This was the same male leopard who was mating with the female earlier in the week. Because we knew he was nearby, and likely hunting, we made him our first priority for the day. We quickly found him walking along the river, and followed him for awhile to see if he was up to anything interesting. While our hopes of seeing a live kill never came to fruition, it was still enjoyable to observe the same leopard we had been seeing previously in a much different environment. We watched him drink from the river, lay down and roll around like a house cat - again, so easy to forget how dangerous these animals can be when you see them in their own element like this. And their fur....simply stunning. So bright and detailed, they are truly one of the most beautiful animals we have ever seen. For me, a close second behind my cheetah friend, of course!
Speaking of, tracks from a female cheetah were spotted this morning! We have had such an incredible journey up until this point, having the opportunity to see everything we could have hoped for and more, so at this point Mac was interested in the hunt - and we were more than happy to oblige...
We searched high and low, near and far. At some points, Mac and Prince leaving the vehicle to walk deep into thicket, just as they had done when we were searching for the mama leopard and her cubs. The 4 of us kept watch from the vehicle - mostly silent, focused on the task at hand. We had become quite the little rangers in training, if I do say so myself!
After awhile, I grabbed Mac's binoculars and kept scanning our surroundings. I think on some level I may have been searching for Mac and Prince as well - they had been gone for quite some time! After seeing the cheetah in plain sight previously, and knowing how camouflaged he was just sitting on a rock for all to see, I was not too hopeful that I would be the one to spot our female - even with the help of the binoculars!
This particular hunt went on for quite awhile, but we were ultimately not rewarded with the sight of our female cheetah. Such a bummer, but we did see some warthogs, elephants and various antelopes along the way. Even with the slight let down, I do still feel like the hunt itself can be as fun as the sightings - especially when everyone is working together, knowing just how difficult it truly is to track and find these animals as we have seen first hand.
We were en route back to camp, when we noticed Mac was starting to slow down. As he pulled off to the side of the road, we saw that off to our left was a pop up "breakfast in the bush" set up - complete with propane tank and grill. As Mac and Prince like to tell us, the "Bush Ferries" must have been hard at work this morning. Because we were so committed to the cheetah hunt, we were unable to make our usual pit stop for coffee. This more than made up for it - especially since it was just the 4 of us again. We are so lucky to have fallen into these private drive situations!
Mac and Prince quickly whipped us up some scrambled eggs and taught us how to make the most intense breakfast sandwich you have ever seen. Claire and I were literally squatting on the ground as to not get it all over our faces and clothing. It was definitely another perfect one-on-one type of experience with Mac and Prince before the new couple joins us on the afternoon drive.
Once we were all finished up, we headed back to camp. Prince offered to take Claire and I to the gift shop at our old lodge that afternoon prior to the next drive. So after lunch, we got all ready to go spend some money!
It has been so difficult to travel around the country with gifts for our loved ones, given the luggage restrictions we have had to comply with. We have definitely done our best to collect some items here and there, but any of the larger pieces we have had to plan ahead for, saving them for the end of the entire trip. We had previously seen some cute jewelry and little trinkets for all of our nieces and nephews and godchildren in the gift shop however, so that was our main focus for today's shopping spree.
As we were shopping around, we heard Prince outside. We came to see what he was doing and there was a spitting cobra! We did not get to see it raised up, ready to spit at Prince, but he said it had just gone back to the ground and was scurrying off. Neither Claire nor myself are fans of snakes, so we were glad to have only caught the tail end of that encounter - quite literally!
We made our way back to camp with enough time for afternoon tea and dessert, naturally timing it perfect. We also met our new vehicle-mates, a couple from Australia once again! We were hopeful they would be better sports about all-things safari than our other Australian friends, and so far they were proving to be pretty low maintenance. Shortly after introductions, we set off for our very last afternoon drive.
Mac had gotten wind of a male and female lion sighting, so we were all in agreement that this is a must see! We were even more impressed when we arrived to the location and there were 4 total male lions with one lioness. These were the members of the new male coalition that had taken over the pride, all together!
The largest of the males was laying next to the female, while two other males were laying nearby. There was another male who was relatively far away from the others, almost as if he were and outcast. We actually didn't even see the 4th of the males until we were making our way out of the area to allow other vehicles in - no one had spotted him yet as he was so far from the others!
Prior to sighting the last of the males, we got to witness yet another mating session! It was so much different than with the leopards. The male leopard was aggressive with the female, biting her neck and holding her down. The lions were much more intimate in a way, laying together after the fact and what not. Because this was a hot commodity sighting, we decided we would allow others to take a look while the sun was still up, and agreed that we would come back towards the end of the night.
As we were driving out of the bush, we noticed the lone male. No one had seen him yet, so we made our way towards him. As we got closer, we realized his face had some fresh wounds, evidence of a recent quarrel - perhaps with the dominant male! This could also have been reason for his distance - poor guy...
As we had previously agreed to spend time with the lions after sunset, we did not spend too much time with the loner - only enough to frighten our new female Australian friend that is. When the lion started walking close to our vehicle, she made it VERY clear that she was uncomfortable. Live a little, lady, you are on safari! Nonetheless, we left shortly thereafter and made our way to a large crash of rhinos instead.
Overall, the drive was not filled with a ton of sightings, but rather a couple of good ones. We did also get to enjoy one last cocktail hour where Mac and Prince encouraged us to have a photo shoot with the game vehicle. We took turns sitting in Prince's tracker seat and playing with the radio, rifle and what not. We forced our new friends to take photos of the 4 of us with Mac and Prince while we were at it as well. Success!
After cocktail hour wrapped, the sun had more or less set and we quickly made our way back to the lions. The male, female and two other males were all sleeping, nothing too exciting. But our loner friend was still on the outskirts of their area and was now on the move. We followed him for a short time, when what we had been hoping for since our very first male lion sighting finally happened. We were literally in the face of a lion roaring! Not too shabby for our last afternoon drive, am I right?!
On the way home, we learned that our last dinner would be another African braai. A perfect way to conclude our final night on safari. Because we were well versed in what the braai entails, we were so looking forward to participating in the dancing portion of the evening. Especially since we had gotten to know the staff so much better from that first night's braai. I think we all sang a little louder, danced a little harder and definitely appreciated the experience even more this second time around.
What an incredible group of people we were fortunate enough to meet. From the butlers, the chef, the security guards and, of course, our guides and trackers, I could not imagine this journey without each and every one of them. They are all such unique individuals in each and every way, and have left everlasting impressions on all of us. I am so grateful to have spent the last 6 days with such wonderful humans.
As if the night were not successful enough, we had a nocturnal visit from a large spotted Genet who found its way onto our deck in search of some food! I would say there is a definite toss up as to the most impressive portion of the braai - Brandon's dance moves (the staff had quite the affinity for them!), or the fact that this tiny wild animal came out of nowhere to join us. Either way, a memorable way to spend our last night at the lodge!
Animal Sightings: Male Leopard, Warthogs, Giraffes, Elephants, Zebra, African Inter-migrating Eagles, Wildebeests, Impala, Kudu, Inyala, Bushbok, Dika, Male Lions, Female Lioness, Crash of Rhinos, Buffalo, Spitting Cobra, Large Spotted Genet.
No comments:
Post a Comment