Baby critters are all cute

Dec. 24, 2011 - Day 8

 

We learned this morning that the hyenas had raided the camp and attempted unsuccessfully to pillage the kitchen.

 

It was still twilight as we happened upon a pair of jackals trotting down the road. They were about to run off when a much more important threat than our land rover materialized. Two other jackals!

A brief tussle for territory ensued with much pawing the ground in the manner of an enraged bull and a hissing sort of growl. One of the interlopers ran off directly leaving his fellow to face the other two alone, but he was a game antagonist, though I think his antics were more to save face at this point than in any hope of victory.

 

Next, we visit the spot where the lioness with the 7 cubs had been yesterday. They are still there, the skull of the impala being slowly stripped of meat by the cubs.

 

A large male loiters nearby. Dominic says the pups belong to two of the females, and the male is hoping to hook up with the third. The females are wary as male lions are known to kill young that are not their own offspring.

 

A fight breaks out as the two mothers try to drive the third female away, and thus get rid of the male. There is much ferocious growling and the male rises and adds his own voice the tumult. The cubs scatter before this show of force.

 

 

It only lasts for a few moments before everything settles back to the way it was. The cubs are playful and continually pounce on each other, using their mother’s backs as springboards.

 

 

The pair of jackals from earlier amble up, and as one lioness rises and glares, they keep their distance. Buzzards also hop about hoping for a bite of the Impala’s remains.

 

We found a herd of about 12 elephants and we actually got out of the vehicle to have our picture made with them behind us. We had to wait for them to move off to about 20-30 yards or so, as they were only about 20 feet away when we pulled up. Even being the biggest land animal in the world, they can outdistance an Olympic sprinter!

 


 

Dominic wanted to see if we could catch the hyena pups at the den he showed us yesterday, so off we went. It’s amazing how he can navigate through the rolling grassland that appears much the same in all directions to me, arriving unerringly at a hole in the ground.

 

It helped I suppose that a sizable hyena straddles the hole, and there between her legs huddled two adorable black pups. It’s unbelievable that anything that cute could grown up to be as ugly as a hyena.

 

 

That ended our game drive and we went back to camp to shower, pack, and have another enormous breakfast. It’s sad leaving this place where I have experienced such wonder and joy, not to mention being totally spoiled by the attentive staff. We were the only guests yesterday so were doted upon; they even did our laundry.

 

We can’t imagine anything comparing to this experience, but let’s see what the next adventure brings.