Sounds like the lions and hyaenas are at each others' throats! What a commotion!!! More and more hyaena are pouring in from all over, they are passing within meters of my tent, running towards the very unhappy lions, all falling into rhythmic cacophony!

An eruption of oral-, resulting in aural-mayhem, an acoustic tug of war between the reverberating chesty growls of lion vs. the hysterical whining of spotted hyaena, punctuated by brief bursts of lyrical ferocity on the brink of insanity! Sometimes the imaginary response to such auditory displays is far more graphic than reality. One's own poetic-license, paints with brighter colours, broader brush-strokes and less inhibition than is authentic. The result is a techni-colour scene playing off in slow-motion with such detail that you find yourself sitting bolt-upright in bed with your heart pounding the inside of your ribcage with the impact of a sledge-hammer… Suddenly all is quiet! A few muted growls and general quieting of hyaena, signifies an abrupt end to the struggle for ownership of the remaining carcass.
A few roars heard during the night coming from just outside camp acted as a gentle reassurance that all was still fine. The hyaenas manage to gain some food, although very risqué, from the lions for little effort. The lions managed to consume some of their prey before being displaced. It's all a system of give and take…"

Wow, left the tent 15min ago with a lethargic demeanour and my camera…just returned with a racing pulse and an ice-cold beer to calm my nerves!
I took a walk behind camp to see what happened last night with the lions and hyaenas.
Saw some vultures perched in one of the baobabs not 50m from the kitchen and wondered to myself, "There are a few reasons these vultures may remain perched, one they have finished eating and await the thermal activity of tomorrow for further flight, or alternatively the predators are still on the carcass, keeping them firmly aloft.
Well…it was the latter!

I passed by the kitchen tent and took a winding track leading south. Although very dry, the shrubs and particularly forbs, are still 4-5ft tall and dense. Cautiously snaking past a few Boscias with spine-tipped leaves, now feeling a bit like Neanderthalian Ug brandishing my newfound albeit useless weapon, a 3 foot long stick! My eyes piercing every nook and cranny of every bush, looking for any sign of potential danger.
Finding lion spoor pasted across every path, I push on. Suddenly as I look up at the vultures in the baobab, now behind me, a loud guttural growl, imamates from somewhere ahead, from an unseen throat, behind and unseen bush! Very little info but enough to calculate the required 180degree adjustment in my bearing…

A very clear warning! I listen! Stop and immediately start backing away, keeping my eyes forward to see what the defender is doing. Trying to see if it is approaching or staying put, aggressive or defensive… In between speedy glimpses behind me and facing the origin of the growls, I retreat to a point where I deem it safe enough to turn my back and expedite my departure back to camp. With constant double-checking that I am not being followed, I reach the relative safety of the tented camp…
Well…now I know the lions are still around! And actually the hyaenas did NOT displace them as I thought. Again pointing to the poetic license of our imagination…

Other encounters this month has been a lone ele bull coming into camp and passing very close to the main tent providing us all with some anxious moments…

We also had the privilege to track down two male lions early one morning and were treated to a roaring display not 10m from the Landy! The whole vehicle started resonating in response to the decibel delivering calls…

Nature provides beauty in such a great variety of guises that it sometimes passes us by unnoticed! Some are very obvious and spectacular, like the vibrantly coloured lilac-breasted roller but other times in the subtle form of a silhouetted wild-flower against the rising full-moon…

Another hot day in Africa draws to a close…

I absolutely love my job!!!