Since the Zulu Nyala reserve was too small for lions, Mark arranged an excursion to another larger game park for us to hopefully view these magnificent cats. So late one afternoon, midway into our trip, eight of our ten safari companions (the ‘kids’ declined), piled into a van for the half hour drive to Manyoni Private Game Reserve.
Manyoni is a protected 57,000 acre game park established in 2004 when seventeen landowners took down their private fences to create a Big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) endangered species reserve. In 2009, the preserve worked with the World Wildlife Fund to successfully reintroduce the black rhino. Today the site is protected under South African law as a natural conservation area with over 70 species of mammals and an exceptional diversity of birdlife. Part of the Mikuze Valley, the sanctuary has acres of bushveld – sub tropical woodland with acacia and marula trees and thornveld – semi arid savannahs of grassland and thorny acacias, wonderful habitat for lions.
We met our outfitter, Bayete Zulu, at the park entrance and climbed into the open air jeep. I love this type of jeep – it’s perfect for photography with no roof or pillars to get in the way. I quickly scrambled up into the elevated back row and claimed the seat on the right side, the best spot for 360 degree unobstructed views.
We immediately set off in search of lions. Per our guide, the best place to find lions is in the sand of the riverbed, now devoid of water but still damp after the rainy season. Lions have no predators other than man and therefore have no need to hide, so enjoy lying exposed on the cool sand. Almost immediately, we spotted two lionesses lounging in the riverbed in the shade of large acacia tree. We neared and observed as these beautiful cats reposed, occasionally yawning and flicking their tails to swat flies. Eventually, one lioness stood up, but only to reposition herself and shield her eyes from the setting sun. We watched for awhile but these two looked content and not ready to hunt, so we continued on, paralleling the river.
The landscape was lovely; we passed groves of yellow acacia, sometimes referred to as fever trees because of a once upon a time erroneous belief that they caused disease. You know the old adage the correlation does not mean causation. It took a few centuries for humans to figure out that acacias just so happen to grow in moist areas, areas that breed mosquitoes, that carry disease; nonetheless, the name fever tree still sticks.
Today was to be the day for lioness sightings! As we continued along the riverbed, we came upon two lionesses, one sleeping and one nursing three small cubs.
Eventually, mom had enough nursing and stood up, scrambling the cubs. That was their signal to for playtime.
We watched with delight as the cubs began wrestling with each other, rolling topsy turvy across the sand.
When a cub tired, it would sit out and watch its two siblings play and then when rested, jump back into the fray.
As her cubs played, mom started walking purposefully down the river bed. Our guide whispered that she’d likely sensed something and instructed us to remain motionless and watch. Suddenly, the lioness turned toward the grassy bank right behind our jeep, quietly springing out of the riverbed and momentarily disappearing in the vegetation.
Behind our jeep in the tall grasses was a warthog. We could see the lioness stealthily advancing towards her prey, the warthog still unaware that it is being stalked.
Suddenly, the lioness pounced. The warthog now understanding it was about to be dinner, squealed and took off through the brush. For a few seconds we couldn’t tell whether the lioness had succeeded in catching the warthog or not.
When we saw the lioness standing still, looking around, we knew the warthog had escaped, likely into its underground den. Our guide explained that despite appearances, warthogs are actually quite fast, running up to 30mph. Their dens have multiple entrances so that when out foraging, warthogs are never very far from the security of their underground bunker. Often when being chased, warthogs will enter their dens rear first so that their menacing tusks face an attacker.
As the unsuccessful huntress stood still realizing that her prey had gotten away, the second lioness came up the riverbank and comforted her. She continued to touch and stay close to her as they walked back down the bank to rejoin the cubs.
As mom walked back down the riverbed, the cubs who had stopped their playing, sitting quietly while mom hunted, stood up and begin following her. The second lioness continued to provide comfort.
Eventually as the lionesses neared their original resting place, the cubs sensed the crisis was over and began jumping on the adults. They then resumed their wresting and tumbling, not at all worried that dinner was delayed. We watched their antics for a few more minutes until the sun neared the horizon – time to find a spot for our sundowner.
We left the river and drove to an open savannah, hopping out of the jeep to stretch our legs. Our guide brought out a cooler of beer, wine and my favorite, ginger beer. Next came the snacks – an assortment of crackers, cookies and biltong – the dried, cured meat from who knows what animal, but salty and flavorful.
Drinks in hand, we enjoyed the balmy evening as the sun dipped below the hilly ridge. Everyone was excited about the hunting attempt we’d just witnessed, comparing pictures and videos, trying to determine at what point the warthog went underground. We kept an eye on the grassy plain in front of us, just in case we might see a lion hunting but satisfied to have seen lionesses and babies and the attempted hunt. It wasn’t till later that we realized we had not seen the maned male lion, but no one was disappointed.
As the sky colored and then darkened, we packed up, clambering into the jeep for the ride back to the park entrance. No time to game watch on the way back, although we did pass the dim shapes of a few buffalo in the distance. What an amazing evening! By the time we reached our van, the moon had risen. Full moon – a portent of the good luck we’d had looking for lions!
