Searching the Hills

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.