The beginning of the month and it was lions every day, with adults feeding on an assortment of prey including zebra and tsessebe, whilst cubs played on the side. In fact, the ‘lions every day’ continued for the rest of the month, with only two days where lions were not found – or possibly no one wanted to look for them on those two days!
Cheetah sightings were also good, with a lovely sighting of a male walking in the Splash area, and then a couple of days later two males and a female in the same region. We also found a female early on in the month stalking impala with all the skill she could muster. Unfortunately, her hunting attempt was unsuccessful, and the impala escaped her grasp. Later in the month, the two male cheetahs were seen for several days at Splash, and we were lucky enough to witness them hunt a young impala.
A young group of lions had better luck when they stalked and managed to catch a fully grown zebra, as all in the game drive cars looked on in amazement. The next day, the two females and three cubs were found finishing off an ostrich kill – with a lot of feather dusters freely available in the surrounding area. Hippo also featured on the lion menu this month, with four males managing to kill a sub-adult hippo near Second Bridge. This provided food for the big males for several days – but the hunt is a very risky process, with the size of the animal involved.
The wild dogs made several appearances this month, with a pack of fifteen being found near Impala Pan in the middle of the month. All dogs participated in a fast-paced hunt, and successfully brought down two impalas – enough to divide amongst the big pack.
Elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, tsessebe all provided good sightings, feeding on the still luxurious grass. With the grass so high this year, walking was quite restricted, but even a walk through the camp could provide enough excitement for most people, with elephants making surprise appearances at inopportune times. Guests are never on their most alert status at 530 in the morning, as they stumble towards the first tea or coffee of the day at fireplace. Luckily, the guides and managers are, and noticing an elephant was approaching the rooms one morning, the guides stationed themselves along the pathway between the rooms and shouted warnings to the guests to stay where they were for the moment. Either lost in translation, or lost in sleep, one guest stumbled out of their room and started along the pathway, oblivious of the rather large grey object next to his tent, nor the shouting and arm-waving guides. Luckily, the elephant was as surprised by this behaviour as the guides, and turned tail and left for more peaceful surrounds
