World Cruise--Safari, Rhinos and Lions, oh my!

The early morning game drives were also an opportunity to see a beautiful sunrise. None of them disappointed. While the animals are probably the major reason for safari, the landscape of the area is of equal interest. In the distance were mountains and where we did the drives was somewhat hilly in places and lifted you up enough to see a vast expanse of bush with trees dotting the landscape.

Adding interest to the landscape were the skeletons of dead trees. Thanks to the elephants scraping their tusks against the bark of the trees, they would allow for the entry of beetles that would lead to the tree’s demise. The trees often took on shapes that you might find in Dali’s paintings or even reminiscent of Edvard Munch's Scream, perhaps some more like modern sculptures.

Some of the trees were just pushed over. Sheldon told us that the elephants take out their angst or frustration on the trees and just push with their head until the tree breaks or falls over. Other times the mom pushes a tree over so that her youngster can reach the leaves to eat.

We had a few encounters with some rhinoceros (should that be rhinoceroses?) My heart stopped a moment when one just stood and stared at us. Was he deciding to make a run at us? This is where you have to trust in your guide and tracker to know enough about the behavior of the animals to see if it’s time to run or stand ground. He who turned out to be a she with a youngster in the bush next to her turned and trotted away with said youngster in tow.

Another encounter was when we topped a slight rise in the road and found two rhinos in the middle of the road. They stood and looked at us for a quick moment and then took off into the bush. Sheldon said they were teenagers, so to speak, whose mom had probably sent them off to learn to fend for themselves. He was glad to see them run off as we approached. If they get too used to people, they become targets for poachers.

It was always fun to see what got Sheldon and Arnold excited. They were out there every day but I guess it doesn’t get too old for them. As we drove down the road next to the river one another jeep slowed and stopped to tell us to watch the other side of the river. There was another lodge over there and near it was a whole herd of rhinoceros. Our guys were excited to see that. It was very unusual according to them. You could see some young ones among them as well.

In another grassy area as we drove along the trail that consisted of two tire tracks we suddenly saw what looked like a small dog dart across and disappear into the taller grass on the other side. We caught just enough of a glimpse to see the markings and realize it was a jackal.

Another off road adventure had us searching for some lions who reportedly had just made a kill and were gathered together in the bush enjoying their tasty impala. It was always a little breath holding time when we left the road and drove over small brush. How Arnold stayed on that front seat on the bumper was beyond me.

It took some tracking but we finally came upon them. There were mostly females with some younger ones but no cubs. We stopped and just watched as they wandered about sometimes taking a turn at feeding off of the kill. The video I’m posting shows a lion mom with two older youngsters. Continue to watch and you will see me pan to a lion under a bush who is chewing on a piece of the impala kill.

The greatest lion find was yet to come however. The next day, we found a lion den. Again, Sheldon and Arnold were really excited over this find. We happened upon a female who had four young cubs well hidden under some large trees that made it impossible to see them clearly. We could see movement of the cubs who our guide guessed couldn’t be more than a week old--something to do with the markings he was able to see on the cubs.

Mom was right next to our Landcruiser which was between her and the cubs. We could hear her breathing heavily and uttering a low growl. We sat there for a while trying to get a look at the cubs but eventually I think Sheldon and Arnold decided it was prudent to move. Mom had not stopped growling.

Somehow Sheldon managed to back the Landcruiser over the bushes behind us that we’d knocked down. That vehicle amazed me. We gave another group some instructions of where the cubs were and I think they were able to get a few pictures as they came in from the other side.

Not only were we completing our list of the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo), we were also seeing all the leading characters from the lion king. We happened upon a small group of warthogs. They weren’t dancing and singing much though. Probably a good thing or I would have thought I was on a Disney safari.