A special daytime sighting of a brown hyena – close to the camp, so that everyone could see it from the deck.
Two lionesses and four young managed to kill a big male kudu to the eastern part of the camp. One of the male lions also killed a large adult giraffe – probably by chasing the giraffe at night, and causing it to stumble, so that the lion could reach the neck and suffocate the animal. The lion spent five days sitting next to the kill, gorging himself.
The cheetah and her daughters were also seen regularly in the area around the pan.
The predators were probably the only animals that were doing well in the beginning of the month, with the area so dry, herbivores were pushed to their limits, looking for food, and travelling further distances away from the water. Deception Valley itself was parched brown and dusty – an exceptionally harsh environment for the few animals that were remaining there. In the absence of vegetation, mice and other small rodents were more visible, and had to become more daring in their search for food. In their rush to find something to eat, they would not always notice the beautifully camouflaged puff adders that lay in wait. It’s highly unusual to see snakes when you are on safari, but the unusual conditions have allowed the odd one or two to be seen.
Towards the end of the month, thunder clouds and lightning began dotting the horizon, then approached the camp, but it seemed to skirt around the area at the last minute. At least somewhere was getting rain!
And then, on the last couple of days of the month, something happened: the clouds thickened, and the rain began to fall… Six months of almost unbearable conditions, with every day the same heat as the next, had suddenly, unpredictably, broken. As the fat raindrops hit the ground, the smell that rose up was wonderful, and for each staff member, a sense of relief: the late rain brought promise of greenery and food for the animals if enough was to fall…
