Lions and something Rarer

Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Kafue National Park, Zambia
June 1-Okavango Delta

Woke up this morning a little after 5 to the sound of lion roars . Found out at early breakfast that there were two prides (on either side of the camp) both roaring. So, it was with much anticipation that we left on our morning game drive, and within 100 yards of the camp we saw a large bull elephant. He immediately trumpeted, waved his trunk, and headed right towards us. We were warned that he was in must and was very unpredictable, but fortunately he passed us by and continued into the forest. During all of this excitement, I discovered that when I transferred pictures to the computer last night that I had failed to reinsert the memory card and was "OUT OF MEMORY". Fortunately, Merritt , a member of our group, had an extra card that I could borrow until we returned to camp. Perhaps I should have continued without my big camera, because from that point on, game sightings were few and far between. Our Guide, KD, kept finding lion tracks which we followed—but no, lions.   For the first hour of our drive we saw a few birds, some warthogs, and Impala, but not much else. Later on, we saw giraffe, zebra, Greater Kudu, Tsessebe, Wildebeest, and Steenbok, as well as Ostriches and Secretary Birds . This was the coldest morning of our trip and unlike previous days, it didn't warm up that much. I had dressed in a tee-shirt, a long sleeved overshirt, a fleece jacket, a nylon jacket, and my travel vest, as well as a knit cap, winter gloves, and a wool muffler, and was glad that the guide provided wool lined ponchos. Even the usually tough men were admitting that they were cold. We got back to camp a little after 11, just in time for our daily brunch. Today we had a mac and cheese casserole, fried hake, a delicious bean salad, another salad made of local sweet potatos, green beans, tomatos, green salad and freshly baked bread.

By the time we had finished eating, it had warmed up enough that I could take a shower.    Then I had time to sit on my deck and catch up on my journaling, before going back on the afternoon game drive at 3 pm. After our afternoon briefing and a discussion of wildlife management, hunting, and poaching in southern Africa, we set off to see some animals . The wind that chilled us all morning had died down and although it was still cooler than yesterday, I was comfortable under my 3 layers of shirts, a cashmere sweater, a nylon jacket, and the travel vest. The fleece was left in the room since I had accidently spilled my water bottle and the neck and collar were soaked. The first part of the drive featured more elephants, kudu, Impala, warthogs, zebras, a giraffe and a steenbok. Then KD, our guide got a radio message that a pack of wild dogs had been sighted in the area, and we took off at full speed on a trip that resembled Mister Toad’s Wild Ride, driving at about 30-35 mph over a rutted track, part hard dirt, part sand, with many twists, turns and dips. Everyone was holding on, and laughing and whooping and then we saw one of the dogs trotting down the road in front of us. Soon he joined another dog, and then we saw another and another until we saw the entire pack of 18. They seemed very relaxed and were moving slowing when suddenly they took off at full speed in pursuit of a small antelope . We tried to follow but they were moving faster than we could drive, especially when travelling offroad. We finally caught up with the pack while they were resting in a small wooded area. The females and young dogs were in the center and the males were standing guard around the outside. So, we got to watch them again. Seeing Wild Dogs is rarer than seeing leopards, and to see an entire pack, is an incredible treat. They are an endangered species with only about 3,000 remaining in Southern Africa. They are more closely related to the wolf than to the domestic dog, and are sometimes called Painted Dogs because of their beautiful calico coats.   I don’t think we saw any other animals after the dogs, and soon we gathered at a large waterhole for sundown. After that, it was back to the Lodge for dinner and another early bedtime. I think that the outside temperature is about 45, and it is about the same in my tent, but snuggled under a wool blanket, a thick duvet, with a hot water bottle at my feet, I am almost toasty. I’m getting ready to turn off the lights and be lulled to sleep with the chirping of bats, but I think that I just heard a lion roar, so maybe tomorrow, we will find the pride. 

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