Atlasville, 3 January 2009
Our third day was to prove rather exciting. Our first drive of the day began after an early breakfast at about 06:30. At 06:53 our spotter pointed out two lionesses sitting atop a termite mound about 200 m off the road. Our guide stopped the vehicle and asked us to fasten our seat belts. For two days we had only driven on the roads so at first fastening seat belts sounded odd, but the guide explained that due to the extremely flat sandy terrain and sparse vegetation at Lebala the game-viewing vehicles are able to drive off-road so we could get much closer to the lionesses. Had this been the Kruger Park I would have taken a few long range shots with my 300 mm lens with x2 extender and called it a day. However, fasten seat belts it was and we headed towards the termite mound followed by the other Lebala vehicle that had been summoned over the 2-way radio by our guide. We got much nearer but still kept a respectful distance (it may seem flat but it’s very bumpy and you need the seat belts). The other vehicle approached the termite mound from a different angle.
The lionesses apparently are mother and daughter. This must have been their overnight sleeping spot as they sat around for a while watching us closely, before eventually getting up stretching and yawning. They then scanned the surrounding veld from their perch before finally moving off together. They came directly towards our vehicle and passed by almost at touching distance while those in the other vehicle watched from a distance. We followed for a while hoping that they may bring down an impala or wildebeest but they headed straight into the marshy area probably believing they would do better with puku or lechwe. Our vehicle was off-road but not amphibious so we had to watch them go, hoping that we may see them later in the day, but it was not to be. Probably more action from those two lionesses than we have seen from Kruger Park lions in 28 years (with perhaps one exception).
Nothing much could live up to that experience although on the way back to Lebala I did manage photos of Knob-billed Duck, Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill and a nice surprise with a roosting pair of Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl. Unfortunately my next lifer, Dickinson’s Kestrel, was just too far away to get a good photo.
Arriving back at Lebala we crossed the footbridge into the camp and I spent the time before lunch and a while after birding from the hide and around the camp itself. Unlike the rest camps in the Kruger Park Lebala is unfenced and you must be on the alert all the time, perhaps those lionesses might make an appearance! We did have hippos grazing on the grass in front of the tents. The Southern Brown-throated Weaver were active again but I still have to get a decent view of a male bird. A skulking Hartlaub’s Babbler became my 4th lifer and 3rd in-camp lifer of the trip. His cousin the Arrow-marked Babbler was also quite active. A Smith’s Bush Squirrel patrolled the decking next to the restaurant hoping for the opportunity of some dropped morsel of food.
The late afternoon drive was very much ‘the usual suspects’ and the only photos taken were of Cattle Egret and a massively yawning hippo.
Highlight of this drive though was the sunset and the opportunity to stop at one of the pans for a sundowner drink and ‘nibbles’ – still need to be able to do the marvellous Lebala dinner justice! A sundowner out in the bush is quite an experience with no man-made sounds, just crickets, cicadas, bullfrogs, nightjars, the occasional hyena whoop and impala bark. Oh, and make sure to put on your insect repellent.
