A Visit to a Game Reserve

A visit to a game reserve

“Shhh!” the game ranger whispers and points with an infrared light into the darkness of the African bush. “Look over there,” he says and I see the pride of lions busily ripping chunks of flesh out of a giraffe. “They don’t like to be disturbed while they’re eating,” he tells me.

We watch the lions for while as they feed, and notice a couple of cubs running around and playing with each other. The ranger says that one giraffe can feed this whole lion pride for a week or even more. I guess they’re not going to be hungry for at least some time!

The ranger switches off the infrared light and we slowly retreat to the game viewing vehicle. A sudden rustle behind us stops us dead in our tracks. As we turn around we hear an angry trumpetting. Elephants! We’ve stumbled into a herd of sleeping elephants! And they seem angry!

“Don’t move,” the ranger whispers. “Elephants have a keen sense of smell, but their eyesight isn’t too good. Maybe if we’re lucky we can move out of here without upsetting them.”

We back away slowly in the direction of the game viewing vehicle, never taking our eyes off the herd leader which, I learn later, is a female and never a male. The female or cow is the leader while the males or bulls protect the herd.

After what seems like a lifetime we feel the metal of the vehicle behind us and slowly climb in. The elephants, meanwhile, have been watching our progress with interest and they are now standing around us, seemingly making sure we’re going to leave them in peace.
The ranger turns the ignition key and it is a huge relief to hear the comforting buzz of the engine which is going to take us to safety.

“That was close,” the ranger says as we make our getaway. “Too close!”

Our next stop is at the water hole closest to our camp. At night several different species of animal come here to drink water. We are on a mission to see Africa’s legendary Big Five and so far we can mark off lions and elephants from...