Just when you think it can't possibly get any more exciting.....IT DOES!!!! Barry and I were woken early this morning at around 4:30 am by a baboon. We should have realized that there was a problem by it's alarm call. It made that awful noise about every 5-10 minutes. We had our wake-up call...which is a personal knock or call from our guide at 5am. As we were getting dressed, the baboons began constantly making the alarm call. We knew at that point something was not right. We could hear a lot of noise under our tent and in the water in front of our tent.....but it was dark outside and we couldn't see anything. Barry even unlocked our screen door and walked out onto the deck....again, we could hear something, but couldn't see anything. He came back in and we were anticipating our guide at any moment to "collect" us for breakfast. (you can't leave your tent after sunset or before sunrise without a guard walking with you) All of a sudden we hear Sefo, our guide, yell for everyone to stay in their tents because there are lions in the camp! Well, we knew exactly where at least one of those lions was.....under or in front of our tent! The muddy lions that we had seen yesterday.....15 members strong.....were out hunting! They ambushed a lechwe and killed it in front of our tent and in front of the dining room. Sefo came to our deck to watch the excitement. When it was safe, we joined our fellow Mombo guests and staff at breakfast while watching the lions dismember and eat the lechwe. The sounds of the chase, the alarms, the kill, the dismemberment, and the feasting......something that I will never, ever forget! We left for our final game drive later than usual. One of the first things we came upon was a den of hyenas with 4 pups. All animal babies are cute! THEN......Sefo found a leopard lounging in a tree. How in the world he found it is a mystery to us! He listens to the sounds of monkeys, birds....and watches other animals' behavior...amazing! We watched this leopard for quite sometime. Sefo was pretty sure this leopard was Slim Girl. When Slim Girl decided to climb down the tree and walk towards our vehicle, it was exciting but we were not too alarmed because it was a girl and Sefo had seen her before. Well, we were very surprised when she came to within a few feet of our vehicle.....but not fearful....she stood and stared up at us for a few minutes. Of course, I was snapping pics. Slowly, she turned and walked around the back of the Land Rover and went to the other side of us..... Sefo excitedly exclaimed that it was definitely not Slim Girl but a male leopard that had not been seen at Mombo before. He suddenly stopped a few feet from Barry, Karen and Sefo's side...Sefo quietly, but sternly whispered..."Don't anyone move! Stay still! Do Not Move!" and we didn't! He then sat down around 10 feet from us! WOW! It was unbelievable! We have named the new leopard BarryBob! We are anticipating updates of future sitings! After packing up and having one last lavish bush brunch, we are on a plane to Johannesburg from Maun. I shed many, many tears leaving Mombo and new friends that seem like family....not just from Mombo, but from each lodge/camp that we have been to as well as ALL of our fantastic guides, staff, and friends we have made along the way. Africa has stolen my heart!
Sent from my iPad
Great story.
ReplyDelete