Safari Days Part 2

Going on a safari reminds me a little of gambling in a casino. You can have good/lucky days and not so good. Timing is literally everything.

If you go a while without seeing an animal you start to wonder how to change your luck. Just go down this road, turn this way... maybe you'll see something if you go back the way you came.

We started to think of hyenas as lucky for us because we seemed to see them and then see a lot of other animals.

We started our next day out with a hyena and its baby (nursing)

 

Right after the hyenas we saw elephants:

 

 

The other thing about safaris that reminds me of gambling is -  it's weirdly competitive. That same "how much did you win?" question turns into "what have you seen?" Trucks pull up next to each other and driver/guides compare notes. A lot of guides have radios and they let each other know where big sightings have happened. There's an app where you can post where you encountered what animal. But it's all strange to me because if you're not there you're not going to get to the location in time to see it. The animals are usually on the move.

 

The tiny animal on the left top of the rock is a cliff springer. They can climb right up these rocks even though they have hooves. They're monogamous and mate for life. This one's mate was eaten so he just hangs out by himself now. Poor guy!

So the other weird safari competition is about seeing "The big 5." It started out as a term hunters used - the five most dangerous animals to hunt - Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. People will ask you if you've seen the big 5. 

But if you focus too much on the 5 - you miss out on these beauties!

 

Crocodile!

 

Yazoo

 

Warthog (look at those babies!)

 

 Monkeys!

 

Nyala 

Even though we did not feel competitive about what we saw, it seemed important to Neil that we see the big 5.

We saw 3 pretty quickly - elephant, rhino and buffalo.

I don't have a good photo of a rhino - you'll have to wait for Mike's photos.

 

These Cape Buffalo are scary because they are  dangerous AND they hold a grudge. If it chases you up a tree it will wait underneath the tree for you to come down - And it will outwait you!

The jackpot in safari-ing is seeing a big cat - Lion or Leopard. For some people that's all they want to see - Especially for South Africans who can come to the park more regularly. That's where the safari casino ups the  game a bit and it starts to turn more desperate. Drivers pull up next to each other - "Have you seen lion?" 

It's so crazy! You're driving past these beautiful elephants, giraffes - just to look for lion.

It was many hours into our safari... We hadn't seen a cat. Neil was seeming frantic.

What's that just up ahead?

 

Finally! A lion!

She was looking for her pride and didn't care about us at all.

 

  

Stopped to pee.

  

This one is enhanced by my finger!

I have to say - I was hooked. Seeing a lion was pretty fantastic and I couldn't wait to see more!