High Highs and Low Lows

We woke up very excited for our first morning game drive in Ngala, but anxious to learn about the fate of the rhinos in the area.  After breakfast, while we were getting into the vehicle, we received confirmation that a spotter plane found a rhino that had been poached.  Andrew told us that it was a male and most likely one of the two that we'd seen the day before.  We were both angry and sad that someone would destroy such a beautiful animal for essentially nothing.  We hoped that the other rhino was able to get away safely and resolved that we'd learn more about the rhino poaching crisis and try to do something about it.

With somewhat heavier hearts, we set out to see what else Ngala would offer us.  We were initially greeted by a couple of warthogs.  These animals were especially amusing because when they run, their tails point straight up as though they are at attention. 

 

Andrew took us first to an abandoned termite mound that was being used by a group of hyenas to raise two cubs.  While hyena adults don't tend to be the most attractive of animals, the cubs were very cute and curious.

 

They were very brave and came right up to the vehicle.  Except any loud noise would send them scampering back inside the termite mound.

 

Andrew told us that the mothers only come visit for a few hours at a time.  Maybe it is because the moms are constantly being nibbled on by the cubs.

 

Seriously?

We've all felt this way in the morning...

 

 

After spending a good deal of time watching the hyena and their cubs, we were off to our next adventure.  Another vehicle had spotted a young male leopard and we were going to head towards their location.  On the way, we ran into a young male elephant who was in too big a rush to pose for many pictures.

 

 

While we were able to find the leopard, he wasn't really interested in posing for photos.  He stayed on a mound behind some very thick trees.  From our limited view, however, we could see that he was very beautiful.

 

After that excitement, it was time for tea and coffee before we headed back to the lodge.  We said goodbye to the Kiwis, who'd be departing for home that afternoon.

 

We enjoyed breakfast at the lodge and then napped in the cabin before lunch.  Over a cucumber wrapped salmon and a pork burrito we were able to see Cape Buffalo and rascally Vervet monkeys.

 

 

Prior to our game drive, we met our new game drive companions, Karen and Cindy from Chicago.  It was our first game drive with other "Yanks".  It proved to be an epic one.  As we crossed the dry river bed Adam was able to spot a leopard in the distance.  He was able to track it to a tree where we found it feeding on an impala.  Better still, we learned it was a mother who left her kill to fetch her two cubs (including the male that we had seen that morning) to come and feed.  While some of these shots are a bit graphic, these leopards were really stunning.

 

Those eyes!

 

 

Resting with full bellies.

 

We spent a very long time with the leopards (nobody was in a hurry to leave such a close encounter with the reclusive cats).  On our way to the next stop, we saw a troop of baboons up in a tree.

 

As if we didn't have enough good fortune, we found a male lion lying in the grass not very far from the leopards.  Andrew told us that he was one of a group of three dominant males in the area. 

 

The stop for the day's sundowners wasn't half bad. 

 

After sundowners, we ran back into the male lion.  Now that it was dark, he was out patrolling for prey and calling for his brothers.  Even though we knew it was safe, hearing him roar put chills down our spines.



 

On our way back to the lodge, we realized that in 3 game drives at Ngala, we'd already seen the Big 5.  While we realized that we'd been very fortunate, we couldn't shake the sadness of the poached rhino.

 

Over dinner we learned that 5 rhinos were poached in the greater Kruger park the previous night.  The crisis had become so bad that 2014 was the first year that there were more rhinos poached than born in the Kruger.  It definitely gave us a lot to think about as we headed off to bed.