The game park
I was up at five am this morning, dressed by 5:30 and out the door on my way to the lodge where we were meeting for some coffee and tea. Around six am we met up with our field guide and loaded up into the jeep. Normally a jeep of this kind will have a canvas top to keep the sun and rain off, ours was broken so we each were given a rain poncho. We left the lodge, in the jeep at 6:10, it started raining around 6:30. It didn't rain hard at first but soon I was soaked. There was so much water I could suck it out of my beard. After about an hour of driving we saw the lion on the road a head of us, coming our way. The day before we had also seen a lion however the one today was up and moving the one yesterday had been content to sleep while we all took pictures. The guide explained that the lions, and other animals, like to use the roads to mark their territory since the dirt is soft on their pads and provides easy lines to follow when laying down their scent. This is what the lion was doing. It rained the night before, washing away all the old scent markers. The lion needed to reestablish the boundaries of his domain. We sat patiently, and quietly, as the lion passed 15 feet to our right. The we turned around and followed him into the bush. Only a few minutes later he picked up the cheetahs scent. We followed as the lion found the cheetahs in the fenced off boma and paced up and down looking for a way passed the electrified wire. Now frustrated the lion growled at the cheetah, growled at us until our guide decided it was best if we moved on.
On the drive back the wind blew the rain so hard that each drop felt like a needle on my face. This was the second morning drive and the fourth drive of the weekend.
On the drive back the wind blew the rain so hard that each drop felt like a needle on my face. This was the second morning drive and the fourth drive of the weekend.