WHEN you visit Kruger you never know what is waiting for you around the corner.
After two wonderful days exploring the scenic Letaba area, we set off bright and early, heading north towards Tsendze , another of Kruger’s smaller, rustic hide-aways.
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Little did we know as we turned onto the tarred H1-6, that we were about to experience one of those exceptional Kruger days we would never forget. Right from the start of that day’s journey, the game viewing was excellent, with plenty of wildebeest, zebra and giraffe going about their daily business.
About 12 km after the start of our drive we passed the turn-off to the gravel H15 route to Makhadzi picnic site and Giriyondo border post. Bill immediately slammed on brakes.Out of the corner of his eye he’d seen that something was going down in the long grass in the vicinity of the Malopenyana waterhole at the H15 junction.
Reversing and turning onto this gravel road we were just in time to see a small herd of buffalo moving away from the area rather quickly, leaving a pride of nine young lions to their recent kill. Not much was left of the carcass, but it looked like the victim could have been a relative of the departing herd.
Although they were partially hidden in the long grass, we had a fairly good view of the cats. One of them was half-heartedly chewing on the carcass, another had rolled over onto its back, replete after its buffalo-sized breakfast, and the rest of them looked as if they might take a nap.
One thing visitors to Kruger discover rather quickly is that lions spend an awful lot of time lying around doing absolutely nothing – and we were expecting them to do just that.
However, it wasn’t long before a young male decided to do a bit of a prowl. His mane was only starting to grow and he was still a bit lanky but it was clear he already considered himself quite the lad.
Strutting arrogantly along the edge of the road, he really seemed to be showing off – and one of the girls was obviously impressed. She left the others at the kill and strolled over to join him where he’d flopped down in the sand.
In the meantime another of the young females that had been lounging round the kill suddenly sat up, her whole body on full alert and quivering with energy. She gazed, in that piecing way that lions gaze, at the nearby waterhole to where a large contingent of zebra and wildebeest was making its way. Ominously, both herds contained a number of small babies. This looked as if it was going to end in tears.
Amazingly, it didn’t. The lioness did an elaborate stalk all the way through the long grass and across the road to the waterhole. The animals seemed to realise that she was an inexperienced hunter and watched her approach with a degree of nonchalance that surprised us.
They had a quick drink then moved off unhurriedly as she got close to them. They seemed totally unconcerned about her and, to add insult to injury, as they set off a single curious tsessebe walked over to where the lioness was crouching in the grass. It took a good look at her before turning and running away.
The lioness had to her back to the rest of the pride so didn’t notice the drama suddenly taking shape at the scene of the kill. We’d been watching an assembly of jackals snooping around, hoping for a chance to sneak a bite or two of the remains of the lion kill. Suddenly, a large cloud of dust announced the approach of a formidable herd of buffalo. Leading the herd were three or four battle-scarred old warriors. They were angry buffaloes; and they meant business. In minutes they were pounding towards the kill, scattering lions in all direction.
Two gangly older cubs burst out of the long grass and ran towards the lioness who’d just returned from her unsuccessful zebra and wildebeest hunt. “Mom! Help!” you could almost hear them yelp as they flung themselves at her.
The buffalo warriors then turned their attention to the carcass, angrily tossing it high in the air then stomping around the kill site. A lone elephant strolling to the waterhole stopped to watch the action then decided to join the fray, striding over to wave its ears and trumpet at two lions hiding in the grass.
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The lions moved off rather quickly, but had to do another quick sprint as they found themselves in the path of the now-stampeding buffalo herd rushing towards the waterhole in a huge cloud of dust. All in all, it was a bad day for the lions.
While all this was going on, the jackal – about ten opportunistic little fellows – had sneaked up on the kills. They were making the most of the lions’ abrupt departure to grab a quick free meal. It was quite a while before the scattered lions started to regroup and head back to the kill from all points of the compass. By then the jackals had had their fill and were sensibly slinking away.
The action lasted for over two hours, during which time Bill and I, plus the occupants of just a few other vehicles, enjoyed a ringside view of it all. We eventually left the lions to their well-deserved naps and headed on to towards Mopane Rest Camp where we would book into Tsendze. On the way there we saw plenty more general game and we enjoyed some first class birding when we stopped for a tea break at the Mooiplaas picnic site.
That evening, we rounded off a never-to-be-forgotten game viewing day at the popular Shipandani Hide near Mopane, from where we watched herd after herd of elephants coming down to the river for their evening drinks.
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