As we left the lodge this morning the weather was not really on our side as it was cloudy with quite a heavy drizzle. We decided however, that this would not stop us, and it was actually pleasant to smell the first summer rain, feel the drops on our faces and inhaling that fresh air that comes with the rain. It felt like the bush was just waking up and bird song that was missing during the winter was everywhere around us.
We had quite a good start as we found a herd of buffalo heading towards a waterhole soon after we left the lodge. We continued to try and locate the lions and after some tracking, saw them from a distance across one of the drainage lines where we expect they keep the young cubs born about 5 weeks ago. We decided to not venture closer just in case the youngsters are around. After a wile we left them (without even a glimpse of any babies…) and carried on further to see what else we could find. After some good general game viewing we decided to stop for coffee and on our way to a suitable (safe) area came across a breeding herd of elephant with quite a couple of youngsters amongst them.
One could see they where also elated about the first rain and just went on playing all the time around our vehicle. We stayed for quite a wile watching the youngsters’ antics, and afterwards left to head back to the lodge for breakfast. Yet another very fruitfull drive despite the weather.
Jeffrey Mmadi – Kapama Lodge Ranger
