Part V: Lions

A shroud of sky came up, rising from the land, pulled up by the sun to be burned off later in the day.  In the low cloudy light, we came across a young Zebra, his family just out of shot.  He’d been attacked very recently.  No more blood ran from the wound and our guide said that he’d be fine.  Animals out here heal much more quickly than humans, and apparently they heal in a much different way than humans. 

We drove along at a steady clip and I was near the back, on the high seats, resting on the railing, my camera dangling as my arms hung down the side of the truck.  I rested my head, watching the dry grass by the road zip by.  There were enough eyes in this truck that nothing would be missed.  I relaxed watching the blur, looking for tracks, when I met wheat colored eyes, surprised and wide looking straight up at me, holding my gaze as I looked back, the sight of them receding.

“Lion,” I said.  I turned, almost yelling, “Lion!”

The group split, looking two ways, everyone on the other side of the truck having spotted two other lions.

The first below is the one who I saw first.  The guide referred to him as the ‘escort’. 

The two below were the mating pair.  My guide explained that the two males were buddies, possibly even brothers, but only one was ‘officially’ mating with the female.  She had probably taken a little vacation from a pride and was having fun with this one.  The mating male was very aware of the escort’s location.  Every time the escort got up or even moved, the mating male raised his head and watched, growling once to make sure the lesser lion kept his distance.  The guide also explained that though the mating male is protective, the female is by no means loyal – at all.  If the mating male were to walk off to get some water, the lioness would entertain the escort.  Why?  Well, she can get pregnant by two different males at one time, and having a varied set of offspring is always a safer bet.

Caught the escort mid-yawn.  Amazing how well they blend in with their surroundings.  I never would have seen the escort in the first place if I hadn’t been staring straight down at the grass when we passed by.

The mating lion below shows his affection.  Mating lions are very affectionate… the lioness though, doesn’t really seem to care too much.  The guide even said that she’ll usually have to do a good deal of persuasion to get the males to leave her alone once she’s ‘done’.  And it’s not for long.  The mating period is only a few days long.  But during those few days, they’ll mate every fifteen minutes like clockwork.  These two – unfortunately- were at the very end of their mating period and had finished their bouts of dirty.  We hung around for a good half hour just to make sure.  When I spotted these two lions a day later, the lioness was no where to be seen.  She was indeed done.

No idea what this bird is.  Reminded me of an old grey Zazoo from the Lion king. 

The giraffe – a truly awkward animal in my opinion.  (the name giraffe, apparently means ‘elegant walker’.  I’m guessing the Adam of that name didn’t see the giraffe run – just imagine a nervous skyscraper trying to run a red light… yes, very elegant.)  They do however seem to achieve some moments of grace.  More interesting though is the fact that they have just as many bones in their neck as we have in our necks – just seven vertebrae.

This one below standing on the street should be careful.  Apparently there is a pride of lions down south by Satara that has figured out an ingenious way of killing giraffes.  After there has been some rain, lions will chase giraffes out onto the street, knowing full well that the giraffe doesn’t have much traction with it’s hooves.  Most always, the giraffe will slip on the slick asphalt and fall – an easy kill.

Graceful moment.

As mentioned before, this photo below shows the testosterone streaming down the side of the elephant’s face, from his temple area, behind and slightly above his eye.

Along with every other bull in the park, this one turned towards me to tell me how much he didn’t like me.  Never failing to spread his ears wide (as if he isn’t already big enough to get something my sized nervous.)

I’m not completely sure about this bird, but someone told me it was a Vulgate Eagle.  Whatever it was, it was huge.  The picture doesn’t do the size justice.  I’d say it’s feet were easily the size of my hands, perhaps larger.

Giraffe and Zebra enjoying a little cooperative coexistence (eyes up high help sound the alarm earlier.)

At this point, I was driving south from Olifants, towards Satara.  And once again, I came upon an elephant, perhaps the largest bull elephant I saw during my entire stay.  It was off the road some, partially hidden, eating – as always.  I took pictures for a few moments, and then the expected happened.  He spread his ears wide, reared his trunk and yelled at me.  And then he charged.  He ran after me and he ran.

And ran.

And ran…

My heart rate was jacked.  Luckily I was quick to get out of danger at the start when he was rather close.  Thank god for all the hours I’ve put in with a manual transmission, otherwise… this S.O.B. could have killed me.  This bull elephant ran after me for more than a kilometer, yelling at me the whole time.  Later in the day I would arrive at Satara and find recent pictures of some of the more unlucky encounters some tourists have had with elephants.  Those tusks are strong enough that an elephant can fork-lift an entire car, and not only lift it, but throw it end over end.  I saw several pictures of people who had let a bull elephant get a little too close.  Cars were destroyed, flipped, mangled, all with people still inside.  Not a pretty sight. 

When I trekked up to Everest base camp a couple years ago, four people died during one week while I was there.  This too was a dangerous place.  Tourists die regularly, not knowing the truly awesome power of these animals.

After my heart rate settled, I continued south through Kruger towards Satara.

Warthog trapping along the side of the road.

First wildebeest.  Strange sort of face straight on.

I decided to take another game drive upon getting into the Satara rest camp.  This was an evening ride and with it came my first rhino, here below.  He was backlit, so my photos didn’t come out terribly well.  We also glimpsed a leopard behind this rhino but alas, no clear shots. 

An eagle here below, flying away with his most recent catch.  We came upon him tearing the fish apart on the river bank but he got nervous with us so close and decided to take it to-go.

More lions, maybe.  I’m pretty sure these two males are the same two males courting the female I had seen the day before.  Lions generally only move for about four hours a day, so there’s a good chance they stayed right here the whole time. 

  

This one was across the road sleeping but he got hungry enough to wake up.  Had to have a good stretch before he started moving towards the nervous impala a couple hundred yards away.

And here, my bungalow in Satara that I stayed in for a day.  My tiny red Fiat is at the bottom of the rainbow.  I took it as a good omen since I would be would be walking with armed guards through the park for the next three days.