On the last morning game drive before Maggie and Rohit left, we chased across the reserve to catch up with the other truck which had found a young female leopard with a new kill and had followed her to a sheltered spot where she ate her fill. Unfortunately we had a puncture and by the time we got there she had finished eating and was sloping off into deep cover to sleep it off. We got a good view of her before she disappeared without posing long enough for a photo.
Maggie was very disappointed that she hadn't seen lions and reckoned that we would see them as soon as she had left and she was right.
As we started on the afternoon drive, heading for the spot where we had left the young Leopard sleeping, Shaddy picked up the tracks of a couple of Lionesses with cubs. Leaving us in the truck with Ephraim, he headed off on foot with a tracker from another camp to see if he could find them.
Within a short time they came face to face with one of the lionesses and then the second and then two 9-month old cubs, luckily, they were more interested in finding somewhere to snooze than in a meal of a guide or a tracker. Although Shaddy explained that he felt quite safe because the tracker was older and slower than him!
By the time we caught up with them in a dry riverbed, one Lioness was sleeping in the long grass while the mother and her cubs were trying to sleep out in the open and not really interested in us.
We spent a bit of time in their company until it was time to give up our spot to the other truck and we headed off for our sundowners.
Maggie was very disappointed that she hadn't seen lions and reckoned that we would see them as soon as she had left and she was right.
As we started on the afternoon drive, heading for the spot where we had left the young Leopard sleeping, Shaddy picked up the tracks of a couple of Lionesses with cubs. Leaving us in the truck with Ephraim, he headed off on foot with a tracker from another camp to see if he could find them.
Within a short time they came face to face with one of the lionesses and then the second and then two 9-month old cubs, luckily, they were more interested in finding somewhere to snooze than in a meal of a guide or a tracker. Although Shaddy explained that he felt quite safe because the tracker was older and slower than him!
By the time we caught up with them in a dry riverbed, one Lioness was sleeping in the long grass while the mother and her cubs were trying to sleep out in the open and not really interested in us.
While the mother appeared to be sleeping, she was still alert to any new noise around her:
As you know I like cats but this is way to close for my liking with this type of feline
ReplyDeleteYou could have leaned out of the truck to stroke it - although you may have lost your hand!
ReplyDelete