I’m up for half an hour at 5.30 am by the time I realise that it’s raining. A delayed departure time of 6 am makes little difference…it’s still raining. But rain is good…every time I’ve been out in the rain, lions have been easy to find. Today is no different. Christopher spots the Othawa pride, and we quickly realise that yesterday’s two unaccounted for cubs are safe and well with their sibling, mother, and aunt.
The lionesses have been busy since with saw them yesterday, having killed a male kudu, which is no mean feat for two lionesses against a large antelope. They’ve also devoured quite a lot of it, and yesterday’s pristine cub is filthy, wet, and has signs of blood around its mouth.
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Born in the dry season, this may be the first time that these cubs have experienced soaking rain, and as the photo below shows, at least one is clearly not happy about it. The intensity of the stare is a sign of things to come for this little cub as it grows towards adulthood.
Even an offer of a bath from mother or aunt isn’t enough to distract this cub away from trying to work out exactly what we are in our strange vehicle with the canvas canopy. This is pretty much a waste of time, as it is leaking through holes in the canvas, and pooling water which delivers a refreshing cold shower every time we reverse. My rain poncho also proves to not be waterproof, so it’s a wet morning for lions and humans alike.
The radio is buzzing with the news that 13, no 14, lions have been sighted moving through the reserve. Leaving the Othawa pride, we head off in search of them. They are relatively easy to spot once we’re in the right area – 14 lions is quite a procession.
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There are 4 lionnesses, four or so subadult males, and the remainder is young lionesses. All of the youngsters are the 2-year-old progeny of the Majilane males we met on Tuesday. The males are only just starting to grow their manes, whilst the young lionesses are difficult to distinguish from their mothers. They simply look like a fit, well-developed pride of lions famous for their specialised skills in hunting buffalo.
Our run of vehicular misfortune continues when we are situated amongst the 14, who have stopped for a brief nap, huddled together to conserve body heat in the rain. The open land cruiser (which is saturated like everyone and thing around) won’t start. Flat battery it seems. In the midst of a pride of 14 lions, popping the bonnet isn’t an option. Just as well they seem too intent on a nap, despite the occasionally interested stare. We can’t go anywhere, we just need to wait patiently for the lodge to send someone to rescue us – which they can only do when the lions move on.
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After 30 minutes or so, the dominant lioness decides it’s time to move on, so one by one the lions get up and start to leave the area we’re in. A lazy yawn from a young lioness is followed by an interested stare as she passes. You can see how close they are when the side wing mirror on the vehicle pops into view as I’m panning the camera as the lioness passes me.
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Time for a leg stretch and to pop the bonnet. Chris the tracker checks all of the battery connections, but the vehicle steadfastly refuses to start. Hot chocolate and a biscuit is in order while we wait.
A maintenance vehicle arrives about 30 minutes later after a hilarious performance trying to find us in the clearing we’re stuck in off the road, and after a jump start, we’re on our way back to the lodge.
It’s stopped raining by the afternoon game drive, but still quite chilly after the morning’s unseasonable downpour. The pride of 14 lions has crossed into Singita’s territory, where we can’t follow them, and yesterday’s leopard and cub are proving elusive, so we spend the afternoon with the hyenas at their den. We also find out what was behind the protective behaviour of the female hyena earlier in the week – she has at least 1 tiny pup, no more than a couple of weeks old.
One of the other females arrives back at the den to an ecstatic greeting from the crèche of pups. Hyena pups are hilarious at their den – inquisitive about everything, and not afraid to venture close to us for a good look. At the slightest sign of danger though, it’s back to the safety of the adult female on duty at the entrance to the den.
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