Wowee - what a month! Our first couple of safari experiences (real
live ones with real live guests), the emergence - in spectacular form - of
Gorongosa's lions after the rainy season, a ceremonial blessing of the Park and
our operations by the local regulo Chitengo, and what may be one of the
wildest crocodile encounters I have ever witnessed... Oh, and the appearance
(albeit a somewhat brief one due to aforementioned lions) of a wee
Easter Bunny around the middle of the month.
So then, about these lions: the first to emerge from the
months of long and green grass was one of the old bucks here at Gorongosa,
a large and pretty magnificent beast with a prominent "L"
scratch on his nose and a notch in his left ear. The L apparently stands
for Lion King, but all sorts of names come to mind when sitting watching
him 5 meters off: Large, Leader, Leave-me-alone, Let's-get-outta-here...
"L" hung around for a couple of days with some impressive
roaring displays at night, but soon moved on to find some lady-friends. His
place was taken by two younger boys (still sporting some spots around
their legs and bellies, and with teenager manes) who appeared on the lake
edge one morning, fat and panting - spotted bellies distended with
some manner of kill from the night before. They provided our
second group of guests with a spectacular sighting as they drank from the
lake (keeping a close watch for crocodiles) and generally tried to digest
the ton of waterbuck that was weighing them down. One of the
boys is an impressive blonde lion with enormous paws and a stately nature that
should see him become a serious contender for king in the future.
His buddy, however, was a fierce, snarling type with a scratched up face
and a whole lot of ugly. The two of them spent almost 3 days in the
area before moving off east. "Beauty and the Beast" will
hopefully stick around and become a more permanent feature at
Gorongosa.
The very next day, a pride of 8 lions including yet another large male -
this one of the "Brotherhood" coalition - were found
contemplating life on the large floodplain behind the Lion House, whiling away
the afternoon lazed out in the tufty vlei grass. The group
included three cubs of around 6 months and three beautiful adult
females - all with noticeably long, elegant noses and dark almond-shaped
eyes. We have decided to refer to these striking girls as the
Cleopatra Pride if they continue to hang around the area. They
really did look terrific in the late afternoon light and provided
great photo opportunities as they started getting active for the evening
ahead.
But Gorongosa is
not just about lions, lions and lions. (Or is it?) At the end of
the month we had a great experience when a pair of testosterone-fueled male
waterbucks started rutting and generally chasing each other around our
camp. The younger one, obviously short on experience and a bit slow
on the uptake, got himself caught on the bank of the river between the water
and the aggressive other male snorting at him from behind. Taking
his chances he dived in to the river away from his opponent, introducing the
Rio Mussicadzi to the phenomenon known as an NSMCT (non-submersible
mobile crocodile target). Within a flash a large croc from the far bank
had slipped into the water and made for the now flailing buck. The big
croc caught him around the neck with a flying leap out the water and dragged
him under. A few seconds later a feeding frenzy ensued as around 10 crocs
of varying sizes arrived onto the scene as if from
nowhere. The waterbuck obviously didn't stand a chance and was
soon on the Mussicadzi's a la carte for the evening. The crunching and
chomping, splishing and splashing continued all evening, much to the
horror and glee (if one could be gleeful in horror?) of our resident guest
tucked safely away under his duvet in his tent on the bank
above. The following morning, a dozen or so very satisfied
crocs were found drifting through the mist rising off the river
pool. If crocs could smile, these ones were truly beaming. As
we left for the morning walk, our guest commented: Is this a
pretty normal week here at Gorongosa? I did
my best attempt at a crocodile smile and whispered: I sure hope so! Until next month,
happy days from us all at Explore Gorongosa!
