Terrys in South Africa: Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Hluhluwe We Go

Parental guidance recommended. This post contains:

Nudity (ok, so most wild animals are)
Sexual references
Inferred violence

...bet you can't wait!

Have I mentioned that we are only 1 hours drive away from one of the oldest and most amazing wildlife reserve in South Africa? Mmmmmm, I have? Seems I can't stop saying it, as we've had yet another incredible weekend away at Hluhluwe, staying in one of our favourite spots, Hilltop Camp.

On the agenda this weekend was LION, and we were determined to find some. Luckily for us, the lion were obliging. With over 200 in the park, you'd think we'd have spotted some in the past, but the blighters are more than happy to keep to their own company, and there's plenty of wilderness in which to hide - 96,000 hectares in fact. With the end of the dry season however, the grass is getting fairly low, and the many wildfires around the park have made for great viewing of game. Not only that, spring has sprung, and magic is in the air....

A Word on Safari-Speak

At this point, it's probably pertinent to mention a few rules when reporting sighting of game. Africans tend to use the common name for each sighting, expressed in the singular. As an example, a bunch of Australians coming back from a drive might say, "Wow, we saw some amazing lions and a whole bunch of elephants too!", whereas it would appear the correct way of reporting is to say' "What ho, wish I had my blunderbuss with me, we saw lion AND elephant".

Following this, you can then go into further information about your particular sighting, in regard to the grouping and then the activity of the particular wildlife. So for example, you may sight a bachelor herd, which is a couple of young males hanging out together, or a family group, which is usually just the mums and kids (the dads are probably at work). The blokes in the bachelor herd are basically hanging out at the gym and eating protein powders, waiting to get big enough to challenge the dominant male of a breeding herd.

The activity they are up to is also useful - grazing, sleeping, OTM (on the move), a kill. If you are lucky enough to see a kill, you will usually hear whatever is killed first. So 'lion with an impala kill' tells you all you need to know.

Collective nouns are a bit of a laugh too. There's the usual 'herd' and 'pride', but giraffe has been the best yet. It seems they travel in a journey of giraffe which all makes perfectly good sense when you hear the reasoning. They're not a herd as they don't have a leader, and they're usually on their way somewhere. There is also a parade of elephant, a crash of rhino, and a dazzle of zebra. Go figure.

Right. Now that we've all brushed up on our grammar, let's get on to the action.

So, we went on a night drive and....

...saw lion mating. Seeing as this is a family show, I'll keep it clean and post only a few of our happy snaps. Williams only comment, "Gee, the lion's got a big penis, doesn't he?". I must have been more in tune with the lioness who was laying back and thinking of England, as I didn't even see it!

It seems lion tend to go for the all-nighter approach, as they were at it when we first saw them at about 5.30pm, then again when we swung back at about 8pm, and sighted still at it early the next morning. FYI, I'm not entirely sure that 'all-nighter' would be a term often used in the safari vernacular.

The next day we went to Mphafa Hide...

...and saw lion after a zebra kill.

A hide is basically a man-made structure in the reserve in which you bunker down to look at game. While you get a good view through the small opening at the front, the lack of door at the rear is somewhat disconcerting when there are animals about.

So this is the view from the hide - can you spot a mother and 2 cubs?
There are also 6 turtles in this shot...and who knows what else we couldn't see.