This morning we went out for an early morning and a later afternoon safari. Our German friends, Tito, and his father, Luther, were leaving late this morning and we were anxious to share one last safari with them. They are moving on to Savuti where we had come from before arriving here.

The area was much quieter this morning with most of the game out on the islands in the middle of the river valley or still up in the bush. They usually come down to the river to drink and cross to the islands for safety in the mid to late afternoon. Since cats including the lions and leopards do not like to swim in water, the islands are safe refuges for the other animals. In fact, some just stay on the islands during the dry season to fatten up. When the rains come in the summer months, they return to the uplands and then migrate.

We mostly watched birds but did see many impalas, waterbucks, kudus, giraffes, and a few warthogs.

After lunch we just rested as we listened to the album “Out of Africa” on our laptop. It was so serene and looking out over the grasslands of the river valley, with its herds of various animals was so special.

After high tea just Mary Margaret and I went out on our late afternoon safari in search of lions. Face, our tracker/driver for today had asked the other trackers where they had seen lions earlier in the day. They had only been seen on the far side of the park, near the gate located next to the town of Kasane. It was 50 km away so we raced down the road to get there before the park closed.

Once inside the park we headed down one of the park’s dirt roads and after about 15 minutes spotted lion tracks crossing the road. As the day cools down, they start to hunt and the tracks showed they were on the prowl.

Due to Mary Margaret’s sharp eyes we spotted a pair of young males sniffing bushes and walking toward a ravine. We watched them from a side road and eventually parked the vehicle on a road that ran across the ravine where it flattened out before ending at the river. In a few minutes we watched and listened as a tribe of baboons who had spotted the lions coming toward them and it startled us. They shouted their warning call. The tribe moved in force toward the lions. Face explained to us that a tribe of baboons will attack lions in mass since their incisors are actually larger than the lion’s incisors. Thus, while lions will feed on an individual baboon, they will respect the gathering of a large tribe.

He also explained to us that baboons will move with impalas, zebras and Cape Buffalo and will be welcomed by them since the baboons act as a warning mechanism for the herds and add additional protection for them.

The lions slowly walked toward us and passed in front of our vehicle while the baboons where shouting and hooting at them from the trees. The lions were a bit disgusted with the baboons since their warning calls had scared all of the food away.

I got much of this on video and will try to post it to a blog once we are next able to get broadband access.

It was getting late now so we had to leave before the parked closed for the night. This was our last safari since we leave in the morning to return to Simon’s Town and Leu Cat. However, it was a very special one for us as we watched the lions hunt and saw and heard how the baboons play their role in the wilds of Africa.