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Published: November 5th 2016
When on safari, the ultimate thing to see is a big cat "kill." I know it sounds bad, but just like most sports/hobbies, the more you do it, the more you need to keep it interesting. At this stage in our trip, a month and a half into our African safari, it's all about the cats for us. And they can't just be cats far away seen through binoculars, they need to be close to the road or preferably on it. While it's always fun to watch a lion at close quarters, it's so much better if they are active, especially if they are hunting.
With these criteria in mind, I'll tell you about the past three amazing cat-filled and action-filled days.
Day 1: The Ultimate Safari Experience...a kill, almost!
We got out of the gate at the shameful time of 7am, 1 1/2 hours after the gates of camp opened. We headed along the river and then took the causeway road, a dirt road along the river that is known to have a resident pride of mommy lions and their cubs, which we have seen on several occasions. Apparently they had
to flee from their prior pride when a new male took it over as they have a tendency to kill any cubs in an attempt to keep only their own bloodline. Anyway, when in the area, we always like to take this road to see if they are around. We came to the lookout point where we'd previously seen them hunt and miss a water buck, and according to a car already there, they were now hunting some buffalo. These lions broke our rule of not being close to the road, but the hunting rule trumps this! We watched as they came in and out of view amongst the reeds. They were really hard to see but I guess that's the whole point in a hunt. Suddenly, two females darted out and simultaneously leapt on one of the buffaloes, both sinking their claws into his back before disappearing behind a large bush. Being Halloween, I figured this poor buffalo had met its Freddie Kruegar! We were absolutely convinced that we'd just seen a kill, and we could hear mooing from the buffalo, presumably trying to escape. The next thing we knew the other buffalo came back and it too disappeared
behind the bush, only to reappear a few minutes later along with its friend. There must have been a stand off and the buffaloes won this time! We have seen quite a few hunts now but this one was by far the closest, with the lions actually jumping onto their prey. Apparently, lions are only successful in 1 out of every 10 hunts, so I guess it's no wonder that we keep seeing chases but no actual kill!
After spending so long watching the lions hunt, we decided to head back home. They day was getting warmer so most of the animals start to hide under the shade. We didn't expect to see much more. We turned the corner and that's when we saw it, the leopard traffic jam. It consisted of about 20 cars all clumped together staring off into the bush. We joined it and soon got a glimpse of its unmistakable spotty fur. With some nifty driving by Scott, we were able to follow it along as it disappeared and reappeared in the bushes, at one point sending a group of impalas scattering and barking out their warning call, and sending a warthog running
into the road in a panic. We followed it for about 5 minutes until it turned and headed down towards the river, disappearing into the thick brush. Given how secretive leopards are, we were so happy to have seen this one on the move.
Day 2: The Early Bird Catches the Lion
This was the first day of November and there was a new gate opening time of 4:30am instead of the prior time of 5:30am, which we hadn't once made. It would still be dark at this time, so scott and I were interested in seeing what was out and about in the dark. We made a big effort to have absolutely everything ready in the car the night before and vowed to just get up and carry the kids into the car in their pajamas, hoping they'd go right back to sleep. It all went according to plan and we were waiting in a line of five cars at 4:28am. Of course, the gate guard was asleep and by 4:32 the first car's driver had to knock to awaken him. Because of the delays and the excitement of being in the dark,
Kyla and Jake were wide awake by this point. Oh well, we were off! It really was pitch black. The car in front of us had a high power flashlight and we considered just following him, but we instead decided to go on ahead and see if we could find anything right on the road, being the first ones out now in this direction. Within a few minutes we came across the official safari truck and walking along in front of it were three male lions which we guessed were from the "jock pride." They marched along like a boss, ignoring us and the large safari truck. It was clear they were in control around these parts! We followed them for at least ten minutes as they walked along the middle of the tarmac, pausing to mark their territory against a bush from time to time, and even play-wrestling in the middle of the road like cubs, much to the delight of all us humans stuck in our car cages! Eventually they walked off the road and into the trees, and we decided to continue on to see if anything else was in the middle of the road.
It wasn't long before scott and I both jumped out of our skins when we realized we'd just driven right by a young male lion sitting right by the side of the road. He was startled too and jumped up in surprise, oops! We backed up just in time to see his friend come down the embankment to join him. We watched as he stood up and crossed the road slowly, pretty much rubbing against the back of our car as we sat breathless, double checking that the windows were closed all the way! His friend followed him and they both then sat under the trees right by the side of the road. The nice thing was that we had them all to ourselves for at least 15 minutes before another car came. When they finally laid their heads down to go to sleep, we decided to take off. The plan was to turn around at the bridge just a few kilometers away and then head home for a nice breakfast at camp. As we crossed the bridge we saw something in the road at the turnaround point. As we got closer we realized it was a pack of
five hyenas, running right down the middle of the road! The cars in front and behind us left after they snapped a photo, so for a while we had them all to ourselves, following them along the road for several minutes before they ran off into the bush.
By now it was definitely time to turn around and head home for coffee and food. We couldn't help but take the slight detour on the causeway to see if the lionesses and their cubs were around. Again, as we turned a corner, we saw something running in the middle of the road in the distance - wild dogs! There were five of them, and much like the hyenas, we were able to follow them for several minutes as they ran along the middle of the road.
It was such an amazing day. I guess the early bird really does get the lion, or the hyena pack, or the wild dogs! The only problem now is that it was so good, we want to try to repeat it tomorrow. So, the alarm is set for 4:10am and the car is packed and ready to go. Now
the only thing I need is to get some sleep. Night night!
Day 3: No Longer Cheated by the Cheetah!
Our favorite road along the river is famous as being home to lions and leopards, but cheetahs are rarely seen there. For these, you need to head south on a dirt road. We had previously found cheetahs atop their mound den and had carefully clocked the kilometers in our car so that we could easily find it again. The problem is that their den is so far from the road that you need binoculars to see them, but we hoped one day to find them hunting closer to the road. We once had a fleeting view of them in the bushes, but we still didn't feel as though we'd had our true cheetah experience - in other words, on the road or hunting.
After our success yesterday at 4:30am along the river road, we decided to test out our early morning luck with the cheetahs. Once again we got up soon after 4am and lifted the kids out of bed a few minutes before the camp gate opened, placing them in
their car seats in their pajamas. In short, we spent over two hours seeing pretty much nothing other than your usual suspects. We decided to take the cut over road and get back to the tarmac road to head back to camp. We turned a corner and saw a handful of cars stopped. Could this be it? Yes! Right in the middle of the road, just how we like them, were a mother cheetah and her cub - bonus! She hung out for a while before taking off, trotting along the road side and often right in the road, her cub never far behind. We followed then for about 15 or so minutes before they left the road and walked slightly into the bushes. We thought the show was over, but we were wrong. The mommy cheetah started to walk with more of a purpose. She was hunting, and right beside the road! At one point she was crouched down and very intent on a herd of Impala just in front of her. Scott and I were sitting in our car, willing her to make a run for it. She was biding her time waiting for the impala to come
just a little bit closer I think. Unfortunately the impala, still none the wiser, happened the wander off in the opposite direction, and the cheetah followed them deeper into the bush, never to be seen again. My guess is that she had an impala snack for her cub before long but I guess I'll never know!
Tomorrow we are planning to head along the river road to Skukuza camp for Internet and a playground. If we set off at 4:30am again we should make it by about 6:30, before the Internet gets inundated and stops working. If we run into a lot of animals along the way, by the time we make it, Internet will be too slow but we will have had a great morning of sightings. It's a win-win situation!
*** Please scroll down for more photos ***
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Dad
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Last few pics Leopards?
Don't you mean Cheetah's Sharon!