Re: Walking with Lions
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:28 pm
Once the tent/trailer was all packed up we were ready for a final drive south through the park. Out of curiosity we travelled round the Domkrag loop to see if we could work out where the lions had eventually settled but they were completely out of sight. We did however find a pale chanting goshawk busy with a mid-morning lizard snack
There were the typical regulars around as we drove south, but as we approached Marion Baree waterhole there were a good few cars around. I thought it had to be elephants quenching their thirst in the midday heat, but as we got closer there were no big grey lumps to be seen. Instead it was a hyena cooling off in the water
I was pretty amazed as we only normally see hyena in Addo very early in the morning, but it seems that there's a new den site just over the hill from this waterhole so perhaps there will be further sightings of them. I managed to squeeze the car and trailer into a spot where we could see across to the hyena.... D was stoked as this is his favourite animal
After plenty of sloshing around, the hyena suddenly became very alert.
In the rear-view mirrors we could see another hyena approaching, but this one in the water seemed to be dominant and wasn't keen on the idea of sharing a bath so got up and chased the other one away
The chase continued near the road behind us, and there was a big pile-up of cars reversing and trying to get a view. I wasn't about to join that kind of mess whilst towing a trailer so we watched events unfold in the mirrors until the hyenas disappeared into the bushes. The other cars and jeep jockeys slowly dispersed as we sat chatting about what a great sighting it had been.
There were the typical regulars around as we drove south, but as we approached Marion Baree waterhole there were a good few cars around. I thought it had to be elephants quenching their thirst in the midday heat, but as we got closer there were no big grey lumps to be seen. Instead it was a hyena cooling off in the water
I was pretty amazed as we only normally see hyena in Addo very early in the morning, but it seems that there's a new den site just over the hill from this waterhole so perhaps there will be further sightings of them. I managed to squeeze the car and trailer into a spot where we could see across to the hyena.... D was stoked as this is his favourite animal
After plenty of sloshing around, the hyena suddenly became very alert.
In the rear-view mirrors we could see another hyena approaching, but this one in the water seemed to be dominant and wasn't keen on the idea of sharing a bath so got up and chased the other one away
The chase continued near the road behind us, and there was a big pile-up of cars reversing and trying to get a view. I wasn't about to join that kind of mess whilst towing a trailer so we watched events unfold in the mirrors until the hyenas disappeared into the bushes. The other cars and jeep jockeys slowly dispersed as we sat chatting about what a great sighting it had been.