Between last night and this morning’s game drive from Ngala Tented Camp, Norman, Elliott and I have spent 5 hours tracking a pride of 15 lions in Ngala Private Game Reserve. This morning we found the tracks where they crossed into Kruger, so that’s the end of lion tracking for now. It’s a quiet morning – other than the caracal, adult male leopard, crocodile, elephant, hippo, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, brown snake eagle. mongoose, impala, duiker, lilac-breasted roller and waterbuck sightings that is. It staggers me the number of people who come back from a game drive saying “we didn’t see anything” if they didn’t see a cheetah, leopard or lion. It’s a sad way to view a game drive when you ignore 99% of the inhabitants!
I’ve changed the timing of today’s game drives so that we leave at 5.30am and 4.15pm. Earlier to pick up the animals such as the caracal and leopard that are on the move to find a spot to settle for the day, and 4.15pm to miss the heat of the day – at 3.15pm when the other vehicles depart, every sensible animal is in the shade or asleep in a safe spot. This afternoon’s game drive pays off immediately with a jackal resting in the shade of a tree near the (dirt) road we’re taking to get to the hyena den. We’re distracted along the way tracking a leopard, which has come down to the tiny amount of remaining water in the river. She’s had a drink and then headed back into thick scrub and we lose the tracks. We also spot a large tawny eagle resting in the branches of a tree.
The hyena den was reported as inactive this morning, however when Norman, Elliott and I arrive at about 5pm, all 10 pups of various parentage and age are basking in the late afternoon sun. We spent quite a long time alone with them – long enough for the youngest and most curious pups to come within 50cm of the vehicle to inspect us more closely. Once one shows some bravery, 4 others join it, and we are privileged to be the objects of curiosity and within touching distance of these generally loathed but ultimately interesting animals.
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