So how did my day/night start? Following lions? Well not really, except those on my computer.
Technology got the better of me and instead of the usual 3 hours getting Wildcast done and uploaded, I was at it for 9 hours. The Internet, or should I call it the service provider, just weren’t delivering their share of the deal.
Luckily the Nduna pride were well fed and when we eventually left camp at 9pm we were lucky to find them still lazying around where I’d left them in the morning.
And they continued to sleep.
Soon after midnight, I think feeling guilty from not doing anything for so long, they took a 500m stroll and collapsed again. At least this time there was a little activity in the ranks. They got to grooming themselves and each other. This is also a great time for social bonding for the pride too.
It was only at dawn that they ventured a little further north, drank briefly at a muddy puddle and then passed out to watch the sun rise.
Resting in the shade they were aroused by a few zebra grazing in the proximity. They were keen but just not keen enough to make a serious move. Flat out again.
Guineafowl in the vicinity weren’t happy with the cats in their territory and made sure everybody knew to be on the look out for danger. A pair of Crested Francolins also threw their abuses at the lions as they moved by. Although I must say their normal chatter always sounds like they are swearing at each other or any danger they encounter.
We left them and found a herd of buffalo nor far to the east, but moving away from the lions. Near Bandama pan we came across another really big herd of buffalo heading slowly towards the pan. We waited at Bandama hoping they were on their way to drink but an hour later still no sign. Travelling back past them they were instead resting up chewing the cud. Not even these cows are predictable.
We made a turn past the lions again. No change there.
At Chekwa pan this elephant bull thought he’d try his “I’m bigger than you!” approach to get rid of us. But really all he wanted to do was carry on drinking. We let him be.
20th November 2000
Our rainy season has hardly started and we’re already having to do the long slog north, not being able to cross the Sand river at Rocky Crossing. The river has been up all night but by daybreak was slowly dropping, but still we had the hour and a half’s drive to do before we could even start looking for Tjololo.
He was sleeping in the north of his territory and looking rather lean after his many days of mating. He hardly moved the whole time we were with him even though it was a cool day.
In the afternoon Tjololo had moved a short distance but was sleeping when we found him. He woke up with our approach but was soon asleep again seeing it was us.
About an hour later he eventually awoke had a good stretch and the as he moved off we realized why he was in such a sorry state. Tjololo has sustained another serious injury. He’s got a very bad limp in his back left leg. Seems to be a problem with his hip. He still puts weight on the leg and still scrape marks, so it couldn’t be too bad but it has kept him from moving around on this cool overcast day.
Tomorrow will tell how he’s getting along.
We made an early start to be with the Nduna pride by sunset expecting them to be on the move early. But now there were only 5 members of the pride. Where were the other 3? Had they maybe killed last night and these 5 hadn’t found them?
Around sunset the lions headed north west and across the Mahande river only to rest up in an open area for several hours. Great time for us to get some rest too.
Around 23h00 they were on the move again moving west and somewhat south taking us through some terrible mopanie. How our vehicles survive all this bashing is a true miracle but they came out the other end unscathed after more than an hour of this treatment. Once you get into that stuff you wonder if you’ll ever get out the other end and as we were following the lions I wondered if an end would ever come of them traveling in there. Why move through that thick stuff as it’s also not easy going on them, and there’s no prey living in there. Are they trying to shake us off?
Then it was out the mopanie and back south across the Mahande river. They had now taken to heading due south, seeming to be heading back to where we had them last night. Were they looking for the other pride members? If so why weren’t they calling?
Then at last they picked up the scent of something. Manyari left the youngsters and started her flanking manoeuvre. The cubs waited briefly but seeing her move off to the side, ran off and joined her. You could almost see the frustration on her face. They were supposed to stay there and she would chase the wildebeest onto them as she has been doing all their lives. (It seems lions take a long time to learn.)
Manyari pressed on and the youngsters spread out following her on a wide front. There was little cover in the area and the wildebeest soon spotted them in the half moon and took off.
The youngsters loped after it with no chance of catching up. But then I saw Manyari already way ahead and at full sprint. She must have run some 300 to 400m which is a really long burst for a lion. And somewhere out there she managed to bring the wildebeest down. The youngsters soon joined her. Exhausted, she left the killing to them.
Some time later in the night the other 3 pride members arrived. They all pigged out on the carcass leaving nothing but bones by dawn when the lions headed north again to drink and rest in the Mahande river.
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