After our magical stay at Singita Sabora, we moved to the luxurious Singita Sasakwa lodge for the next 4 nights. As soon as we entered we were mesmerised by the captivating view from the lodge’s veranda which is almost endless over the majestic Serengeti flat plains below. There is a sense of grandeur about the lodge which is decorated in the British colonial style and the food and wine and cigars… all simply exquisite.
The Serengeti’s vast rolling plains never fail to entice travellers to explore its endless fascinating wonders. The feeling of waking up to another glorious day in Africa, getting into the jeep and driving along in anticipation of what awaits you just around the corner has a thrill of its own. There are animals waking from their slumber and soaking up the morning sun. There is a palpable pulse of the wild Serengeti. We had incredible sightings of wildlife including big prides of lions, giraffes, herds of zebras and wildebeests, a topi giving birth to her baby, leopards sleeping in trees, a hyena attacking a wildebeest and the list goes on!
We learned via the radio that there was a leopard on a tree with a kill 20 minutes away from where we were. When we arrived in the area all was relatively peaceful. Our tour guide Edward was driving around and all our eyes were peeled in the trees to spot it and when we did, we sat under a tree as the most beautiful leopard watched the world go by above us. We watched him for a few minutes clicking away and admiring his beautiful coat.
We were lucky enough to witness not 1 but 2 hunts! We saw a lion and 3 lionesses standing up and watching a warthog and her 3 cubs scurrying along. We watched in rapt attention as one of the lionesses started stalking the warthog and closed the gap stealthily between them. Suddenly she took off in hot pursuit after them and caught the poor little warthog and killed it. She immediately started eating the little snack she had procured for herself while other 2 lionesses lay nearby.
As we were watching the lioness devour her snack, we saw a hyena skulking around. The 2nd lioness lowered herself to a crouch. The hyena, oblivious of the lioness, walked straight into her lair. The lioness charged forward and leaped at the hyena, missed and then chased the hyena coming straight towards our jeep. As they came closer, the lioness backed off and the 3rd lioness continued the chase. The hyena’s squeals served as a stimulant to the male lion who suddenly charged towards the hyena, his natural animosity towards the species suddenly aroused despite no imminent threat. The hyena surged ahead trying to flee, with the lion in hot pursuit but eventually the lion pinned it down and started biting it. The chase and hunt were all too exciting and we had front row seats of this incredible action!
We noticed a herd of buffaloes who had heard the hyena’s distress calls walking towards the lion. The lion glanced at them but continued his hold on the hyena. Being enemies themselves, one of the buffalos decide to charge at the lion, who picked up the hyena and started running away. Afraid of the herd of buffalos attacking him, he dropped the hyena and ran away. As if seeing a lion shy away from a buffalo wasn’t enough, the most jaw dropping thing happened after this – the hyena, whom we had written off as dead, reared his head, got up and scurried off into his burrow nearby!
Short of saying it was the best sighting I have probably ever seen in the bush, there are no real words to describe how unbelievable it was. Just writing about this makes me relive the sighting in my mind and luckily, I was able to capture the scene to share it with all of you!
The most important part of going on a safari is about seizing the moments you may never get to witness again and not worrying about taking the best photographs. Embrace what Mother Nature provides. These are the memories that will be ingrained in our minds forever. There’s something magical about Africa that lures you in and keeps wanting you to return over and over again. Africa and its forests with the incredible wildlife is a wonder, truly heaven on Earth!