Magwaza made a surprising appearance last night, she was just lying in the road that runs through the hills while I was looking for the rest of the pride. I immediately put two and two together and realized that the buffalo kill we saw the others feeding on, was probably hers from a good few days ago. She was still fat from what was left of the rotten carcass. She disappeared back into the hills after a short reunion – it is good to know she is still doing well all on her own.
I found Manyari this morning, also as full as a tick from feeding on the rotting buffalo carcass, she seemed to have a little fire in her eyes. She was playing “owl eyes” with us, until she realized we were sticking around for a while. Sjambok was still displaying some affection to Manyari and after a 10 meter walk they did what they always do best – lay around.
On the other hand, the Wild Dogs displayed a little of the same exhausted lounging behaviour. They are still so entertaining to watch, even when they laze around. That never lasts long though; an impala pasted by, the gears changed and they kicked down into overdrive. All in all, a great day catching up with the whole clan.
A land refreshed with the smell of rain greeted us this morning as we went out in search of the lion pride. On route we heard that the lions had been seen yesterday eating a buffalo - it is questionable as to whether or not the lions actually made the kill. When we reached the decaying buffalo carcass it was already covered in maggots, foul smelling and obviously not their kill.
The lions were close by, but tucked away snuggly in the hills. They were in a place inaccessible by a vehicle, even one such as Dozer my Toyota Hi-Lux. I have been making regular visits down to the Chiredzi river. It’s kind of a hit and miss, picking up on tracks and unsuspecting Wildcast stars, like this Giant Kingfisher.
Plan B was to journey to Nduna to locate the wild dogs. On the way we saw a Honey Badger, he went screaming across the road about 50 meters in front of us. We tried to follow him into the bush but he disappeared too quickly into the dense river bed - they are known to turn and attack vehicles and people! Quite grumpy characters then, so I suppose it was just as well we couldn’t track him down. I have left the dogs for two days now so they could be anywhere – we combed the entire region where I last left them and not a trace. The hills make it difficult to locate any animal. Perhaps the morning will bring more success to our search, even now I’ve just heard the lion’s roar echo through the hills.
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