After seeing the big male lion last night, we were feeling
pretty good about our lion sightings and were determined to find the big male
rhino. Well, as we’re driving across the
plain just outside camp, our fearless leader spotted the lions trail in the
dirt and we were off on the hunt again.
He found them on what can only be described as a big rock that
paralleled the Lion King moment—we were waiting for animals to burst into song
and come running. In real life though, I
guess animals that could be eaten by lions generally don’t gather round for a
musical number—too bad!
Up on the rock was the whole family—the big male, two
lionesses, and their six cubs. Absolutely adorable to see them sacked out and
relaxing in the sun. They really are just overgrown cats in some ways! You
could tell the cubs were curious when each of the trucks pulled up, but they
stayed on the rock just lazing away the morning.
We couldn’t get enough of just watching them lie about, but Celebrate noticed that the two lionesses and actually left the rock on the far side and wanted to see if we could spot them in the grass… and oh did we. Coming around the corner of the rock, we saw the two of them
stalking something in the grass. Our
view was blocked momentarily by a few trees and in that gap we heard the most
horrific squeal – turns out they had attacked a warthog! Celebrate immediately
sped our rover over there so we could see it all play out—definitely gruesome,
but also completely fascinating. The cubs heard the sound from the rock and
came trotting over, so we saw both the lionesses keeping it there and the cubs
arriving to have their breakfast. Apparently warthogs are actually one of the
longest kills for them as their necks are very short and stout so it’s very
hard to suffocate it. I wish I could say
that one squeal was the only one we heard, but the warthog was actually alive
for a really long time as the lions started eating it… like I said, horrific
but really, really interesting.
One of the lionesses joined the cubs on the warthog, while
the other actually went to a treed area. It turns out she had caught the baby
warthog so had that all to herself while the rest of the group ate the big
one. We were with the lions probably
for 2 hours this morning; a little bit watching on the rock, but mostly
watching them devour. At the end, it was
pretty insane to see how clean they had gotten it and hear them crunching on
the bones to get the marrow out.
Definitely a unique experience.
Thankfully we didn’t head right to breakfast after that, but
drove around a bit more to see if we could spot the male rhino. We did see a
female and baby rhino again, but no male yet! Headed back for breakfast (saw a
few baboons on the way) and our last mid-day relaxation—it’s hard to believe we’re
leaving here tomorrow, but also amazing to think back on all we’ve seen so far!
After lots of rolling thunder but no rain on our side of the
mountain, we jumped onto the land cruiser for our afternoon drive. In addition to more rhinos, zebras, and
giraffes, there were two notable sightings tonight. We spent most of the time with a group of 14
elephants that were eating grass like crazy and destroying trees left and
right. All sizes including some younger
elephants, it was quite the turnout and made for a pretty remarkable sight
watching them up close. A little later on the drive we saw the other solitary
male elephant which means we saw all 15 on the reserve in one day!
We enjoyed our last sundowners (Savanna cider and Pink Gin)
atop a huge rock overlooking the plain.
Definitely an iconic last iteration of one of our favorite parts—it’s
just so nice to take the time in a beautiful spot to have a drink and soak in
the setting sun. Celebrate had actually
gotten a call as we were pulling over for sundowners, so after we were done he
took us back to the area we had seen the lion kill that morning. While the
lionesses and cubs were nowhere to be seen (slightly nerve-wrecking in the low
light), we were able to find the male atop a rock. He is just incredibly majestic
to behold and then on top of that he let out a few territorial roars.
Unbelievable.
Drinks by the campfire followed by dinner in the dining tent made for a great Valentine’s Day. The holiday continued when we got back to our room and found they had filled our outdoor bathtub with bubbles & rose petals with a bottle of champagne to boot. All in all, not a shabby way to spend Valentine’s Day!
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