal thing here in the tropics. It's very humid. Thank goodness, we have air con. We checked email, turned on the air con and took a nap before seeing what we want to do here.
We sauntered down to the beach front and found a bar where we could have a beer and watch the sunset before having a delicious Indian supper. Then we briefly visited the nighttime market at Forodhani on the shore.
I did not take my camera but will tomorrow. The sunset was beautiful with dhows sailing around.
Stone Town has a really Arabic feel in the architecture a s well as a Muslim presence. I would speculate that most are Muslims, and we heard the call to prayer from our hotel. I think the mosque is nearby. The streets are very narrow and busy. We're going to do a tour tomorrow. I'll photograph the architecture as well as the street happenings. Don't know how many photos I can post.
Stayed tuned!
These were the lion cubs that were with papa (who was eating a zebra) and mom (the lioness we thought we spotted yesterday dragging the zebra). The lioness, or she and her girlfriends, kill the meal but the male always eats first, then the lionesses and then one lioness is charged with protecting the remainder of lunch.
The male lion enjoying an early lunch of zebra.
A resting crocodile. They always sleep with their mouth open as it facilitates breathing.
This is Severin, our guide for the four days of safari in the Serengeti.
A mother baboon and her baby.
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