Our final game drive was nothing short of awesome, incredible and amazing. We couldn’t have asked for anything better on our last day. Our first sighting was of two beautiful male lions sitting on the road, enjoying the sun and drying out after two full days of non-stop rain. Our vehicle approached the lions slowly, and we got to within a few feet of them. We saw that their bellies were full and they seemed rather content. The pictures that we took captured their masculinity and battle scars. Look into the eyes of these lions. They have a certain intensity, unlike the eyes of the animals at the zoo. The lions were amazingly beautiful….and we wanted to pat them as they walked past our vehicle. We captured a hundred photos of the lions…click…click…click….AWESOME!
While driving, we saw the remains of a giraffe that was electrocuted at a nearby game reserve, but whose body was found on on the property of the Nkoroho Bush Lodge. Nearby, there were the remains of an elephant who at the time, was injured severely, but because she was nursing her baby, was kept alive to give the baby the best chance of surviving out in the wild. There was a lot of controversy about keeping the mother elephant alive, even though she was mortally wounded, but the Sabi Sands consortium thought it best to keep her alive for the sake of the baby.
We then stopped by ‘hippo pond’, where we had some coffee and crumpets and relaxed out in the fields. We saw a monitor lizard at water’s edge, but were told not to stray too far from the vehicle. While we didn’t see a hippo then, it was believed that one lived in the waters there. Should a hippo emerge from the water at that point, the slowest of us to get back to the vehicle would not stand a chance against these large fearsome animals.
Our next sighting was of the lioness and two generations of lion cubs, eight in all. They were very relaxed, but kept a keen eye on the vehicles approaching them. At one point, the lioness got up and walked around to protect her young. While walking, we noticed that her tail was missing. This apparently was an injury that she sustained staving off a savage hyena.
While making our way back to the lodge and out of the Sabi Sands entrance, we saw every animal imaginable, except the elusive rhino. We saw the warthog, the zebras, the kudus, the wildebeests and the impalas. It was an amazing day. While we were sad to be leaving the bush, we vowed that we would someday return.
Until you experience a real-life safari, you may never understand how different things are from visiting the animals at the zoo. The intensity of the animals; the natural habitat that these animals call home; and the beauty of the African continent, are truly amazing. Our safari is one that we’ll always remember. We saw life and death, and we learned a lot about how the animals exist and co-exist in the bush. Every living organism, animal or plant, has a role in the wild. And to preserve the wildlife for generations to enjoy, we need a stable eco-system, where everything is in balance.
More to come…
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