The Circle of Life

I’m going to struggle to find words to adequately describe what we witnessed and experienced today. Let me begin with where my last post ended – last night, we discovered a leopard’s kill in a tree but the predator eluded us. This morning’s drive kicked off bright and early at 5:50 am, and we headed directly back to the same spot deep in the bush in hopes of finding our leopard – about 30-minute drive from camp. Dawn was breaking when we arrived at the site and we found the kill still up in the tree, but positioned differently from the night before. Within minutes, our tracker, Harold, spotted the young female leopard in the dry ravine below. We thought this might be the only glimpse we could get of her before she disappeared into the bush.

Were we wrong! She made a beeline for the tree where her kill was stashed. Up she went, and immediately began eating her kill. We proceeded to watch her for nearly an hour, while she devoured this dead impala piece by piece with the meticulousness of a surgeon. The sounds of her crushing bone with her teeth and the sight of her spitting out pieces of fur as she worked her way through the kill was something we will never forget. As gruesome a sight as this was, it was also a spectacular display of the circle of life – happening right before our very eyes. Our guide confirmed how fortunate we were to have stumbled upon this. Many people come to South Africa with the hopes of catching just a glimpse of a leopard, let alone the ability to watch one quietly for an hour. One other ATV pulled up just a moment too late; our leopard had finished her meal, dropped the hollowed skin, descended from the tree, and scampered off.

Afterward, we made our way back to the expansive, sandy river bed (dry now, as we’re at the start of their winter and dry season) and drove along it for what seemed like miles. Along the way, we spotted several common daika, guinea fowls, a small pearl spotted owlet, red-billed oxpecker, white back vulture, and a brown-headed parrot. Mark and I both underestimated how many different bird species we would see on this trip! While driving the river bed, we spotted several giraffe and wildebeest.

Daniel pulled over to a shaded area in the river bed and pulled out a lovely breakfast of coffee, tea, and biscuits. What a way to enjoy your morning dose of caffeine! Soon after we were back in the vehicle and on our way, a bull elephant, a baby, and its momma passed right behind our vehicle!

Back at camp, we enjoyed another full breakfast (they have no shortage of great food here at Ngala). Daniel offered to take us on a nature walk, which to me meant a leisurely stroll through camp, pointing out birds, flora, and fauna. Hannah and I joined him, and we proceeded to walk across the massive river bed and up the other bank into the open reserve! Daniel did have his rifle on him, but that provided me with very little comfort. I have never been so keenly aware of my surroundings! And for good reason – we came up on groups of elephants resting under the massive trees at every turn. Not the best when you are attempting to stay hidden from them for fear of scaring or angering them, especially while on foot! When we spotted the third bull elephant, Daniel decided we’d had enough of “elephant pinball” and made the smart decision to quietly turn us back toward camp. A small rifle is no match for a surprised or angry bull elephant!

Finally, time to relax around the camp! Hannah and Mark spent some time by the pool and watched a couple of monkeys play nearby. When I made my way to join them, one particularly pesky monkey chased me down the path!

We met up with Daniel and Harold for our evening drive with the goal of finding one of Ngala’s lion prides. Other guides had seen them earlier in the morning, so our goal was to return to the general area of their sighting and hope for the best. On our way there, we caught a fast glimpse of a young white rhino run past the path in front of us. It’s by itself, so the rangers are trying to determine if it was separated from its mother, or if the mother has been killed (sadly, possibly by poachers – still a serious problem in South Africa). Daniel called in the coordinates and the rangers are sending a helicopter tomorrow morning to further monitor the area.

Along our drive, we also spotted a purple roller, fork-tailed drongo, and a crowned lapwing. Crazy good birding opportunities!

A 45-minute drive through the bush to an area of the reserve we hadn’t yet been to paid off. We found one of the dominant lions (one of two brothers who rule Ngala) and three lionesses sleeping lazily in the grass. It’s mating season, so we were hoping to see some action. Daniel maneuvered our ATV within 10 feet of where they were sleeping, so we had a front-seat view! After a few minutes of watching them sleep, the male lion sat up and began to entertain a lioness close to him in hopes to coax her into mating. One of the other lionesses decided she was interested and tried to interfere. The lion reacted swiftly and made it clear, under no uncertain terms, to back off! He had made his choice and was only interested in the one lioness. He then let out the most tremendous roar, while staring directly at us. I literally could feel it rattle my insides – I am not sure I have ever been that frightened yet mesmerized at the same time!

When I experience bad turbulence on a flight, I will look at the flight attendant seated at the front of the plane. If they are calm and not reacting, it helps to calm me down. I figure if they aren’t concerned, then I shouldn’t be either. Well, I attempted this same logic while sitting there watching this beast mere feet away from us! Daniel was busy taking photos of him, while Harold was sitting in his “jump seat” on the front of vehicle, calmly smiling at the spectacle. They weren’t the least bit concerned. Are they mad?!

After I gathered my wits about me, we realized the lion had worn itself out by his display of dominance, and plopped back on the ground for another nap. Apparently, lions are the laziest creatures in the bush. In fact, did you know that they only have about a 30% kill success rate? The animal with the highest kill rate? The painted dog (also known as the wild dog), with an 80% kill success rate.

As we made our way back, we stopped for an evening cocktail and to soak up the most vibrantly beautiful sunset across the horizon. What a majestic display! We also saw some lovely zebra and a large bull kudu along the way. Once back on the road, we encountered a momma and baby elephant, so we turned away and then ran into the bull elephant, who very quickly told us he was not happy with us – he began backing up and flailing his ears. Needless to say, we turned again and quickly chose a different route back to our camp.

Our last sighting occurred on the way back to camp, under another blanket of stars across a black sky. Harold is working the spotlight out front, and Daniel stops on the path at a small tree where they have spotted something. He jumps out of the vehicle, pulls back a limb, and exposes the most beautiful flap-necked chameleon! We were dumbstruck on how he saw this from the ATV while driving in total darkness! He grabbed my iPhone and took this photo that will likely be one of my favorites from this day.

After the adrenaline rush that defined most of today, we were thankful to be back in our tents after dinner, drinks, and conversing with other guests. Tomorrow surely brings more surprises in this majestic place!