A Forever of Nows

Some our favorite animal encounters in Ngala…

African Wild Dogs
We were absolutely charmed by the painted dogs. We were lucky to have multiple, up-close and leisurely sightings with the pack throughout our stay – all the more special given how severely threatened these animals are (only 6,600 remaining in the world). Highly social animals, the pack we saw is composed of 12 adults and 11 puppies (born back in May); we were enchanted by all the communication displayed, including disciplining the puppies, and the near constant play. As Ranger Ross put it, these animals behave as if life is a game and they play their way through it. We watched them chase away vultures from an impala carcass over and over – not in a menacing way, but rather just for the fun of seeing them fly off. While difficult to view, we were extremely fortunate to witness a hunt in action: it was over in less than a minute for the unfortunate little scrub hare. A puppy proudly carried just the ears around for quite a distance, head held high to keep his prize away from his brothers and sisters.

Water break

Post hunt play…

Nap time

Hunting of a scrub hare

Leopard
Leopards are undoubtedly the most strikingly gorgeous of the big cats. Our paths crossed with several of these solitary animals, each one a thrill and rush of adrenaline.
We watched a female leopard devour her impala kill over the course of several days, stashing it high up in a tree for safekeeping. She started her meal with the head, front paws wrapped around the neck – looking eerily like a domestic cat with one of those catnip-stuffed toy mice. During our final evening game drive, our sundowners break was interrupted by a loud roar, startlingly close by. It took us about three seconds to come to the decision to take the cocktails “to go”, jump back in the jeep and see who interrupted happy hour. Within minutes we came upon a young female leopard in a tree, with a large male waiting at the base presumably the beginning stage of courtship. For about 30 spellbound minutes, we watched a tense standoff between them – the female teasingly inching down the trunk, the over-eager male aggressively approaching. He finally gave up his pursuit and stalked off, and she quickly made her exit minutes later in the opposite direction.

Night time serenading

Lions
In spite of being the Reserve’s namesake (“ngala” means place of the lion), lions proved to be elusive during the time we visited. Early in the trip, we met a magnificent young lioness. She strode past us like a model on a runway, completely ignoring her paparazzi (i.e., us humans in the jeep), before calmly, gracefully laying down and treating us to a performance of “contact calls”, just bordering on a roar (see video link below – the red light is used as a gentler alternative that doesn’t interfere with nocturnal vision of the animals). Eager for more lions, we continued to search for them, and after days of tracking we were finally rewarded with sightings of two majestic male lions; they slept the whole 20 minutes we spent with them, lolling on their backs, feet in the air, full bellies protruding.

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Spotted Hyena (Laughing Hyena)
Yes – it surprised us too how much we enjoyed watching these animals, but we were fascinated by them. Like the wild dogs, they are very social animals, with clear clan structure – interestingly, led by a dominant female. They are impressive hunters, and impressive eaters; they use their back teeth to efficiently slice through flesh like scissors (a gruesome sound), and they don’t waste anything on a carcass, eating even the bones (in fact, hyena dung is easily recognizable because it turns white from all the calcium). We also visited a hyena den with two new pups; adorable little roly-poly gremlins, with a bit of a vicious streak in their sibling play.

Full belly nap time

Cute little cubs

(Warning: this video is a bit graphic, sensitive readers may want to skip it)

Elephants
Elephants are so special; being in their presence is a privilege. We marveled over their dexterous trunks, captivated just watching them eat. We also got a sense for how destructive they can be, ripping up tree roots, shredding tree bark, or even crushing mature trees in their quest for food. And the babies are just about the cutest thing you’ll ever see!

Now reading… Lindsay:  The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead; Chad: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate; Discoveries from a Secret World, by Peter Wohlleben
Distance from Seattle: 10,259 miles