Out of the Frying Pan
Previous Chapter 'On the Seventh Day' here
Once more unto the breach - at the usual ungodly hour. 'Early' is too late a word.
Getting up this particular morning required our brains to be in gear. Thought is not readily available before the coffee starts its magic. And it's not too common after either...
We had to take our bags with us so as to move quarters to our new 'des-res'. We needed to be sure everything was properly packed into its appropriate place.
By six o'clock we were ready to leave. The new camp (Lamai) was not far, but we were to take the long way round...
We were rewarded, some time later, with a phenomenal dawn.
The sunrise came none too soon...
...as it was bloody freezing. Never fear, I was adapting to this non-european reality by wearing Maasai throws.
Today, our intention was to head away from the dreaded 'death river'. As usual, our plans did not work out...
We soon happened across a pride that we had previously encountered.
At this early hour they were simply messing about. They must have had their coffee early. There was no sign of an imminent hunt.
Nearby were the usual groupies...
They were grouping around the previous night's kill, but were still unsure if its owners had left them this much food for free, or was it some kind of cunning trap?
It was not long before we once more headed off-road. The bouncing effect of the savannah (aka 'bush massage') caused one of our rear windows to spring open. Luckily no one was leaning against it at the time, so no one plunged out of it to their certain doom. Almost anything could be hidden in this grass. Grass which was as high as a buffalo's eye.
This guy had been in so many fights that his horns had dropped. I'll leave that innuendo there...
Then, in the distance a leopard was spotted. Yes. Really. Yet another leopard. Yet another 'spotted' joke. How many world records were we attempting?
The leopards in these parts are not used to internal combustion engines...
...so he didn't hang around too long when we tried to get under his tree.
We continued on our way, passing eland hiding behind zebra...
and acacias hiding behind ostriches..
More long grass. What could be hidden within?
Ok, yet another place not to take a pee.
We had stumbled upon a couple of lionesses and several very young cubs. It was difficult to see how many, because they were too well hidden in the long grass.
Their dinner wasn't.
They had recently dined (and breakfasted) on a local stripy thing...
...and now, with bellies full (and the zebra's belly empty), they wandered off. Tsk tsk. They hadn't eaten all their meat...
We followed them, not wishing to finish their breakfast for them.
Every now and again the lead female would stop to call to the young. It sounded like a low burp, but probably translates better as "Stop messing about you little brats!"
They eventually happened upon a ravine. A good place to rest and digest the zebra's internal bits, plus it comes with its own stream to drink from.
They sat in the shelter of a bush on the top of the ravine. The two females keeping guard by pretending to close their eyes, and the cubs played within the sheltering bush.
These cubs were well protected and difficult to see. We caught the occasional glimpse...
They needed to drink after their gory repast. That meant climbing down a steep slope, drinking from the small stream, then carefully climbing back up again.
After several forays down into the small stream,...
...one of the lionesses decided to step across it and head up the ravine. Once having crossed the stream, she called back to the others to follow.
Cats do not like water...
...so no way were they walking through it.
The others cried. They had to follow, but it was scary.
Another brave soul crawled down...
Was this one to be left behind? It called out for help.
No help came, so it reluctantly followed.
Three had crossed so far.
But there was at least one more...
But he had not the courage. He stayed where he was as the lionesses went further away up the ravine.
We tried to follow, but what was easy for a lion was impossible for a jeep. Even with insane Ian at the wheel. So we went back to the original bush to see if there really was a cub left alone.
No. Not alone. There were two.
Lions are not renowned as the most caring parents. Hyenas know this...
We would never find out what happened to them, for at that moment, disaster struck.
We had decided to have a drink while awaiting events. Always a good plan. However, when Ian went to the back of the van to fetch the drinks, he noticed something wrong.There were but two bags stored in the back.
My camera bag was with me. Annick's two bags were there.
Where was the forth?
One bag was missing.
My precious backpack...
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