10/07/2025
My last safari was an interesting one, with long periods of quiet and not seeing much at all on the first afternoon. Then, it started with one vulture – a white-backed vulture to be specific – sitting in a tall mopane tree. It took off as we drove by and flew ahead of us. Whenever you see a vulture perched, it's worth having a look around for more. We did, but saw nothing. The vulture landed far up ahead of us, so we drove on another kilometer or so and came into a big open grassland.
Immediately, I saw another vulture at the top of a tree, then another and another. All were at the far end of the grassy area, about 500 meters away. With no road in sight, it was time to walk. I gave my guests a quick briefing on what to do and what not to do, and we moved out. We went up along the edge of the grass in the mopane trees. When we were almost level with the area I thought we needed to check, I cut in. Quietly, we moved through the grass, down through a gully, and up the other side. We moved a bit further, and that's when I saw it – the black tips of the ears of three lionesses, all looking away from us.
I quickly told my guests to get down and pointed out the cats, who still hadn't seen us. We watched, and then another head popped up from feeding, with a bloody face looking straight at us. Immediately, it dropped its head, and its tail flicked. The other lionesses took their cue, turned, and saw us. Two moved off with a grunt, but two stayed, watching us with heads low and tails twitching. They were hungry and didn't want to leave the buffalo. I made a decision to pull back and move to a mound I could see on our left to get a better view, as the grass was hiding the cats a bit.
We moved back and around to get into position. They kept an eye on us but allowed us to have an amazing sighting. We came back at first light the next day and were treated to some incredible viewing – interaction with hyenas who were trying to push the lions off the buffalo, but with no success.
From there, the safari progressed with a tip-off that afternoon. We worked an area for a couple of hours, with my guests feeling a bit despondent towards the end. We stopped for a quick drink at sunset, and my guest said, "It would have been nice to see these animals." My reply "It's not over yet." I knew there was a very good chance they would come to the road when the temperature dropped. We had our drinks at the far end of the area and had to drive back through it. And it wasn't over yet – the plan worked! We spotted sixteen painted dogs on the road at dusk and got to follow them for half an hour before we lost the light.
The last day of the safari was quiet again, but we had some quality sightings, with the highlight being the lionesses and cubs. And this is only July!
FYI, we still have some space available Mutondo Safaris this season."
Other videos to follow…
