The Rest of the Big 5

By Saturday morning we had seen 40% of the Big 5: leopards and elephants. We were guaranteed by our guide to see buffaloes (good), but told that there are only 3 rhinos that live in the North side of the park (bad). So that left us with one... the lions. Nobody in our camp the previous night had seen any lions that day, and everyone we ran into that morning confirmed this depressing fact. But we continued, and I refused to give up hope even though I knew that our chances were dwindling as the morning cool turned into the afternoon heat. At around 11:30, we happened upon some giraffes, so we stopped to take some pictures. After watching them for a few minutes, we realized that something was not normal... the giraffes were frantically looking around, and were very easily startled. Our guide agreed that something was not right, so we spent some time looking through the grass. Not finding anything, we drove away disappointed; something had to be scaring those giraffes. Just as I was thinking this, I saw some movement in the distance underneath a bush. I couldn't believe it; I had been waiting all day for this! I screamed out: LIONS, LIONS! Sure enough, underneath a bush lay a lioness and three cubs. I was very excited :)



After taking about a hundred pictures of the lion in the same position (they don't move much during the day), we drove off to our next camp for lunch.

That evening we went on a sunset safari with one of the park rangers; I was expecting some cool sightings since most of the predators are nocturnal and this would be our only opportunity to be outside of camp after sunset. Unfortunately, our new guide drove insanely fast, which made it almost impossible to see anything (even with the spotlights). A couple times I saw some eyes reflect of in the distance, but by the time I could yell to the driver to stop we would have already traveled a few 100 meters. So in the end we didn't see anything cool that night, but I wasn't too disappointed given the amazing viewing we had earlier in the trip.

We woke up early the next day to ensure we were the first out in the park; our guide knew where a few hyena dens were and we wanted to get there before they got back from their hunt. Sure enough, they were arriving just as we got there. Unfortunately they never came close enough to get a proper picture, but it was interesting to learn about them from our guide: female spotted hyenas are actually larger than males and dominate them. They also have the strongest jaws of all mammals and eat their prey in entirety (bones and all).

Next we drove by the area where we saw the lions the previous day. Willem told us that they tend not to move much during the night, so we might be able to find them again. We drove up to a pack of cars and there they were--two lioness and three cubs. But they were even farther away, so none of the pictures turned out. Oh well, at least we had found them.

Now we were on the lookout for some buffalo. Yesterday we had been told about a breeding herd of about 100 crossing the Letaba river; unfortunately we had been there too early and missed the sighting. But today we were much luckier, as we ran into two breeding herds not more than a kilometer away from each other. The animals basically behave like cattle, but with an unpredictable aggression that makes them the deadliest of the Big 5; they will charge without warning. So I'm hoping they don't get too angry at us as we drive in the middle of their herd :)



At this point I am pretty pleased with our safari; we saw four of the Big 5, including both of the large predators. It would have been cool to see a male lion and a rhino, but you can't get everything. At least so I thought :)

About an hour after our buffalo excursion, we see a car stopped by the side of the road and an old man pointing towards something in the bush. We drive up, but all we can see is the grass moving. Our guide thinks that maybe we've ran across some hyenas; I'm thinking maybe I'll get some pictures this time. Then we see the animal get up--that's no hyena, that's another lion!!! And much closer this time, maybe only 2o feet away.



So we are happily taking pictures, and Adriana is filming the lioness walk around, when all of a sudden another lion pops up from the grass:



I can't believe our luck! Three lion sightings, plus the king. What a beautiful animal too. Below is some footage of the lioness and the lion (notice how easily the lioness blends into the grass when she lays down at the end of the video).






So now I think our safari is complete; sure, we didn't see a rhino, but at least we saw lions up close. As we are about to leave the park though, our guide hits the brakes and points out to the distance: "I can't believe it, I got you your rhino!"



It was definitely far away, but we did manage to see a rhino (he's drinking at a watering hole next to a buffalo). I think our guide might have been more excited than we were. What a weekend--all of the Big 5, plus hyenas, zebras, giraffes, impalas, ostriches, baboons, hippos... the list goes on and on. It goes without saying that I highly recommend our tour guide, so if you're looking to book a safari in the near future, contact Willem Pieterse at +27 11 894 5406 or check out their website at www.outlook-lodge.com/safaris.