Visiting the hippo pool. The hippos were so noisy! They were constantly slapping the water with their tails to splash water on their backs (poopy water, I might add).

The students shared “stories” with us about different ecological aspects of the park.

We saw this mama and baby Thompson’s Gazelle minutes after the baby was born. The baby couldn’t even stand up and the mama was still licking it.

Hyenas are kind of spooky, but they are also pretty cool animals. We heard lots of them at our campground every night and some of our students saw one on their way to the bathroom one night.

I love the warthogs! They are such weird looking creatures! Apparently they can run really fast and can fight off predators with their tusks.

We watched 2 cheetahs one day, just wandering around a wooded area. They were far away so this is the best photo Jon could get.

We watched these male elephants fighting. It was a little scary because we were really close and they were making loud grunting noises and really jabbing each other with their tusks. We weren’t sure if they were young males playing around or older males fighting over a female.

We learned that the lion researchers in the park identify each lion by the pattern of spots on the cheek right above the whiskers. They can also estimate the age based on the amount of black on the nose. This lion walked so close to Jon’s jeep that he got a pretty good look at that pattern on this female! She is probably about 8 years old.

Late afternoon game drive on our last full day. The girls loved standing up in the jeep – they could see 360 degrees all around and really absorb the views in this amazing park.