Ever seen a lion eat it's kill? Well we now have! ...And we have the video to prove it!

But before we get to that, let's catch up. Late Saturday night, our luggage finally arrived - clean clothes and a toothbrush have never felt so amazing before! Turns out, KLM also carries freight, which has first priority over passenger luggage, so we think this may be why our bags were exactly one day late - and filled with countless promises from staff that it will arrive. Lesson learned.

Sunday was officially Day 2 - can you believe it?! We all met as a group and went over the basics. Our tour director, Debra, is great and very enthusiastic. Shortly thereafter, we headed out of Arusha and toward the Ngorongora crater. It was amazing passing through the towns and little villages of Masai people where we often saw young children no more than 5 or so herding their cattle. Such a different life they lead. On our way, we stopped at the Lake Manyara National Park, which was just a taste of things to come! We traveled  in our land cruisers throughout the property and saw hippos bathing in the sun, zebra and gazelle from afar. We also got up close and personal with at least 10 families of baboons - they are the oddest looking monkeys ever! Then, we headed to another lodge for lunch where they had beautiful views.

We ended up at the Nogorongora Serena Lodge where we were greeted by a group of Masai people who preformed for us (again, another video!). This property is absolutely beautiful and looks out from the edge of the crater down to the base. When we arrived in our rooms, we were immediately saw a lovely Cape buffalo eating his dinner - we were so close, you could actually HEAR the leaves breaking and teeth chewing!

Today, we woke up bright and early and headed down to the base of the crater. While we have never felt bumpier roads in our lives, it was worth the ups and downs for the animals we saw! Within minutes, we were watching an elephant eat it's lunch and zebras play around together. Shortly thereafter, we came across a male and female lion who were enjoying their wildebeest kill. It was amazing to watch - the male was asleep, as he ate first, and the female had her share then walked away in search of water (or so we think). Meanwhile, the jackals (picture as feisty little foxes) and hyenas (which are MUCH bigger in person!) watched waiting for the lion to let them move in. The male then went in for his second helping, then moved a few feet away toward a nearby car for shade. As this happened, the jackals quickly gained some hutzpa, but the lion reacted and scared them away. He proceeded to move, yes move, the entire carcass to his shady area...right below a car (yes, we have this on film!). Fighting then ensued between the jackals and hyenas who chased each other for the remains. Had this been our only sighting all day, we would have been pleased, but the animals continued to roam in their little utopia! In addition to the lions, we saw alive and well wildebeest (ugly little things they are!), warthogs (again, not going to win Safari Prom Queen), flamingo, ostriches, and more! If this is what we have in store for the rest of the trip, we honestly will simply be in awe!

The day finished with a lunch in the bush - yes, among the animals at the base of the carter - and then we traveled back. We just returned to the lodge a little bit ago and will head to dinner soon where we will see another performance from the Masai people - tonight will be acrobatics!

Once I can figure out how to post pictures with a very slow internet connection, will get them up here! But for now, bye from Ngorongora crater! We head down to the Serengeti tomorrow!