Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

Jack headed home at the end of the week, and whilst the leopard sightings did dry up, I will blame the return of the lions for that as opposed to our luck running out. After over a week’s absence, the Giraffe Pride eventually made a return to the West. We would have found them in the morning had I not suggested to Scotch that the tracks he was following up on were for the Sark Breakways and not the Giraffe Pride. With intel that the pride was presently lying in the Klaserie and looking at where the tracks went, we had little reason to doubt my hypothesis. That evening when we saw four members of the Giraffe Pride very close to where Scotch had stopped tracking, I realized I may have been wrong…although I did think they may have been some unknown lions.

However, when I bumped into another eight pride members about a kilometer away, I knew that I had been wrong twice, and the Giraffe Pride had returned. We woke up to a roaring lion on the plains in front of Plains Camp the next morning and went out and found the whole pride – the two males included – resting on the plains. It was a most welcome sight for my guests on the last full day of their nine-day stay (and John’s birthday). While it was great to have the lions back on the plains, we hadn’t struggled too badly for lions in the days leading up to their return. A Vuyela male had got lucky and found the carcass of a hippo and gorged himself for two days before one brother and all nine members of the Sark Breakaway pride (the real ones this time) arrived to share in the feast. To round off the week, the Mayambula Pride had also returned to the south-western parts of their territory and had been moving in and out of Nkhari, but sadly tracks were all that the guides were seeing – I tried for them one afternoon but had no luck in the fading light. We hope that they do show themselves soon though.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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