I wake to the sounds of Lions roaring most mornings. Some days they are more considerate and leave the chorus until a more Godly hour like 6 AM but most of the time it’s around 4. This seems to stir the Hyaena’s into action as if it were some kind of contest and he who shouts loudest wins. We were out at 6 AM on a game drive this particular morning and we had been given clearance by Ngala the game reserve closest to the campus to use some more Northerly roads. That was great news for us as we keep hearing the Lions from the North East of the Timbavati and I reckoned that there might be a good chance that we’d see signs of them here.
We took off with my good self driving. I’ll be honest about the driving. I couldn’t be arsed. It’s funny, the other group are all fighting about the vehicle and about who wants to drive. Our group being a little bit more chilled out are fighting not to drive! The reason being that when you are driving you don’t get to see as much as when you are not. I think that some of the guys in the group could do with a bit more practice but I think overall we are all fine. I’m not aware of any of us who have actually “bought,” their license which can’t be said for the other group.
We set off on our merry way and there was definitely an air of anticipation. We hadn’t used these roads at all and we were bound to find something of interest. We hadn’t travelled far when we caught wind of a very pungent odour. It smelled like a carcass and we followed our noses. Now I’m not pertaining to the fact that we have super sensitive senses of smell now just because we’re over here but a rotting carcass does possess a unique olfactory character. As my field guide book so aptly put it, the smell was “rank.” It was a big male Buffalo that had been taken down very close to the road. We scanned the area for any potential danger and dismounted. It was funny as we surrounded the carcass. It could have been an episode of CSI. The Bull had been tackled by a number of Lions judging by the claw marks and general devastation around the carcass. The scavengers had all had their turn on the carcass as well. There were Jackal, Vulture and Hyaena spoor and evidence such as scat and feathers. It was amazing how efficiently the carcass had been cleaned. The bones were all clean as a whistle. Nothing goes to waste here and I’d imagine by this time next week there will be a lot less to look at than today. We reckoned the kill was 3-4 days old. It was only about 3 KM from the College. You wouldn’t want to be walking around at night that’s for sure.
We hopped back into the vehicle after grabbing some hooves for class and kept our course in a North Easterly direction. We were tipping away nicely when our Eagle eyed Tracker spotted movement in the undergrowth. I thought it was Lion but it was something ten times rarer. It was a Pangolin. These animals are considered to be one of the rarest sightings around. Our two instructors had only seen 3 between them in over 15 years. The more unusual aspect was the fact that these animals are generally nocturnal. We watched it’s antics. It is a really cool mammal. It’s very unusual and to be honest probably inspired characters in Star Wars films. It has a scaley look and when frightened or for defence rolls up into an impenetrable ball of scales. It’s considered in the top 5 rarest animals in Kruger so we were really lucky to have come across it. We spent a long time with it and by the time we left the clock was against us once more. We needed to get back to base for dinner so we headed back. We were delighted though with our sighting. The Lions will just have to wait…………
We took off with my good self driving. I’ll be honest about the driving. I couldn’t be arsed. It’s funny, the other group are all fighting about the vehicle and about who wants to drive. Our group being a little bit more chilled out are fighting not to drive! The reason being that when you are driving you don’t get to see as much as when you are not. I think that some of the guys in the group could do with a bit more practice but I think overall we are all fine. I’m not aware of any of us who have actually “bought,” their license which can’t be said for the other group.
We set off on our merry way and there was definitely an air of anticipation. We hadn’t used these roads at all and we were bound to find something of interest. We hadn’t travelled far when we caught wind of a very pungent odour. It smelled like a carcass and we followed our noses. Now I’m not pertaining to the fact that we have super sensitive senses of smell now just because we’re over here but a rotting carcass does possess a unique olfactory character. As my field guide book so aptly put it, the smell was “rank.” It was a big male Buffalo that had been taken down very close to the road. We scanned the area for any potential danger and dismounted. It was funny as we surrounded the carcass. It could have been an episode of CSI. The Bull had been tackled by a number of Lions judging by the claw marks and general devastation around the carcass. The scavengers had all had their turn on the carcass as well. There were Jackal, Vulture and Hyaena spoor and evidence such as scat and feathers. It was amazing how efficiently the carcass had been cleaned. The bones were all clean as a whistle. Nothing goes to waste here and I’d imagine by this time next week there will be a lot less to look at than today. We reckoned the kill was 3-4 days old. It was only about 3 KM from the College. You wouldn’t want to be walking around at night that’s for sure.
We hopped back into the vehicle after grabbing some hooves for class and kept our course in a North Easterly direction. We were tipping away nicely when our Eagle eyed Tracker spotted movement in the undergrowth. I thought it was Lion but it was something ten times rarer. It was a Pangolin. These animals are considered to be one of the rarest sightings around. Our two instructors had only seen 3 between them in over 15 years. The more unusual aspect was the fact that these animals are generally nocturnal. We watched it’s antics. It is a really cool mammal. It’s very unusual and to be honest probably inspired characters in Star Wars films. It has a scaley look and when frightened or for defence rolls up into an impenetrable ball of scales. It’s considered in the top 5 rarest animals in Kruger so we were really lucky to have come across it. We spent a long time with it and by the time we left the clock was against us once more. We needed to get back to base for dinner so we headed back. We were delighted though with our sighting. The Lions will just have to wait…………
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