Arriving in the Eastern Serengeti, I sighed a sigh of relief. It has been too long since I’ve been to Olmara Camp. A tower of giraffes calmly watched us pass, and large herds of gazelles grazed at the valley bottom. The plains are still green, waterholes still hold water, reflecting the late morning sun, and distant rain clouds hang low above the plains. 

I am always surprised at the quality and quantity of wildlife viewing this area provides. After only three-game drives, we’ve had more than ten big cat sightings, two of them on successful kills, and multiple sightings of antelopes, mongooses, warthogs, ostriches, and of course wildebeest and zebra. In addition, the incredible green season sky produced powerfully dark and moody skies providing unique backdrops, with rays of light penetrating the cover to paint the plains below.

I was curious to catch up with our resident cats and see what had happened since February when I last came to camp. I heard that one of the kibumbu pride lionesses had three cubs and went searching for the new generation of the pride. We managed to locate them close to camp, sitting on a rocky outcrop. The six-week-old cubs were making their first forays into the world, just a few steps away from their watchful mother. Eyes still blue, they were looking with wonder at the new world; every experience, tasting leaves, stumbling over a tuft of grass, and playing with sticks, was a new adventure.