We are awakened at 5:15 AM by the camp staff. Every morning they will deliver hot tea and cakes to our tent door. This service is much appreciated. By 6 AM we are heading for the Central Serengeti.

At dawn, I alert our group to three wildebeest racing off to our right . Almost immediately, a cheetah running at full speed is detected behind the wildebeest. Fadhil rockets off in pursuit. We drive parallel to the cheetah. At one point, a large male ostrich is running flat out between us and the cheetah. Our pursuit lasts until the cheetah enters an area of heavy underbrush. We never see him again. Even so, all hearts are pumping fast with the excitement of the chase.

We come to a stop near a female giraffe and her baby. The calf is less than two weeks old. We drive through the Ngorongoro Conservancy Area toward the Serengeti. The road is dusty and straight as an arrow for as far as the eye can see. The Serengeti is an immense flat plain that seems infinite. We drive for many miles until a speeding truck looms out of the shimmering heat like a mirage. What seems odd is the truck is crossing our path from right to left and appears to be floating in the heat waves.

Indeed, there is a road . It is the dirt road to Naabi Hill. In fact, we can see Naabi Hill shimmering in the distance like a colossal iceberg in the middle of a calm sea. Beth and I ate lunch at Naabi Hill in 2012 with Tauck Tours. Today, we only stop briefly to stretch our legs before continuing into the Serengeti.

We pull away from Naabi Hill and spot three lions resting in the shade of some rocks. Several miles later we pass a mother lion with two cubs lounging in the sun. We drive on until we come to a number of vehicles stopped along the road. We slow. There are lions lying on both sides of the road. We jockey for picture-taking position among the vehicles. Suddenly, Sosi's Land Cruiser gets stuck in the mud.

After most of the vehicles have moved on, Fadhil maneuvers our vehicle into position to pull the other vehicle free of the mud. To access the towing chain, all manner of supplies stored in our vehicle must be moved. That entails exiting the vehicles – at least for Bill, Fadhil and Sosi . The complication is – there are lions out there. The further complication is – there are a lot more lions out there than we thought.

While our guys are moving supplies and preparing to tow Sosi’s vehicle, multiple lions have popped up on both sides of the road in places we had not previously noticed. Several people see a total of seventeen lions; I count fifteen. Regardless, the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.

Bill reassures us that the lions will not attack. However, with Fadhil and Sosi totally vulnerable under the vehicle attaching the chain, we are not as confident. Kent, Rada, Beth and I give our guys regular updates on where the lions are and what they are doing. Thankfully, the vehicle is soon freed and our friends return to the vehicles.

Bill had told us lions will normally run from people as long as they have an avenue of escape. We find that to be true today . The lions on our side of the road moved to the other side when Fadhil got out of his vehicle. We were less confident they would stay on the other side but they did. An additional concern for us would be how many lions were still on our side of the road that we had yet to see.    

It is time to move on. We are looking for kopjes. These are isolated rock hills left by volcanic activity eons ago. We reconnoiter several kopjes before finding our way to a small hill with a water hole in its hollowed out center. Fadhil positions our vehicle so we can watch the groups of zebra coming in to drink. Our interest soars when Bill points out that this is an ideal location for a lion ambush and, right on cue, Fadhil spies the eyes and ears of a hunting lioness hidden in the tall grass at the crest of the hill.

We watch for forty five minutes as the lioness sizes up group after group of zebras entering her trap. Many groups have young foals seemingly perfect for the lone lioness . Still, she waits…and waits. Bill has warned us of the need for patience but we succumb to hunger pains. All of us – except Beth – are opening lunch boxes and beginning to eat when it happens.

The lioness moves slightly as if to gather herself. Bill predicted the shifting would precede the attack and it does. The lioness springs from cover and transforms herself into a tawny streak of lightning racing down the hill. In three huge strides she is upon the fear paralyzed zebras. She grabs a young colt and kills it instantly. The youngster never knows what hit him.  

All this time Beth is filming. Tragically, I am unaware. I jump to my feet to see the action with a hamburger in hand. I knock into Beth at the precise moment the kill is made. Even so, she recovers in time to record the lioness carrying the dead zebra up the hill. I am so angry at myself I cannot eat for the rest of the day. (Professional photographer Marc Mol and Beth combine to document this lion attack . Their pictures appear in this blog.)

Here in the Central Serengeti we meet the Great Migration. The numbers of wildebeest and zebra are fewer than in 2012 but this year’s migration is divided. Instead of one huge herd from horizon to horizon we encounter multiple large herds that appear to be headed in the same direction – Ndutu!

We enlarge our predator search and come upon two lionesses with four cubs. They are eating a freshly killed zebra. These six lions are the picture of health. The cubs take turns mimicking the way their mothers’ enter the zebra’s abdominal cavity to reach the vital organs. Survival is sometimes gory.

It is 4 P.M. We have a long drive back to Ndutu. We also have a few more kopjes to check. We are literally flying down a dirt road near one of the smaller kopjes when Beth lets out a whoop…."leopard”. Fadhil brings our vehicle to a sliding stop. He backs up at least one hundred feet and, sure enough, there is a magnificent leopard sitting high among the rocks chewing on a gazelle leg .

We now have two of the most incredible sightings I’ve ever seen. Both in one day! Fadhil’s spotting of the lioness waiting to ambush the zebras was miraculous. Beth identifying the leopard as we race down a dirt road staggers my imagination. We ask how she saw it. "He flicked his tail as we drove by,” she said modestly. Incredible!

We observe the leopard for some time before starting back to Ndutu. At 5:30 P.M., we spot two very regal male lions along the road. They are in the company of one female. All are napping.

After reaching camp we go to our respective tents for a well-deserved – and much needed – bucket shower. Dinner conversation centers on the magnificent day we had in the Serengeti. However, our day is not yet finished. At 11 PM, two young male lions from the Serengeti enter our camp. Fadhil, Sosi and Tom (the camp manager) are outside talking when the lions materialize out of the darkness a few feet away. The lions are large, healthy specimens 2 to 3 years in age. When the lions see the men, they vocalize loudly and aggressively.

We assume both parties gave ample room to the other since we hear no further roars –or- shrieks. The lions stay in the area most of the night. They are quite talkative. Beth and I listen to them calling back and forth until sleep overtakes us. We also have our first rain shower of the trip during the night.