If Ngorongoro impressed us with the sheer concentration of its abundance, Serengeti offered a different perspective on life. At dusk at the end of our first day in the vast Serengeti, I took a stroll beyond our tents and kitchens to drink in the landscape. I was gazing into the long grass that surrounded our tent site, when it suddenly dawned on me that there was another set of eyes staring unblinkingly back at me. A hyena, not 6 metres away, sizing me up for a late night snack.

The animals are not always so visible, but they are there; disguised and camouflaged and in their home turf, while we humans are hopelessly out of bounds.

With the recent heavy rains, Walter suggested that our initial plans change, and that we head for the southern part of the Serengeti to avoid the long grass that would hide all the small animals and provide cover for those not wanting to be seen. In an astonishing coincidence we sighted two unexpected Homo sapiens: Drs Pip and Craig from the med check team, who had departed on safari a couple of days before us, and who were homeward bound. They excitedly told us of some cheetah not far away. This would enable us to tick off two of the three cats we were seeking.

The cheetah must have had a big night out as they were pretty tired and barely lifted their heads as we parked alongside them for some photos.

The main attraction in the South was the wildebeest and zebra migration. They were in uncountable number, particularly the wildebeest. These are an odd looking beast, apparently made up of the spare parts of the other wildlife. They march in vast numbers for the journey from Tanzania to Kenya and back, adding to their number with new offspring as they move. The little wildebeest are amusing as they suddenly launch into an imaginary race with invisible jockeys urging them on to greater speed around an unseen race track. Then they stop and seek out their mums. The wildebeest have a close relationship with the zebra and they share their pasture as they journey. The zebra are clearly the smarter of this pairing, and they are the ones who keep lookout for predators and danger.

We had a good morning touring the southern plains, and then headed north for Central Serengeti where our next camp was. There was some excitement at a distant sighting of a leopard hidden in some branches. Other safari vehicles were abuzz with excitement but it was not worth the film to shoot, so we headed off. A couple of kilometres down the track we saw a beautiful crane perched statue-like atop a dead tree. We followed his gaze, and there in an adjacent acacia, not 50 metres from us was a leopard. The third of the cats we were anxious to sight. We took some great photos, and then the leopard thought we should see his other side, so he stood up and turned around. A stunningly beautiful animal who knew how to impress us.

That made our day and were content to head for the camp. Apart from us, there was another couple staying the night, as well as the next night. After this time, the tent site was being dismantled because of the wet season just upon us. Typically the site managers set up the different groups at their own table, but this did not deter Jenny who is adept at bringing people together around a bigger dinner table. The man was a Utah congressman – for the state legislature, not the US congress. A Republican but he seemed to have quite progressive politics, especially on education and other social policies. He was in Tanzania to establish higher education sharing between universities in Tanzania and the university of Utah for nurses, dentists and others in the medical arena. I would have loved a conversation around Tea Party politics and Obamacare but did not want to create any strain in the discussion.

By Friday we had achieved all our main goals. We had seen the cats – lions, cheetah and leopard, in a variety of contexts, including feeding on a kill, we had seen the migration, and we had seen all of the “big five” (elephant, cape buffalo, rhino, leopard and lion.) so our Friday drive was a top-up, cruising (if you can call bone-shaking driving as “cruising”) and seeing some animals in a different setting – lions in a tree and on some high rocks, and some hippo lazing in the river. We took the afternoon off to catch up on some rest and to shake off the residual chest infection.

We had some more great conversation with our American and Tanzanian friends, but had an early night for our early start to catch our plane, or so we thought. Our night’s sleep was disturbed by some lions roaring in the early morning, but Walter assured us they were quite distant. Still, it is quite a sound when you think all you have to protect you is some canvas and your bedclothes.

We have had an amazing safari, driven through some spectacular national parks and conservation areas, and seen some astonishing wildlife in their natural surrounds. We will be forever thankful for having this opportunity.

It is 10.30 pm here and I am really beginning to swelter, so I am heading for the pool on my patio. It is hard to beat.

Check in again soon.