Lion Chase - Botswana Safari Day 2, Thursday, March 28. WTRD 12.
We both slept well, but I was awakened about 2:30 by an elephant feeding, ripping grass out by the roots, crunching on logs, knocking branches from the trees right outside our tent. The night was pitch black, but at 2:30 it was just light enough with the moon to see the giant mountain pass by our window.
I fell back to sleep, and we awoke at 5:15 am. Phet, the camp manager, came to wake us at 5:30 and brought hot coffee and fruit juice to our tent. We ate a light breakfast at 6:00 am and boarded our Safari Cruiser a little after 6:30 (late) because we were being entertained by a large pack of wild dogs,
a hippo in the mud of the lodge’s back deck.
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| Sadly this is the last water or "mud" hole in the immediate area of the lodge. |
The animal scout called on the radio to report that a lion had been spotted, and we needed to get moving.
Lion! We ran to the Cruiser! Wow. we found the king of the jungle and his rival the other king of the jungle. Listen to the roar of old king that we named Scar Face.
He was being chased by another slightly younger king we named Slack Jaw. They would chase, rest, and a few times the older king would reverse and challenge the chaser, but the younger king had the stamina to persist.
We thought we might see a fight, but ultimately it was a lot of chase, roar and no bite.
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| SCAR Face |
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| SLACK JAW |
We and another land cruiser followed along
watching the drama unfold until 8:00 am, then our safari vehicle turned our attention birds,
giraffes,
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| You are beautiful to me! |
stopping for tea around 10
and returning to the lodge at 11:30 for brunch.
We were on our own until 4:00, and safari time at 4:30. I took a cold shower in my sarong and sat on our shaded deck writing this blog and taking more photos of baboons, elephants and hippos. Russ went to the swimming pool to read.
The pack of baboons started across the delta meadow until they saw me taking photos. Most of them turned back, but two of them charged across the meadow towards our tent screaming at me. I was panicked, as baboons (we have been told) can be quite aggressive.
I unzipped my tent and stepped inside. One of them ran under the deck, but could have easily jumped right up on the deck. I cautiously stepped out of the tent and I could see him peeking at me through the tree well on the deck. Eventually he took off with a thump (think he may have hit his head) as he fled. We had high tea at 4:00 and were back on the Safari Cruiser by 4:30. We went in search of a leopard, searching in high grasses and on tree limbs.
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| Termite Mound |
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| This is a perfect tree to find a leopard, but alas there was no leopard. Lots of bush smoke coming closer |
We were also hunting for a rhinoceros. We saw many more animals, crocodiles, monitor lizard,
African eagles, hyenas, elephants, zebras, along with the ever prevalent, red lechwes, and Tsessbe Antelope.
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| Tsessbe Antelope |
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| Getting down to get a drink from what is left of the watering hole. |
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| Impala |
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| KUDU |
Dalton
and Eba have been very patient with our group reiterating the names of many of the animals and helping us distinguish between the different types of antelope, and birds we are seeing.
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| Red Lechwe |
more baboons,
hippos, a rhinoceros,
but not the leopard. Maybe tomorrow.
We returned to PomPom camp after sundowners watching the sunset and playing bathing hippos and elephants.
After another delightful meal of pork kebabs, roast beef, three types of beer, salads, bread and dessert, we headed to our tent. We could see the bush fire glowing in the distance,
Russ and I showered and went to bed. I used some ear plugs and slept soundly not knowing if their were animals just outside our tent or not.
All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs at PomPom Camp in Botswana
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