Day 9 Afternoon

We had some free time in the afternoon. A great time to take a little rest, or play in the playground area, try the zip line or teeter-totter, or head up to the game blind, which overlooks a big watering hole. A wobbly wooden bridge accesses the blind. The bridge crosses through a stand of trees, often inhabited by monkeys waiting for the meal scraps to be tossed out. Nothing goes to waste at the camp. Any leftover food is deposited near the trees. Last night the elephants came for dinner leftovers. Today, the monkeys are feasting on oranges and lunch scraps.
Jakes whistles for the students to assemble. He is off to the field on the other side of the watering hole to play some ball. The students all hike out to the open area to play in the same place that giraffe, elephants and impalas play. Their shouts for the ball are heard rebating in the open veldt.
After lunch we head out for our evening bush ride. This time we are on a lion hunt. Another ranger has spotted a family, but the ride is a long one so we make haste to get there. The larger land rover takes the main roads, but the smaller one cuts through the brush off road. Surprisingly we both reach the lion’s location within a minute of each other. The male lion is spread out in the grass sleeping. The lioness is sitting guard, watching as we approach. Jake tells us that there are three cubs prowling and sure enough in a short time they all come back to mom and dad. The family is magnificent. To see lions in their natural habitat is incredible. Nothing between them and us except for some tall grasses and a few scraggly trees. Jakes and David rev their engines several times and then give us the heads-up to get our video cameras ready. Then, the mighty lion stands up, lifts his head and opens wide with a series of loud roars. Jake explains that this is his way of showing he is the dominant one- not the engines making noise. We are thrilled with this show of strength. He then settles back down into the grasses as his lioness keeps careful eye on our land rovers. We are joined by two other guides and rovers. All riders keep very quiet, no fast movements and just stare at the lion family.
We leave and just as we make it to the boundary road, Jakes gets a call on his 2-way saying there is a herd of buffalo heading to the area of the lions. He makes a quick turn-around and we head back to the lions to see if we can witness a “kill”. While the male lion looked quite content, Jake explains that the lioness (who is the fiercest of the two) has a flat belly and will be hunting tonight. We arrive and see the buffalo. The lions have moved under the shadows of a nearby tree and are gazing in the direction of the buffalo. The air is tense with anticipation. We watch as the buffalo come closer, then as if they knew they were being stalked, take a turn around and thumber off toward the road away from the lions. After another few minutes we realized that the kill was not going to happen, yet we still feel excited to know how close we came to watching what occurs in natural selection. We head back to the camp as the sun sets on our second night in the bush.
Showers and social time follow dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce, fresh fruit and milk pudding. The students play mafia, write in their journals and spend time cementing friendships. The stars are out in full force and the Southern Cross is plainly visible as is the planet Saturn. As we look into the sky, and the Milky Way, several shooting stars dart across the sky. We hear the birds, and monkeys in the nearby trees. It’s chilly out but promises to be a great night for sleep.