Day 9 – A Bush Walk and a Lion Chorus

It is better to spot the rock than miss the lion

Emile

This mornings drive was split into two parts, a drive and a bush walk! We drove a short while to get to the area we were going walking, but along the way we saw:

• Golden wildebeest, which is an unnatural colour that humans have bred into them.
• Zebra
• Impala (both standard and black varieties)
• Giraffe
• Waterbuck

We stopped on the side of the road, we all jumped out, Emile and another guide Arman armed themselves with rifles and the Gummy took the truck and drove away. I never once felt unsafe, but thinking back on the situation, most people would have a healthy amount of fear after that. We had a quick rundown of the rules, what Arman’s hand gestures meant, what to do if we wanted/needed to stop, that we needed to walk in single file and how to interact with each other along the way. The idea of this walk isn’t necessarily to find any intimidating animals, but to learn more about the flora and insects of the area.

We ended up walking for about 6km over 2 hours out in the South African bush. It was a weird feeling, knowing that even if it just feels like we’re going for a stroll in the wilderness, that we may stumble across anything from impala to lions. We made out some rhino tracks early on in the walk that we followed until we lost them near the border of the reserve, but right where we lost them we came across a herd of elephants! We didn’t get too close since we would have been cornering them against the perimeter fence, but it was a completely different feeling seeing them outside of the security of the truck. We watched them for a short time and then moved on. During the walk we saw a few interesting things:

• Velvet mite
• Oxpeckers
• Spittle bug
• A set of kudu antlers
• Baboon spider
• Trapdoor spider
• Dung beetles
• A giant land snail

We made our way to a meeting point where Gummy was waiting for us with caffeine, the absolute legend. We finished off the morning with a drive where we saw a few interesting behaviours from some of the animals we have already seen.

• We saw a mothers club of giraffe. It is common to see groups of giraffe females and calves out on their own.
• Learnt that the way you can tell the difference between sexes of zebra is to know that the “males wear the g-strings”. If you look at their booties, females have a wider strip of black between their legs.
• We also witnessed alogrooming between the zebra, which is just mutual grooming, but it was pretty sweet to look at.
• We saw the cutest cat print in the mud which was only about the size of a thumbnail left by a genet cat.

We seem to be getting to the point of the trip where we have seen enough and have learnt enough where the trips out that we don’t encounter a large sighting may feel little disappointing, particularly when we have been so lucky in our previous drives! But as is the nature of being on safari I suppose.

Our afternoon drive felt a lot like this for the most part, but looking back on our list of sightings, it was still quite successful. we encountered:

• Tree squirrel
• Grey goaway
• Hornbill
• Gummy showed us another edible bug that contains enough oil naturally that you can cook it straight up. We all tried one of the fried flying ants that Gummy cooked up yesterday – it wasn’t bad, just crunchy and slightly salty.
• So many herds of elephants have tiny calves which have been super entertaining to watch, as they don’t really gain control of their trunks until at least a year old
• Nyala
• Pied kingfisher
• We came across the fresh remains of a buffalo which hadn’t been touched bar from some crows taking claim to the eyes. We were unsure the cause of death, and since it hadn’t been touched, we were unsure whether we were just really quick to it, or perhaps that it was diseased, as the predators usually wont touch that. We came back to the position on the way home and found it still intact, suggesting disease. We still hope that hyenas would come and act as the cleanup crew, as they have better suited stomachs to deal with the bacteria.
• Kudu
• White rhino
• White backed vultures
• We were in a standby queue for a lion sighting, so spent some time at a waterhole watching elephants interact with each other competing for the best spot for the fresh water. I have really developed an appreciation for elephants and their intelligence which leads to some interesting behaviour. Plus, watching them try to stretch out to reach the water with their trunks was very sweet to watch
• Kori bustard
• Yellow billed kite
• Black backed jackal
• Spotted eagle owl

Our last sighting for the night was the lions we were on standby for. This was by far the most emotional and unforgettable experience yet.

We drove up and took our spot to observe two male lions and one lioness lounging in the dusk sun. They were fairly relaxed, but watching a rhino near by pretty intently. They wouldn’t go after a rhino, their skin is just too thick and too strong for them to risk injury going for the kill. They roused a little more and started yawning, which is typically a sign that they are about to move. One male lion did a few of what I thought was decent roars, but Emile described it as pathetic. It wasn’t until the other two joined in and the roar got strong enough that you could feel it in your chest that I realised what he had meant by that. The chorus went for what felt like forever, before they quietened again. We soon after decided to move on and leave that spot open for another car. I had been a little overwhelmed thinking about all we have experienced and seen and learnt though this trip already, but feeling that roar, being so close, sent me well and truly over the edge and I just cried all the way home.

I’ve included a video that i’ve attempted to brighten, so the quality isn’t great, but it’s the sound you want to listen to.

We are getting towards the end of our trip, tomorrow is our last full day. I’m so grateful to be here having this experience. I’m already working out how I can return.