We have now left behind South Africa but I have made a firm resolve to be back soon as it was an amazing experience. I want to trek the Kalahari, traverse the bushveld, follow the migration of the Wildebeest – all in the utmost luxury of course 🙂. A lot of that has to do with the cats. It probably doesn’t surprise many people given my borderline status as a crazy cat lady, but I wanted to share two different experiences before I devote my days to hedonistic pleasure in Mozambique.

Tough life being a cat

We came across the young male lion unexpectedly, early in our morning safari yet he barely acknowledged our existence. i.e. he continued sleeping on the ground. How like a cat. Nothing really changed for ten minutes or so. I mean, he opened his eyes, stretched, yawned, but essentially remained where he was. Then all of a sudden he got to his feet and was all quivering alertness. It was then we saw the hyena approaching from behind. The lion didn’t turn to face the hyena, but kicked out his back feet and the hyena eventually slunk away, whereupon the lion settled back down for another sleep. The lion won the encounter today but unfortunately faces a sad future as he was driven from his pride by a pack of males who killed his brother and attempts to join another pride have met with rejection. He will find it difficult to survive without company. I’ve got to stop singing the Circle of Life when I hear sad tales such as this. Chris hates it when I’m channeling The Lion King.

Mvula (big daddy)

Quite the opposite is the leopard – he is a solitary creature for the most part and gets on very well on his own (must be why I like them so much!). They’re cool without even trying. They have that, “don’t give a damn” attitude and “I’ll do what I want” air. They also tend not to stay still very often, so once you’ve found one you have to follow them through the bush as they’re not normally conveniently located in a tree by the road. I think the ranger does more damage than an elephant in his efforts to position us perfectly for photos. It is also a lot of fun – especially when you’re in the relative safety of a jeep. We were lucky to see three leopards this trip (one up a tree with his kill!) but I would happily see many more. They also make for some quite stunning photographs and I think I’ve found myself a new hobby – and an excuse to buy myself a really expensive camera.

Bogged in a stream? no worries – just set up a table and have something to drink.

As promised, an African Safari was next on the cards and from the moment I saw my first warthog I’ve had Hakuna Matata running on a loop in my head. After swallowing my fears and several malaria tablets, we arrived at Arathusa Lodge for our grand adventure. We go out on safari every morning at the ungodly hour of 5am and again in the afternoon at 4. After three hours of driving around, we’ve pretty much seen everything: hippos playing, zebras chasing, tortoises mating, rhinos… well email me if you want that pic, and countless other birds and beasts. We finally got to see a lion this morning (he was proving quite elusive) so now we’ve ticked off the big 5 I’m not sure if there’s anything left to see?

The animals are so beautiful (well maybe not the warthog) and we get incredibly close to them. I had visions of being chased by lions before this trip but they seem completely disinterested in us. I’m not sure the same could be said if we were on foot so rule number one is “Don’t get out of the car” No problems there – I’ll dampen down my usual disregard for authority and do as I’m told (note: this probably won’t ever happen again). My favourite thus far would probably be the leopard. He was so sleek and elegant and completely chilled out. I would have liked to pat him, apart from rule number two relating to petting the animals.

Internet has been a bit dodgy so I haven’t had a chance to post pics but I plan to do so directly I post this. Next stop Mozambique and the appearance of Island Sam.