On last nights safari we had quite a couple of unexpected sightings. Besides tracking a pride of lionesses and following them into the sunset, chuckling at their playfulness, we also came across a Serval walking down the road. These long legged cats are quite rare to see as they tend to hide away very quickly as soon as they detect humans or vehicles.  They have distinctly  large ears which are very useful in helping them detect and locating rats, mice and other vertebrates in long grass.  Serval’s are also considered to be some of the best “jumpers” in nature, and it’s amazing to actually watch them “pluck” guinea fowl or other birds from the air in mid flight, sometimes as high as 3 metres above the ground.

Just before sunset we came across a Puff adder, one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa, soaking up the last rays from the sun and the radiant heat from the road. Into the evening we saw a flapnecked chameleon clinging for dear life onto a branch being whipped around in quite a strong breeze.  A very amusing sight….

Sebastiaan Jansen Van Vuuren

Ranger – Kapama Main lodge