Mashatu day 2

David Attenborough Doco
Though it was still dark we were out on safari by 6am with Bellamy after a quick breakfast. I enjoy the maize porridge. Maize is a staple of Africa and there are bags and bags of it in the supermarkets. Rice is more of a luxury, one Batswanan told me and generally only eaten on special occasions.
It is quite cold in the mornings, especially in an open safari vehicle, so the Lodge supplied blankets and a hot water bottle each. We drove around for quite a while looking for game and I started to feel drowsy. With my hot water bottle on my knee and my blanket around me, I nearly fell out of the side of the vehicle when we lurched across a bump- I had nodded off.
We were starting to feel like the early morning start had been a waste of time until Bellamy tracked down a lion and lioness at a waterhole. She was drinking when we arrived but once she'd finished that we really started to feel like we were part of a David Attenborough documentary. Cue the romantic music...it was all happening, right here and right now. The pair then moved up the bank and rested under a tree. We parked only a few feet from them and sat and watched them for quite a while. They were totally disinterested in our presence. Humans in vehicles are not generally viewed as food to lions, cheetah, leopards and hyenas. Back to the lion; he had numerous small scars on his nose. Bellamy said this was from the female lion scratching him after mating. We saw that happen - as soon as the action was over she growled and had a swipe at him.
The drivers are all in radio communication and there had been a sighting of a kill. When we got there, there was a hyena eating an Impala with numerous jackals hanging around and 4 leopards lurking nearby. The mother leopard had killed the Impala but the hyena had taken over the kill and as it is more ferocious than the leopard it takes precedence. Apparently this is one way hyena's survive - stealing other's kills. The 3 nearly fully grown male son leopards all had a go at trying to reclaim the carcass but were quickly hunted away. One had a bloody shoulder probably from fighting with the hyena. The kill site smelt of bloody slaughter and was loud with the jackals yipping and yelping at each other, especially if one was successful in ripping off a piece of flesh while the hyena's back was turned. The jackal with the piece of flesh would dash off with it but then he had to contend with the other jackals and how to keep them away from his potential meal. It's tough out there in the wild.
We followed the retreating leopards for a bit. The giraffes were very interested in where the leopards were and were on full alert; their necks at full height and their eyes wide. All the animals switch to full alert when a cat is around. Birds call out warning signals, Impala grunt and giraffes tower. The guides often use these signals to find animals.
Our next sighting was a mother leopard and her cub. They were resting under a tree with a half eaten Impala nearby. The mother dozed quietly, barely lifting her head as we came quite close, but the cub was playing as youngsters do. He annoyed her occasionally by biting at her paws and face. Apparently there had been two in the litter but the uncle had killed and eaten the other male cub. Bellamy did not know why that had happened and said it was unusual behavior.
We returned to the Lodge about 10:30am and saw a herd of female elephants on the way with babies of various sizes. The cutest one was about a month old and carefully overseen by his mother as he copied how to eat the Mopani trees. The Mopani is a staple of the Elephant diet and in many places in Mushatu there are large areas of bedraggled Elephant ravaged Mopani trees of about human height. When the Mopani is eaten down to a certain height it protects itself by turning brown and releasing tannins which make it taste bitter.
Brunch was served when we returned. The food at Mashatu is exceptionally good and the outlook from the terrace over the waterhole is very nice. At this sort of Lodge the guides always eat with the guests. This is a really nice way to get to know the guides better and we can ask them all sorts of questions about the flora and fauna. I notice they never touch alcohol. I have not asked why but I suspect it is part of their professionalism - they are essentially working while eating with us.
We had a break for a few hours - I caught up on my blog writing and we face timed Bill and Alex. The wifi is good but only available in the common room.
At 3pm we were back in the safari land cruiser and off out into the landscape. At Mushatu they have a set of stairs on wheels - a bit like they use for aircraft - and they wheel these up to the side for us to walk up to our seats. This is safari 5 star style. On this afternoon drive we saw numerous animals: kudu, Impala, banded mongoose, elephants, leopards, cheetahs & lions (all same as before), Zebra, honey badgers, giraffe, various birds, baboons, wart hogs, mice, squirrels and ostriches. Edward, our spotter on the back of the vehicle, very kindly made us afternoon drinks again and we enjoyed these at sunset out in the African landscape before returning to the Lodge for dinner.Leia mais