This morning started off a little chilly again, a change from the warm mornings and evenings from the last week. We set off with a cool wind on our cheeks as we move east, hoping to catch a glimpse of the male lion we have been searching for so hard for the last 3 days. There is something about mornings, something magical. The duet of the Crested Francolin, the red sunrise, the cool breeze… Its nothing in particular I think, more like a collection of all these things that makes the mornings so magical.
We idle down a long straight road and before long our first sighting for the morning has arrived. It’s nothing big, nothing special – or is it? A young warthog family rushes from their burrow to begin their day of foraging. As we carry on the sun slowly rises, warming us from the outside with its rich golden rays. A young female giraffe is next to step out and meet us and is soon joined by her young calf and an older bull. An excited shout from the back row heralds the first of our 2 white rhino sightings for the morning. This one, a cow and her new young calf, were grazing their way around with no particular direction in mind. After a few minutes they seem to tire of the clicking cameras and move off to carry on with their usual daily activities of feeding, sleeping and maybe a roll in the mud for good measure!
Further up the road we find a few lion tracks and my tracker, Give, and I get out to investigate. The tracks were from a male lion, made during his wanderings the previous evening. We follow the tracks for a while only to find that they move into an impenetrable reed thicket on the Klaserie River. No concerns though, a few zebra and waterbuck make the unsuccessful trail all worth while. By now a coffee stop and leg stretch is the order of the day and with the sun high in the sky the layers of clothing that were protecting against the morning chill are being peeled off.
Soon after coffee we find 4 young female lions warming themselves up on a termite mound in the sun and again the cameras were clicking away. We depart from the lions and find a rhino bull on the way home. A lone bull wandering his territory, making his way nowhere in no great hurry. The blessings of African Time! We arrive back at the lodge and tuck into a well deserved breakfast.
Story by : Paul Daniel – Kapama Karula Lodge Ranger
