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Published: October 6th 2023
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We were both soundly asleep this morning when our 5.00am wake up call roused us. We dressed and stumbled to the lodge for our first cup of coffee in the hope it would revive us, then set off to look for hippos. Mercifully yesterday’s strong winds had subsided and it was at least a little bit warmer. As we drove along Graeme suddenly got a call on the radio to say the four cheetahs had been spotted, so we changed direction and headed off as fast as the tracks would allow. We were in luck! Instead of hiding in the grass as they had been on Saturday, all four were standing up and moving around in full sight. There were no other vehicles there. We sat entranced, taking far too many photos, as we watched them playing and trying to climb a tree. They started to move off into an area the jeeps were not allowed just as another jeep arrived, reinforcing just how fortunate we had been.
We’d already driven past two white rhino on our way to the cheetahs, and soon after we left we saw five more. And then later, we saw a mother and a very
small calf, but mum was very protective of her baby and immediately positioned herself between it and us and eased it deeper into the scrub so we couldn’t do any more than glimpse the calf and certainly couldn't get a photo.
As we drove through the bush, we encountered a group of a dozen or more small vervet monkeys playing in a tree. They leapt from branch to branch squealing and chattering , and were a delight to watch. Graeme said they were little devils, who would get into your room if you left a window even slightly ajar, and wreak havoc. Round the next corner was a troupe of baboons, running through the long grass with just their heads visible, crossing the road, and then yelling and shouting and scrambling around in the trees. The babies were not yet fully confident or competent, and could be seen sliding down the trunks rather than jumping, clinging on for safety. Some jumps failed, leaving the baby on the ground trying to pretend everything had really gone according to plan.
We eventually made it to the hippos, which were submerged in the water with just the tops of their heads
visible – eyes and nostrils only. They stay submerged for most of the day, in order to keep their leathery skin from drying out and cracking (which would kill them) and usually only come out at night to roam far and wide looking for the best grass to feed on. The cluster of herons in the nearby tree was almost more interesting to watch.
On our afternoon drive we saw quite a few big male buffalo who always track your progress when you are near them, along with more of the ubiquitous wildebeest and warthogs. But then driving down a track we stumbled upon a female lion with her three cubs. Mother lay in the grass about 20 yards away from the cubs who were play fighting about 20 yards from us. It is all about practising gently for the skills you will need when you start hunting for your own food, or to defend yourself against other lions. After about ten minutes mother came over to see what was going on, and they all started playing with her, one in particular practising jumping on her back as he would if he was trying to bring down an antelope
or some other prey. She patiently endured all this, until the light faded rapidly and they wandered off into the bush to find somewhere for the cubs to settle down for the night, while mother would probably go off looking for the next meal.
Scroll down for more photos.
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