Our early start paid off quickly, as I spotted a pair of hippos paralleling the road. They looked the worse for the wear, showing the signs of several wounds, and they were single-mindedly looking for the safety of water, at one point passing directly in front of the car. It turns out that while fearsome submerged, the vegatarian hippos need to range far and wide at night for food... and to catch a pair vulnerable in the daylight is pretty rare.
It got even better, with a bunch of ostriches and other animals – but then we spotted another vehicle near a stand of trees. There was a rare leopard up in the branches – just resting and checking out the area. They're notoriously skittish, so we were well content with the sighting... even if pics were a near impossibility, beyond being able to point to a few visible spots between the leaves!
So there we were – feeling pretty happy. Good weather, a surprising lack of tourists, and some great sightings...
This would change – for the better, as we came across a well-known lion spot. On a rocky outcropping rising from the plains, we spotted a lion. Just like the last couple of days, when the first instance of an animal appeared, we thought that this could be the best we'd get. Ten minutes and 50 pics later, and we moved 30 meters along the road.
Where we promptly saw a full pride of lions, including two cubs, at about 30 meters.
Unbelievable.
They were well used to vehicles so just continued to soak up the rare shade – although one small cub was a keen explorer of his environment, even if he hadn't quite acquired the legendary cat grace and agility. We got some great videos of him slipping, sliding, eventually falling off a small rock – whereupon he promptly looked around with a near human expression of “hey, I planned that” and ducked into a bush!
It got better.
On the way back, we came across a roving cheetah that was on the prowl. We quickly stopped to just watch and listen, and it came within 10 meters before disappearing in the bush. Gorgeous, gorgeous animal with a magnificent coat.
We headed back into the bush around 3:30 to catch the afternoon activity once the heat died down. There weren't amazing animals at first – we were exploring the light forest at the southern edge of the park. However, once we rounded by a pond, we came across a pod of hippos – active and getting ready for the nights venture on land. Many were fearsomely yawning, a sign they were hungry and ready to eat – which resulted in some great shots.
Finally – we got a bonus. Coming across a dead hippo calf in the water, we were startled to hear a “whoosh, whoosh” over our head. A giant fish eagle swooped down over the water – an amazing sight, and very reminiscent of the American bald eagle. A few frenzied shots, and it was gone.
Two funny bits too – turns out that when we spotted the cheetah, my sunglasses had fallen off to the side of the road. I was prepared to write them off – but turns out that our driver Adam secretly went above and beyond to drive out 20km to get try and find them.
As I was napping, he gave them to the group, who then conspired to play a trick on me – on the afternoon game drive, each hamming it up and trying to clue me in that Roland was wearing them on his head.
Seriously clueless – I only got it once he said, very slowly, “Gee, look how much more CLEARLY I can see with these.”
The other funny bit... I was slightly dozing when we hit a bump. I opened my eyes, and was amazed to see something completely unexpected – I immediately shouted “Gorilla!!!!” That prompted a sudden stop – and serious heckling when it turned out to nothing more than a baboon, and not a big one at that. Add in the fact that gorillas are only found in Rwanda and Uganda, 1000 miles west, and I was more than a little embarrassed!
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