My best ever game-sighting day on safari (so far)

[johnkok]

My best ever game-sighting day on safari (so far)

Part 3: Conclusion

 

With senses still a-buzz, we sat down to our usual decadently-late breakfast at 11am back at the Lodge. It was looking damp and dreary by now, and did not augur well for the afternoon.

 

And if I thought the heavens would hold off, I had another think coming. It really started to pour. Bucket loads, with only short breaks in between each heavy downpour. Right through the lunch hour - not that we ate lunch. When 3pm rolled around, the rain had abated somewhat, but was still steadily falling.

 

Congregating in the lounge, and looking somewhat sorry for ourselves (it was cold and wet), we started to discuss whether to go out at all for the afternoon with Neil and some of the other rangers. After all, we already had had some excellent sightings on that morning game drive. And cats hate the rain, right? In fact, everything will be hiding or under shelter, and those that remain in view will be drenched and miserable, right? We were really talking ourselves out of going, or perhaps it was mainly me, wimping out. But then my wife, the one who is IN-CHARGE, decides with some finality, "We're going out. If it's really dreadful, we'll head back after an hour or if it really pours again."

 

So that was that. Off to the room I trotted, like the obedient husband that I am. After all, there were REAL and rather more important decisions to be made. Hrrumphh.

 

First up, what camera combos to go out with? What else to take? Camera rainwear? In the end, I downsized everything, and left my big bazooka in the room (hard to protect the equipment, the wife and the daughter all at once from the rain you know). I also thought, nyahh nothing to shoot right? So I also left the spare batteries and spare cards. This was to be the last time ever that I would do that on any game drive. Fortunately, I did take the "little" bazooka.

 

So off we went at 4pm. The only drops were those which fell from the trees we passed under. I was stunned by the colours of the bush. The grass had turned from a straw or pale gold (see the picture of the Bushbuck above) to this soft apricot-salmon-pink colour (which had started to show after a few drops; see the image of the waterbuck above). After the heavy rain, this was front and centre. So, drenched and miserable animals notwithstanding, I was rather pleased.

 

First up, buffalo with oxpecker attempting a landing.

 

Next up, a drenched drongo, which had not stopped it from getting its dinner. Have I mentioned that beautiful colour of the bush?

 

And to round it up, some drenched and miserable looking guinea fowl. Well, maybe not so much miserable as angry looking. I guess they had not liked the rain much.

 

And then came a heads-up from another ranger. A herd of elephants were drinking at a watering hole some distance away (probably two to three kilometres away as the crow flies, but a good deal further on dirt tracks). Neil said if we wanted to see this we needed to hurry, as unlike some office types who hang around the water cooler, elephants tended not to linger.

 

Now elephants drinking was no biggie, but some of us (did I mention my teen-aged daughter was with me?) looked forward to the roller coaster ride. There were no crows flying, but those in the back row of the vehicle surely did.

 

Ten minutes later, and with all persons still accounted for, we arrived at yet another first for me. There were elephants everywhere. There was so much activity going on all around, it took me some moments to decide where to point the lens. But the sight of two elephants having a grand old time in the pool quickly won. That they were swimming and playing are not adequately descriptive. Cavorting is better.

 

And I'm just about ready to swear that elephants do laugh, and with their mouths open.

 

And of course, there's the pool dunk, elephant style.

 

The water-in-your-face manoeuvre.

 

The arm, errr trunk-wrestling

 

Sweeping your trunk from side to side in the water is fun (only elephants need apply).

 

Oi - watch where you're poking that thing

 

Imagine the sounds of happy laughter ringing around a pool as two kids dunk each other, splashing and spraying water everywhere, high spirits clearly in evidence. We did not have to imagine. We were laughing in the jeep, as we shared in the obvious joy of the scene. Here was an interaction which did not involve territory, procreation, dominance nor fighting for food. It was just plain fun.

 

Outside the pool, there was also lots to enjoy. We witnessed an underage drinking problem.

Clearly, when your trunk does not work to your satisfaction, you get right in there with your mouth of course!

 

We saw a couple of frisky dudes. When first spotted, it looked like the one at the back was trying to push the other, who appeared reluctant, into the water. It soon became apparent that that wasn't what he had in mind.

 

Leopard porn in the morning; pachyderm porn in the afternoon. Whatever next? We hung around the pool like some boozers around a bar. I found that after about an hour, we had fired off thousands of shots (we were somewhat trigger-happy), just under three thousand card-gobbling RAW frames. This was something I would rue just a bit later on (no spares for a Drenched Misery Drive remember?)

 

We left them in high spirits, both theirs and ours. So here's a high five. OK, how about a high Big Five?

 

"So what's next?", we asked. " How about paying a visit to that young leopard up the tree and her mummy? Maybe they were still around." So off we went.

 

When we arrived in the vicinity, it was not leopard cub we saw but one of the mummy lions (the ones with the cute cubs we had seen in the morning). She was munching and crunching away. Gasp! She's not eating the leopard cub, is she?

 

A quick look, and Neil reassured us. It was leftover impala carcass. After a little time on the squawk box, Neil told us the lions had not only stolen the impala carcass from leopard cub in the tree, they had actually managed to get the cub itself too. In a surprising twist, they had let the leopard cub go. This was quite amazing. Who had ever heard of such a thing? Apparently this had been captured on video by a guest from another camp. That's just priceless video. I wonder if it ever made its way onto the web. The cub? It had made its way back up the tree. You bet it was rather higher than where it had been before.

 

Here is the robber chomping away at impala remains stolen from a hapless leopard cub.

 

When she finished, she glared, as if to say, "Do you have impala hidden up your sleeve?".

 

Well, I did not. So she stalked off, licking her lips, and looking for more.

 

She was headed in the direction of the tree where the leopard cub had been. And of course Mummy Leopard had been hanging around the vicinity of her cub. So of course, we had to follow.

 

So off we went, wondering whether we would see the leopards. Even before this, the light had been weak. By this time it was fading fast. Poor light and cats in motion do not play well together. So instead of trailing and shooting the stalking lioness, we went to see if we could get ahead to where the leopard mummy might be.

 

Sure enough, she was lying down on the ground not far from the tree, about where she had been in the morning. And we were thinking - there be lions coming. Yikes! Deja vu all over again. No way. Seeing lions confront leopards twice in the same day?

 

Then Mummy leopard senses something, and she gets up.

 

And she also goes on the prowl.

 

As for me, I was beginning to have conniptions. In addition to the earlier regret of not having brought the big bazooka (which was better in low light than the little bazooka) I now found I had totally filled up one card in the camera and the second card was starting to get seriously full. As I had consciously decided not to bring spares for that game drive - nothing to shoot, right? - I had this dread that of course I would be punished for this lack of faith. I would continue to witness amazing things and I would run out of card space. Aarrggh. The nervous tension in the vehicle was not low.

 

After following the prowling Mummy Leopard for a bit, Neil heard on the radio that something unusual and spectacular (for us) was happening. A drum roll and fanfare please. Because upon rushing back to the tree, what do we find but the two Robber Mums on the branch of the tree where the leopard cub had been with its impala carcass that morning.

 

These two had decided to see if they could rob more food from the leopards. And they had climbed up the tree to see if there was more. You can imagine the incredulity of the humans in the jeep. Of course we had heard about and knew lions did climb trees. It's just that I had never seen this before, and I had never expected to see any in Sabi. Another thrilling first.

 

I make no apologies for the poor shots of this event. All of us were excited, incredulous and laughing (I was so happy to have been privileged to see this). And I had run out of card storage. I tried deleting earlier shots (who needs more buffalo shots when I have lions up a tree. Please please please don't do anything spectacular while I am busy messing around with my camera). I kept asking my wife and daughter to just shoot shoot shoot (I tend to do it in three's when I'm excited). I ended up stealing a card out of another camera (which was also rapidly filling up) and putting it into mine. (Again - please please please don't do anything spectacular when I am changing cards and both cameras are out of action). You can perhaps imagine what I was going through at that time. Phew, I'm so glad I didn't have a heart attack!

 

There were some comical moments. They had searched and found nothing. They seemed resigned to that now. Then almost like a couple of comedians in a slapstick routine, they seemed to realise they now had to get down from the tree. Not a lion specialty. And this is where it looks like they had their "Oh Oh" moment.

 

"Hey who made it so slippery?"

 

"OK. You first"

 

"Then quit shoving. I don't have brakes either you know. Sheeesh"

 

The descent was clumsy, as expected. The shots were blurry, also as expected. At least they had had the sense to come down one at a time instead of both together. They land with a loud thump after slip sliding down the trunk. It was quite funny actually. Once back down on terra firma, they went on the prowl again.

 

"Are you sure you don't have an impala up your sleeve?"

 

With the Mummy Lions and Mummy Leopard all on the prowl, we wondered if we would be able to catch sight of the leopard cub. So we went for a look. We found it.

 

As the light completely faded, we continued to watch her as she climbed higher still.

 

It looked about as traumatised as I imagine a leopard could look.

 

I guess you'd be terrified too if you had been at the jaws of death - literally,

 

and wondering if the lions were still around.

 

Perhaps it was also looking for her Mummy.

 

With cameras overheating, memories overloading, and emotions overflowing, we turned for home. It was only 6 o'clock. But we were full. The happy chatter had us all swearing that we would go out on game drives come hell or high water (ahhh - the enthusiasm of us visitors, eh?). And as I recalled the happy saga that had been my day, I wondered if I would have another safari day which would ever top this one. I was rather afraid it had spoiled me for the humdrum everyday game drive. Well, it did for the next day at any rate. But then I was again raring to go on yet another safari game drive.

 

 

 

 

.............................................................THE END.............................................................

 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my personal experiences on that special safari day a much as I enjoyed putting it all together.

Edited November 15, 2012 by johnkok

[pault]

I saw some of this on your Flickr but this is much better like this and there seems to be more text - or I am not familiar with Flickr. Anyway amazing stuff- that is a huge leopard and to see him mating is something very special.

 

Really enjoying the photos and I look forward to the final installment even though I am pretty sure I know what happens - now that is a compliment.

 

Edit: :lol: Well, that looks a stupid post - the final installment came while this was waiting to be finished!

Edited November 15, 2012 by pault

[johnkok]

I saw some of this on your Flickr but this is much better like this and there seems to be more text ...

 

Thanks for visiting my flickr site Paul.

 

Also, thanks for reading and leaving your kind comments here. In flickr, I have to lead with images, and the text has to follow. It's not really that conducive for wordy story telling.

 

I have re-written and put in more and different photos for the version here. While the story arc follows real events and is thus similar (and some of the words are the same), I have taken some effort to put this together a little differently. Doing it has made me re-live that day and I have enjoyed that. I also reviewed most of those thousands of shots for selection and re-processing them for this site and that brought back nice memories too.

Edited November 15, 2012 by johnkok

[madaboutcheetah]

Great game drive, Indeed!!!! Your images with the complete text, makes us feel like we were there with you!!!

[johnkok]

..Your images with the complete text, makes us feel like we were there with you!!!

I'm so glad you felt that way. And thanks for leaving your kind words Hari

[Sangeeta]

Super story telling.

[Treepol]

This is edge of the seat reporting John!

 

I've really enjoyed your report and superb photos - the little bazooka certainly came up trumps for you.

 

I was relieved to read that Mummy leopard's survival skills kicked in and saved her from a confrontation with the lionesses.

[johnkok]

Super story telling.

.. I've really enjoyed your report and superb photos...

I appreciate your reading my little story and leaving your kind words. Thanks

[Brian's Art for Animals]

wow wow excellent leopard and lion photos! that for me would indeed be the best game sighting.. well ok maybe a hyena or two playing poker with the lions and leps would be better..but still What a great day and thanks so much for posting this.

[johnkok]

..maybe a hyena or two playing poker with the lions and leps ..

What an interesting image this conjures up - Africa's arch rivals/ arch enemies sitting down at the same table

[Atravelynn]

I was impressed with your day when it was only Part 1. Then you mentioned it was still only 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning. You made good use of the rain shower. The water was still glistening and beading up on the buffalo. But the highlight of that shot was the airborne oxpecker! Whether as rain or as river, you do a great job with the water. Love those spraying trunks. The elephants drinking is truly a family portrait. How nice your daughter could witness this spectacular day with you.

[Super LEEDS]

Nice one, jk! I think we all need to follow the number-of-memory-cards-is-inversely-proportionate-to-your-game-viewing-luck rule in fact, next time, I'm taking a chalk and a slate for my pics.

 

That leopard cub did look frightened Hopefully the light wasn't on it too long.

[Game Warden]

Looking back over this topic I think most of us would put this day at the top of our Safari experiences @@johnkok

[twaffle]

This was one brilliant safari day, wow!

[graceland]

Wow,on this "snowed" in day I found this....where have I been? Must have missed it as I was away that month/year - terrific photos and story..so lucky you were.

 

REALLY enjoyed it and --yep a "best ever" for sure!!

[PCNW]

Oh my word, I so enjoyed this.

[johnkok]

Thank you @@Game Warden for resurrecting this and thank you @@twaffle, @@graceland and @@PCNW for reading and leaving a note.

[Soukous]

John, what wonderful photos. You (double) leopard sightind must have been intense.

Thos two male lions are mighty impressive too.

[Soukous]

Certainly a day to remember John. Every game drive from here on will have a lot to live up to.

I must have been there a week or so before you - also with Neil and Julius. They are great company.

[johnkok]

Thanks @@Soukous. Neil at Savanna was a hoot. Being a photographer himself he knew about positioning us for good shots whenever he could.

Edited January 23, 2014 by johnkok

[FlyTraveler]

Nothing short of absolutely fantastic photography! You are a prize-winning photographer yourself! ...and what a luck - all these sightings in one day... Brilliant!

[johnkok]

Thanks for the kind words @@FlyTraveler

Edited January 25, 2014 by johnkok

[Kavita]

wow!!!! Absolutely fantastic!