The day started with a warm African sunrise and everyone on the vehicle was excited for game drive.

That morning we did not see too much, reason being that the bush had other plans for us. We were tracking some lions all morning and the trails were scattered all over, one going north then one going north-west which made it really difficult.

I was out on drive with my fellow ranger Michael and even though all of us were excited and keen on finding the big male lion, unfortunately, we had no luck. So at about 10 am we retuned to the lodge with a little disappointment, but at least we had a chance to see many other animals such as Nyala, Impala, Kudu, etc.

That afternoon we went out again and we were very determined to find our dominant male lion. So after about an hour of tracking through some rugged terrain, we got a call on the radio saying that they have found fresh tracks. So we drove to the designated area and started searching and scanning the bush. Suddenly, we herd a distress call in the distance.

It came from a young Wildebeest so we decided that we were going to drive into the bush to see what was happening. All of a sudden we found him – the big male lion on a kill with his powerful jaws wrapped around the animal’s throat. It was really a spectacular sighting and everyone on the vehicle had a glimpse of nature at its best…

All of Africa is a stage and all the animals are merely actors…

Pieter – River Lodge
19/06/2012