We had a feeling that our safari was going to be wonderful from the very beginning. On the drive into the camp, we saw, giraffes, elephants, and impalas… and we hadn't even started.
 |
| Impala |
We were taken to a beautiful room with a big picture window overlooking the Sand River. We could look out the window and watch nyalas and elephants grazing, baboons playing, or colorful birds singing in the trees. The food was a welcome reprieve from our ship rations. “Your kids don’t like eland, well how about pasta or a hot dog?”
 |
Nyalas, like this one, wandered freely through the camp. Baboons ran, climbed, and played their way across the fields and trees.
We started with an unforgettable evening drive. We headed out in search of Cape buffalo. We were not disappointed as we found a large herd – bulls, cows, and calves. They allowed us to approach and drive into their midst.
We found a lioness nearby with her four cubs. Our guide, Lucky, downplayed the possibility of seeing a kill as it is fairly rare to actually observe one. We followed thelioness as she stalked the buffalo with her cubs following at a distance. Finally, the lioness made her move. She jumped onto the back of a young buffalo and then quickly jumped onto a baby buffalo. We followed the lioness to the side of a ravine where we watched and listened as she suffocated the buffalo while the four cubs waited impatiently. She eventually killed the buffalo and ripped it open for her cubs. Although we had a front row seat, we couldn’t see much as the buffalo was largely hidden behind the brush. We also saw some rhinoceroses and leopards that evening making it a pretty incredible first day.
Mornings started with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call so we could get ready for the 6:00 a.m. drive. Shortly after leaving camp, we drove to find a leopard devouring a very small baby nyala (small antelope) while his mate waited impatiently nearby. He ate every last piece of the nyala – head, horns, guts, bones, hooves.
His mate did not seem to mind that he was not sharing; she had other things on her mind. She would occasionally remind him she was nearby and he would rebuff her with a growl. When he finally finished eating, he licked his paws clean and rested for a while.
 |
| Get a room, will ya? |
His mate once again reminded him of her presence and this time he noticed her (well, he gave her about five seconds of his time). Actually, he noticed her three times in the span of about five minutes.
After the morning drive, we returned to camp for breakfast and then a nature walk – deliberately timed for when the carnivores are usually napping. We came back for lunch, a short rest, and then off for our evening drive before a late dinner.
After about a day, we stopped counting the animals and started to simply enjoy the experience. We drove around the park with no particular destination not knowing what animal might be waiting around the bend. We kept our eyes peeled as it was easy to drive right by a big animal that blended in with its surroundings. At night we were able to relax under stars that were unobscured by city lights. The Southern Cross shown spendidly across the African sky.
We’ll stop writing and let you see some of our favorite animals, much like we encountered them on the safari.
 |
| Yellow-billed hornbill |
 |
| Bushbuck |
 |
| Hyenas |
 |
| Saddle-billed stork |
 |
| Kudu |
No comments:
Post a Comment