Day 13 Dunia Camp

Tea and cookies are brought to my room at 06.30. I gather my belongings and head off for breakfast before starting an all day game drive at 07.30.

This turns out to be a pretty successful day. The first thing we encounter is a beautiful snake on the road. It is black and green, slender and about 5′ long. John is not sure what it is as he has never seen one. I Google it when we get back to discover it is a boomslang which is one of the most venomous snakes in Africa and there I was leaning out of the vehicle to get a good close up shot!

We hear on the radio that there is a pride of 30 lions close by. We head off to find them and after 10 minutes see them lying in the grass close to the track. I count them but can only see 12 initially. I then start to see movements – the one lion under the bush turns out to be four and gradually we spot more and more. We count 24 but they are so well camouflaged and keep moving around. There are buffalo close by so we hope the lions may be feeling hungry but there are no signs of major activity so we move on.

We drive out of the acacia woodland on to the plains and shortly spot a cheetah sitting on a termite mound.

It is a good distance away so no great camera opportunity but as I try to take shots we hear that we drive by a leopard just 300 yards behind us. We drive back to see it and it is perfectly placed on a lower branch with the light in the right direction so I take some super close-ups.

We return to look at the cheetah which has moved but is still visible. We shortly realise why as 2 very large male lions are approaching. At the same time 2 jackals also appear.

So much activity. The lions walk right up to the vehicle and then amble down the road to the marshes. We follow them until they lay down to sleep. What an amazing start to the day. We see another leopard and then encounter a vast herd of buffalo. They kick up clouds of dust and there are loads of young calves which are a lovely chestnut brown as opposed to the dark grey of the adults.

We are driving to Namiri Plains which is a long way from camp. Much of the time there is little to see. The grass is so tall that animal spotting is hard.

We see some hartebeest and watch a group of ostrich and suddenly John says “Look. Over there. Do you see a cheetah and her cubs?” I strain my eyes and see a distant indistinct shape and some moving blobs next to it. Through the binoculars I can indeed see a cheetah and 3 cubs. Vehicles are not meant to leave the main tracks in the Serengeti but John waits for other vehicles to pass and says “Shall we get closer?”

We go off road and stop some 30 yards short of them. John turns off the engine and we watch. Incredibly they all walk towards us – closer and closer. I am filming the cubs when suddenly the mother jumps up on the bonnet. I turn quickly and start to aim my camera through the roof hatch to be confronted by the cheetah’s head 2 feet from mine. She crouches and looks as though she wants to jump through the roof space into the vehicle for shade. It all happens so fast that I am unable to take a clear picture.

John starts the engine and the cheetah jumps down onto the grass. However in the meantime the 3 cubs have sought shade underneath the vehicle! Again we start the engine and they dart out; all 4 cheetah stay close to the vehicle and then eventually start to stroll away. We sit and watch – totally spellbound. This was just the most magical experience.

We continue to the plains where thousands and thousands of zebra are grazing. Here there are large water holes and the zebra are cavorting and swimming in the pools and really seem to be enjoying themselves. It is after all a very hot day. I am quite envious – the water looks very appealing.

All too soon it is time to commence the long and bumpy drive back to camp, but we are still treated to some great encounters. There is a wart hog family with three piglets, banded mongooses playing by the roadside. They are so entertaining. They frolick around and a lookout stands on his hind legs, exactly like a meerkat would do.

We are halted as a troop of elephants cross the road ahead of us. There are several babies but one is absolutely tiny and can walk beneath her mother with ease.

We cross a stream where hippos wallow, vervet monkeys play in the bushes and baboons groom each other on the far shore. As we approach our camp a young bull elephant approaches us. We can see he is in musth by the tears running down his cheeks. He is not happy to see us and makes several mock charges. We start the engine and drive away rapidly. We have been out for over 9 hours but it does not seem long at all. What a truly exceptional day!

Tonight more guests have arrived so we have a much more lively and sociable evening than the previous night. I am greeted at the fire by two English ladies who say ” Hello – you must be Maggie. Angel has told us all about you.” Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing!??