I saw Kili and Simba!

I went on safari this weekend near the Tanzania border. Being so close to Tanzania I saw Mt. Kilimanjaro, for the first time, as it loomed magnificently over the game park. In this first picture it is in the back ground behind a few clouds, but it popped out for us in all its glory throughout the weekend. No picture can really capture how Kilimanjaro stands out over the savanna. It's the largest mountain in all of Africa - 18,000 something feet in elevation. As I watched her at sunrise, throughout the day, and at sunset, I just kept thinking... I will summit that mountain one day. I will stand at the top and look down at the land I'm standing on now. I will conquer Mt. Kilimanjaro!But not today. On this particular day I was on safari and saw some things I hadn't seen in Kenya before...

My first simba on safari, as well as my second, third, and nineteenth!

Sunrise as a herd of wildebeest walked the plain.

A hyena eating a baby wildebeest.Lots and lots of Masai men and women.

Here the local Masai were fetching water from a swamp in the park.

Water is sparse right now in most of Kenya, and I've never seen anywhere in Kenya so dry as this area was. In some places it looked like a barren wasteland with absolutely no vegetation.

But my favorite part of the weekend was watching a cheetah eat a gazelle.

We missed the actual kill by minutes (bummer!), but watched as the cheetah recovered from the rush and exhaustion his body recently went through to catch his prey. Cheetahs are unable to eat their kill for about 20 minutes because their bodies are so worn out from traveling 70 mph and often have their prey stolen by other animals in their weakened state. When this cheetah finally recovered, he feebly rose from the grass, dragged the gazelle three feet away from the onlooking humans, and dug in. We watched him for 30 more minutes. It was amazing! I believe in the moment I used the word "magical". Who is ready to come on safari with me?!