We’re into a routine now and once again at dawn we were on our way to hopefully find lions and cheetahs amongst other things.
There is frequent two-way radio contact going on within the safari truck drivers and with this network of operators it means that sightings are communicated quickly within the group.
Francois received a radio message saying two lions had been sighted quite close to one of the other lodges although by now the lions were on the move. Francois’ expert knowledge enabled him to predict the lions’ movement and we drove off quite quickly along narrow tracks hoping for a potential encounter. Some luck but mostly skilled judgement brought results. There on the track just ahead of us were the two lions strolling happily in the cool pre-dawn light. One of the lions, thought to be about two or three years old was seen marking out territory with urine spray. They are obviously used to seeing vehicles and disregard them but we were warned that if anyone was silly enough to alight from the truck in order to get a better photo it would probably be the last thing they’d ever do!
Lion
We followed the lions for several minutes and managed to get some photographs but mostly they were from behind although occasionally they would turn to see if we were still following. Eventually they left the track and moved into dense undergrowth.
We then moved to a new position endeavouring to meet them again on the assumption that they were taking a shortcut to the nearby dam. This drew a blank unfortunately although we subsequently came across herds of elephants and kudu.
Amongst the birds we saw this morning was an emerald wood hoopoe. It has iridescent green wing feathers, long tail feathers, a white spot on its wing and a long red beak; a very attractive bird indeed!
Shaft-tailed paradise whydah
We also saw a solitary steenbok antelope. These diurnal small animals are widely distributed but not commonly seen due to their shyness. They have one unusual behavioural characteristic in as much as they clear a patch with their front hooves before urinating or defecating. They then cover it carefully by scraping sand over the spot. These scrapings and odour serve as territorial markings.
Our next stop was at another dam-site where there were lots of yellow-throated sand grouse. An Egyptian goose and two goslings were seen nearby.
Francois was determined to locate two cheetahs that had been seen recently in the area so we drove for many kilometres in amongst prickly acacias looking determinedly but without success. The Madikwe Game Reserve has an area of around 75 000 hectares and to locate just two cheetahs needs more than an ounce of luck as these big cats move large distances each day.
Although it was from afar we did see two giant eagle-owls but the position of the sun and the distance precluded getting any really good photographs. We did get good shots of the southern white-crowned shrike, pied babbler, lilac and purple roller birds and the shaft-tailed paradise whydah bird.
In the later afternoon safari session Francois decided to head southwards towards an area where there had been a recent sighting of a lion pride. We headed in this direction and there were the usual sightings of giraffe, zebras, kudus, baboons and impalas. A comment heard from Jamie as we looked ahead along the road was that there was a ‘zebra crossing!’ Amongst things of interest that we saw was a purple roller bird, a chanting goshawk and a Swainsons frankolin.
Zebra
Baboons
Starling
We also photographed long tailed whydah in company of quelea which are sparrow like birds with a prominent red beak. Francois informed us that these birds can exist in colonies of several millions and when seen flying together form a cloud like area stretching across the sky from horizon to horizon.
Lilac roller
Chanting goshawk
As the afternoon was heading towards twilight it seemed that we were not going to have anything special occurring until we came upon a pride of four lions feasting upon the carcass of an adult wildebeest.
There were two female and two male lions gnawing upon the final bones of this poor deceased antelope.
We watched with fascination as these magnificent predators ripped the carcass to shreds and chewed on the remaining skeletal bones.
Meanwhile a hyena had ventured into the periphery but was very wary of coming too close.
Next thing we noticed a black-backed jackal moving in with its intent to grab any morsels that might become available when the lions ceased their meal.
A large lioness on leaving the pride group had wandered into the area where the hyena was located. Suddenly without notice she sprinted towards the wary hyena and even with his bounty of stolen wildebeest flesh still in his mouth he outpaced the big cat. Resolutely she gave up the chase and rested quite near our truck. Before long the other lions had decided they’d had their fill of wildebeest and started moving away towards a dried up dam in seek of water. There being none, these beautiful beasts lay down and caressed each other with licking and head rubbing.
Lion feeding
Lions feeding
Lion feeding
This one hour episode provided us with the safari experience that African visitors dream of and we were supremely lucky to observe the pride feeding upon a kill, the interplay between lions, hyenas and jackals and finally the lioness’ pursuit and attempted kill of a hyena.
Hyena
Jackal
Lions after feeding
On our return to the Lodge, Francois passed an area close to the Reserve’s main gate where there were two of the very rare African wild dogs sometimes called African pained wolves. These two dogs were in a large enclosure being readied for translocation to another part of South Africa.
African wild dogs are a highly endangered species and there is fear of them facing extinction.
Wild dogs hunt in packs and have the astonishing capacity to run and maintain a speed of 60 km/h for up to five kilometres.
African wild dogs
This day was one of attainments whereby we had seen many things we’d hoped to see and had experienced a true safari encounter.
Rae, Fran, Jamie, Malcolm, Corinne & Jak at dinner, Leopard Rock Lodge