I mentioned last week that I will be posting stories of our travels to places outside Yellowstone. I love Yellowstone and I enjoy every moment I am there but I also love South Africa. I don’t believe in reincarnation but if I did I would say my last life was in South Africa. I first lived in South Africa in Johannesburg in 1975 and 1976. When I first got there I truly expected to see an elephant outside the airport (I was young and especially stupid then. I actually saw a Holiday Inn.) South Africa is a beautiful country. It has political problems but it is a gorgeous place with tons of beautiful birds and the most unbelievable mammals. I mean think about it. What if you just landed on earth for the first time and saw an elephant or giraffe or rhino for the first time? They really are the most improbable animals; the elephant’s size and trunk, the giraffe’s height and long neck, the rhino’s . . . . . well the rhino’s everything.
Add to that mix lions, leopards, zebras, impala, wildebeest, etc. and you have an amazing diversity of life. One of the best places to see that diversity is in Kruger National Park. It doesn’t have the beautiful scenery that Yellowstone has but it has way more species of animals on over twice the amount of land as Yellowstone. It also has more roads so much of it is accessible. The major difference is: You can’t get out of your vehicle unless you are inside a fenced camp. Lions and leopards will eat you and rhinos and elephants have killed people even when they are in a car. But it is still wonderful.
We have been to South Africa 4 times. The shortest trip was a month and a half and the longest one was 6 months. When we go we spend all of our time in their national parks. One day we were driving south on a road south of a camp named Satara in Kruger. We saw several female lions walking along the right side of the road. As we got really close we could hear one of the lionesses making a low coughing sort of noise as she looked into the grass next to the road.
We couldn’t figure it out until suddenly 2 lion cubs came bounding out of the grass to greet their mama. They were so happy to see her! They jumped on her, licked her, nuzzled her and generally acted like she had been gone for a week.
She and her sisters had been out hunting. Most people don’t realize how hard it is to be a predator, whether you are a wolf in Yellowstone or a lion in Kruger. You have to find food and that food is almost always alive and doesn’t want to be someone’s dinner. Elk, zebras, impala, and bison kick. I once watched a lioness walking to a waterhole. I am not sure what had happened to her but it looked like she had been kicked by a zebra and had several broken ribs. But if she didn’t get water she would die and she knew it. She walked slowly to the waterhole and then very slowly lowered her front end enough to get a drink. You could tell she was in pain. Look closely at the photo of the lioness above with her 2 cubs and the photo below of the same lioness. She has bite marks on the top of her head and neck. She also had a couple of larger holes on her rear end. Being a predator is a tough job.
Our photos are available at www.vernelehmberg.com where you will find over 4,000 photos from Africa to Yellowstone.
Fantastic story and great pics. Love the male lion in the morning story; that is something for you to treasure. Thanks for sharing this Judy.
Thank you Linda! And yes I do treasure that lion.
Love this story, Judy. We were lucky enough to go to South Africa in 2009. Spent time in Kruger National Park and a few places in the Sabi Sand. It was eerie how much I felt at home there. The animals were amazing. I think about it every day and can’t wait to go back.
By the way, your story about the male lion on the other side of the fence, WOW. Like they say, whatever you do, DON’T RUN. I can’t even imagine, but I would guess I would be frozen in place, too, and would probably have to remind myself to breath after that encounter. How exciting.
I have never been to Sabi Sand but would love to go. I have heard fantastic things about it.
In reference to that male lion: I never thought to do anything except hold still, although it was obvious he saw me. I kept telling myself how strong (I hoped) the fence was. A lot of the ones in Kruger are electrified but this one wasn’t.
You sure captured her! I can’t imagine what it would be like to be amongst wild cats. These are amazing.
Deby those cats are magnificent! I think leopards are better, but not by much.
I have a memory of a male lion in the Kalahari desert I will never forget. All of the national parks in South Africa with dangerous animals have big fences around the camps. One morning I got up and went for a walk to look for birds inside the camp. The sun hadn’t come up yet and no one else was around. As I was walking near the fence I looked up and saw a huge Kalahari black maned male lion walking towards me. The second I looked up he stopped and we looked at each other for several minutes. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, or move. Even though the fence was there I was scared. He finally started walking along the fence to go around the camp. I didn’t move until he was out of site and then I went straight back to our chalet. No more lone bird watching in the semi-dark for me.
It was one of those rare times I didn’t have a camera and I am glad. That lion, and the aloof look on his face is etched in my brain forever.
Wow, that must have been an unreal experience. Like a dream but real. They are doing a cougar project in the park, beginning in January – I hope that the find some.
It was a kind of unreal experience. But it wasn’t like a dream because I felt more alive at that moment than most other times in my life. I think that is why I remember it so vividly. The adrenalin was really going.
I hope they do better than the last cougar project. It had to be more than 20 years ago. The guy in charge of that one was like the loneliest person in the park. I think he found 2 cougars.