Picking up from where we left off with some good and happy news! The lion cub that got separated from the pride has been found and is back with his mother and siblings.
The evening the cub was found was quite an exciting night in fact. At about midnight our guests were awakened by the bellows of an impala coming from the pan. They shone their lights to find two impala had been chased towards the pan by the pack of Wild Dog. One impala was caught and killed and the other had run into the pan. The noise attracted the attention of our famous Kavinga Hyena clan who wasted no time in gathering their fellow scavengers and making the most of this easy meal. They chased the Wild Dog off their kill, but soon after were chased off themselves by the lion pride! The lions obviously heard the commotion too, and came to investigate. The pride spent the evening finishing off the two impala. They had a drink while we watched with our morning coffee, then moved off to sleep the day away in the shady riverbed.
The lion hunted again the next day, as two impala would have been just an appetizer to 16 hungry lions!
On our morning drive today we spotted vulture circling. This could only mean one thing- there was a carcass somewhere! Myself and two brave guests (one of them coming to Africa for her very first time and excited for an adventure on foot), decided they would like to see if it was lions and what they might have killed. We picked up on some tracks and followed them in towards a thicket while keeping an eye on the circling vultures above hoping we weren’t going to end up being their next meal! Suddenly I saw movement!
It was one of the lioness trying to pull a buffalo carcass into the shade, it took her at least three minutes to notice we were there only about 20 meters down wind. But when she did, she let out an almighty growl and snarled at us flicking her tail while we backed off slowly, but when we thought we were in the clear after getting some awesome pictures Steed pointed over my shoulder towards the thicket and said “There lion!”.
Another three lions were watching us the whole time, as I looked back to check on my guests who were both full of adrenaline- shaking with excitement but still smiling (which was a good thing!), one of the lions got up. The big male gave off an even louder piercing growl as he advanced forward!
That was enough warning for my first timer so we backed out slowly and left the pride alone to finish off their meal in peace.
It was a very exciting morning and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!
Cheers for now,
Siraaj
