Day 4 - August 27, 2011

Our morning drive starts with seeing two white rhino. They are amazingly large. Very different than seeing them in a zoo setting. Again, comfortable with the Land Rover and just go about their business, which is mostly grazing.

A two headed rhino ?

The herd of Cape Buffalo are being followed by the Ross lion pride. This is the same pride we have seen on previous days and is named for the one of the landowners in the region.

We come across three young male lions that have not been seen in this area until this morning. It is very peculiar because male lions are not welcomed by an existing pride, nor tolerated. When male lions come of age (I believe, three or four years of age) they focus on starting their own pride. This is usually done by moving in on an existing pride, killing the male lions of that pride, killing any cubs (to stop the DNA of those males) and then impregnating the females. This finding today is odd because the three newcomers are seen very near the full Ross pride, yet the older males do not seem to be threatened. The only explanation is that the three intruders are three males originally born into this pride that ventured out of area a couple of years ago. Ingrid and Phil remember the three male cubs from previous visits. So that would make the older males their father(s). This is usually a volatile situation because even the youngsters will battle with father(s) for control of the pride. It appears they are just passing through and indeed we only see them on this particular day.

This is the other Gomo Gomo Land Rover.
Gives you a good feel for how close the lions are.

They are beautiful animals. Manes are not as full as the mature male. They may have had limited exposure to humans and vehicles, yet are relaxed while we sit and watch. The roaring that we heard last night may have been from the three males coming into the territory.

We saw impala and kudo in our travels. This morning we also see the two older males and nine lionesses, all tracking the buffalo. They traveled onto some private property so we were not able to follow further.

Although each game lodge in the area has particular property lines, the lodges all work together and vehicles are allowed to go from property to property. There are no fences. This seems to work well with the exception of a few private property owners who don’t want the lodges on their properties. It is all very political. Gomo Gomo has access to 14,800 acres and during the course of the week I was at times very amazed how large of an area we covered during a morning or evening game drive.

It is overcast today and quite windy. Rumor has it that we are to have poor weather for a couple of days. Rumor is the best I have…. No television, no newspapers, no internet, no phone. My, oh my, this is really a vacation!

Back at the lodge after game drive. Breakfast is a smoothie, followed by eggs cooked to order and bacon. There is also a special each day, usually an egg specialty like eggs benedict or similar.

I decided to rest instead of going on bushwalk. Sounds like I missed a good time! The group of seven encountered a rhino sleeping. He jumped up quickly, they jumped into line not so quickly to show they were not a threat. Rhino finally trotted off. The not so quickly happened because Alexis got her sweater caught in a prickly bush and a number of the women were not able to move into the needed line behind the ranger. They described hearts racing and much laughter after the fact!

Wendy and Kaiser left today for Afghanistan. I have enjoyed their company and Kaiser’s dry wit. Karis left today for the UK. A couple with two young children arrived today and another couple from UK with three children came in yesterday.

Henry the Hippo is the resident at the watering hole. He seems to spend most of his time there and although he is wild and would be very aggressive if we encountered him on foot, he appears to delight in entertaining us. A trained hippo…?? When he hears the Land Rovers start at the beginning of game drives, he swims to the far right side of the watering hole to see if we will drive by. If the ranger stops, he will roll in the water, jump out and splash and in general draw much attention to himself. The rest of the day is spent mostly submerged, with nostrils coming up for air every four to six minutes. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera on correct settings when he chose to show off. On my next visit to South Africa, (yes, I will return), I will be sure to have camera ready when we leave the camp!

Lunch today consisted of grilled chicken with a coconut mayo dipping sauce, carrot and cabbage slaw and fresh pear. Fried cheese and freshly baked bread completed the lovely meal.

Evening drive was fairly quiet. The weather is damp and cool. Animals are in hiding. Saw a white rhino on the camp road. I wonder if he ventures into the lodge area, just down the road a bit. The lion cubs have been hidden by the lionesses. This is common behavior and allows the lions to hunt without the cubs. The cubs are hidden in a thicket and only popped their heads up for a second to look at us. Sometimes they are left for days. I find it amazing that they listen and stay put. They are like toddlers, quite mischievous and playful, but totally unable to defend themselves. Predators are bountiful and include the males from the pride and elephants.

We found the nine female and two male lions. All very lazy and resting. Abdomens are smaller. They will probably hunt tonight.

Watching the social interaction between the lioness has been fascinating.
We will find them all sprawled out and sleeping. One will awake, get up and
visit with each of the others, greeting with nudges and licks, then find a new
comfy spot and go back to sleep. Then another will arise and do the same.
They are extremely pleasant with each other when at rest.
When it is time to hunt they work as a team.
When the kill has been made, it is a different story, with much
aggression and fighting amongst the pride.

Also saw an African Wild Cat today. It is similar to a house cat in looks and size. Some people have taken them as babies and domesticated them, but mostly they just roam in the bush.

The terrain that I am in is very bleak at this time of year. There are a few green bushes and trees but most trees are deciduous and not even ready to bud yet. Spring is still a few weeks off. This makes for a very gray and blah landscape but has its advantages for finding animals. They are easier to spot, the air is cooler so they are not hiding in the thicker bush and out of the sun and because water is scarcer they are more apt to be at waterholes. It has been in the 40 to 50 degree range during the morning drives and 70 to 80 degrees by noontime. I bundle up in layers for the drives and am usually just in one layer by the time we return to the lodge at 9 AM.

Tonight we ate dinner inside the lodge. It is too cold and windy to be outside. We have had some rain this afternoon and evening. Dinner is pork on a skewer and lamb chops. There are always two choices for main entrée. We also had baked potatoes, mixed vegetables, asparagus and orange salad, cheese bread and a delightful chocolate cake with a warm sauce for dessert. Have mentioned that I am not losing weight. :)

After dinner some of us sat around talking and laughing. Although the wildlife have been a highlight of this trip, the people I have met have had just as much of an impact on my enjoyment. Phil and Ingrid from the UK have quickly grown to be dear friends. I am sure that we will see each other after departing Gomo Gomo. They are gems. Alexis and Tricia have added great fun to the mix with stories, funny questions, and great senses of humour.

For me, the greatest new friendship has been with Iwan, the ranger. He is a 22 year old South African native with incredibly abundant skills in being a host, a ranger, a tracker, and a gentleman. He has a great sense of humour and a very considerate demeanor. We have enjoyed many talks and laughs together.