OMG! I am NOT Lion!
We set out at 6:30 am for our full day game drive, and a full day it was!! We were ready to see some animals! Our first hit was a group of four giraffes, one of them was a young one. We hadn’t even driven into the park yet! Once we got into the park we began to see lots of impalas and birds. Since it is the rainy season, the grasses are quite high, so it makes game viewing more challenging. Our guides were fantastic and we all got very trained at watching for wildlife. We even had a few excited “miscalls”! 😉
Our Jeep was lucky enough to spot a herd of beautiful sables, which are the National Antelope of Zimbabwe.
Then we had the most amazing lion encounter that I have ever experienced! We looked ahead on the road to see three female lions with about 6-8 lion cubs coming down the road toward us. We all sat very still and quietly and they continued towards us and walked right beside the Jeep and continued on down the road. They can only see shape and movement so as long as we sat still they were not frightened of us. We couldn’t believe what we had just witnessed. Then we saw another female coming down the road with a tiny cub that was struggling to keep up to his mom. When they got to the high grass, the mom picked the cub up and carried her. The little guy squawked a few times, he didn’t seem to care for that! We were feeling bad because we were the only Jeep there. Luckily, our guide texted the other two jeeps and they came in time to watch the mom carrying her baby through the grass. Then we all moved toward the waterhole where we could see all of them together. We sat and watched until they all left, with the mom still carrying her baby!! This was the most amazing lion encounter I have ever experienced!
Shortly after the lion encounter we regrouped at a picnic site for our morning coffee and snack break. Everyone was pretty pumped about what we had just witnessed. Our “lion” Jeep reported that they got to see a black Mumba snake this morning and also yesterday afternoon!
After our coffee break we continued on, in search of more game. We got to see crowned cranes, a Roan antelope, some wildebeests, a pair of guinea fowl with babies, and a leopard tortoise. Our Jeep was busy watching a group of baboons when our guide suggested that we move along as there was a “special surprise” ahead. We drove for quite awhile before we caught up to the other jeeps. It was certainly a special surprise! First we saw four female lions sitting under a tree. Then we drove around an area where we saw six female lions and two cubs laying under a tree and two male lions laying under another tree. There was a group of elands off to one side and some wildebeests off to the other side. We sat an watched for quite awhile, in anticipation of a possible take down. The wildebeests moved closer to the male lions, almost seeming to taunt them but nothing happened. Our guide said that he was told that another group of female lions were working their way around the back. We finally decided that we couldn’t sit there forever so we all left and went to another picnic area for our lunch. The hotel had packed us lunches so that we didn’t have to drive all the way back to the lodge for lunch.
We continued our search after lunch and we saw lots of zebras and wildebeests, as well as a variety of birds. The sky got very black and eventually opened up for about a 30 minute downpour. We continued our drive through some very knarley trees with very winding trails, it was quite an adventure. We eventually came upon an elephant that was giving himself a mid bath. It was quite a performance as he used his trunk to flip dirt and then water on himself. Then he actually laid right in the mid hole and rolled around. This was also the most amazing elephant show I have ever encountered!!
We were all feeling very excited and grateful for the amazing day that we had. We continued on back to the lodge and got back at 4:30. It had been an incredible 10 hour day!!
We regrouped at 6:30 to have a drink together and toast our amazing day and then we proceeded to dinner. Off to bed early as we have an even earlier start tomorrow....in the jeeps at 6 am!
Goodnight! 🐘 🦁
Our Jeep was lucky enough to spot a herd of beautiful sables, which are the National Antelope of Zimbabwe.
Then we had the most amazing lion encounter that I have ever experienced! We looked ahead on the road to see three female lions with about 6-8 lion cubs coming down the road toward us. We all sat very still and quietly and they continued towards us and walked right beside the Jeep and continued on down the road. They can only see shape and movement so as long as we sat still they were not frightened of us. We couldn’t believe what we had just witnessed. Then we saw another female coming down the road with a tiny cub that was struggling to keep up to his mom. When they got to the high grass, the mom picked the cub up and carried her. The little guy squawked a few times, he didn’t seem to care for that! We were feeling bad because we were the only Jeep there. Luckily, our guide texted the other two jeeps and they came in time to watch the mom carrying her baby through the grass. Then we all moved toward the waterhole where we could see all of them together. We sat and watched until they all left, with the mom still carrying her baby!! This was the most amazing lion encounter I have ever experienced!
Shortly after the lion encounter we regrouped at a picnic site for our morning coffee and snack break. Everyone was pretty pumped about what we had just witnessed. Our “lion” Jeep reported that they got to see a black Mumba snake this morning and also yesterday afternoon!
After our coffee break we continued on, in search of more game. We got to see crowned cranes, a Roan antelope, some wildebeests, a pair of guinea fowl with babies, and a leopard tortoise. Our Jeep was busy watching a group of baboons when our guide suggested that we move along as there was a “special surprise” ahead. We drove for quite awhile before we caught up to the other jeeps. It was certainly a special surprise! First we saw four female lions sitting under a tree. Then we drove around an area where we saw six female lions and two cubs laying under a tree and two male lions laying under another tree. There was a group of elands off to one side and some wildebeests off to the other side. We sat an watched for quite awhile, in anticipation of a possible take down. The wildebeests moved closer to the male lions, almost seeming to taunt them but nothing happened. Our guide said that he was told that another group of female lions were working their way around the back. We finally decided that we couldn’t sit there forever so we all left and went to another picnic area for our lunch. The hotel had packed us lunches so that we didn’t have to drive all the way back to the lodge for lunch.
We continued our search after lunch and we saw lots of zebras and wildebeests, as well as a variety of birds. The sky got very black and eventually opened up for about a 30 minute downpour. We continued our drive through some very knarley trees with very winding trails, it was quite an adventure. We eventually came upon an elephant that was giving himself a mid bath. It was quite a performance as he used his trunk to flip dirt and then water on himself. Then he actually laid right in the mid hole and rolled around. This was also the most amazing elephant show I have ever encountered!!
We were all feeling very excited and grateful for the amazing day that we had. We continued on back to the lodge and got back at 4:30. It had been an incredible 10 hour day!!
We regrouped at 6:30 to have a drink together and toast our amazing day and then we proceeded to dinner. Off to bed early as we have an even earlier start tomorrow....in the jeeps at 6 am!
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