OUR LAST NIGHT GAME DRIVE AT SHUMBA
We headed out again wondering what wonderful surprises lay in store for us. It wasn't long before Newton had a call on the radio that a cheetah had been spotted. We hurried to the location in time to see a male cheetah with his kill, a female Lechwe. He had dragged it to an island in the plains. These islands are small hillocks that rise above the plains. He was eating it when we arrived, thank heavens it was the hind quarters and so we didn't see the destruction. We did see his face though covered in blood. He soon abandoned his kill and lay down beside it panting. I thought maybe it was because it was still hot but no. Cheetahs expend so much energy chasing down their prey, that they will pant for an hour or more. We also learned that cheetah are the one prey animal that is also preyed upon by lions and leopards. Once a lion or leopard smells the cheetah's kill, they will not only try to steal it, they will attack and kill the cheetah. Because of this, Glen figures that cheetah will eventually become extinct.
Another call and a thrilling ride brought us to a close sighting of three lions, two males and one heavily pregnant female. They were resting peacefully so we watched them only for a short time. Then it was back the way we had come as night fell. The reason the ride was so harrowing was that we had to cross three makeshift bridges over ditches filled with water and leeches. The bridges consisted of six small logs - three for each wheel. Some of the logs were broken and others we missing part of the middle log. Newton's excellent driving skills and instructions to hang on tight got us to the safety of the road back to camp. We saw several nightjars on the way, a Pennant even flew into the vehicle for a bit. A word about the leeches here - they have some called Buffalo Leeches which are huge and can suck the blood out of a human in no time flat and kill them! UGH
Another delicious supper - I ordered the Mushroom Wellington - too rich and too good. Did I mention that we had asked for some chilli peppers to go with our meals. The first night we had seeded green chillies, the next day we had the hotter seeded red chillies mixed with the green, and yesterday, had green and red chilies with their seeds. Very hot but we enjoyed them.
We retired to our rooms for a shower and bed. Wakeup call tomorrow at 7:00. We get to sleep in!
We headed out again wondering what wonderful surprises lay in store for us. It wasn't long before Newton had a call on the radio that a cheetah had been spotted. We hurried to the location in time to see a male cheetah with his kill, a female Lechwe. He had dragged it to an island in the plains. These islands are small hillocks that rise above the plains. He was eating it when we arrived, thank heavens it was the hind quarters and so we didn't see the destruction. We did see his face though covered in blood. He soon abandoned his kill and lay down beside it panting. I thought maybe it was because it was still hot but no. Cheetahs expend so much energy chasing down their prey, that they will pant for an hour or more. We also learned that cheetah are the one prey animal that is also preyed upon by lions and leopards. Once a lion or leopard smells the cheetah's kill, they will not only try to steal it, they will attack and kill the cheetah. Because of this, Glen figures that cheetah will eventually become extinct.
Another call and a thrilling ride brought us to a close sighting of three lions, two males and one heavily pregnant female. They were resting peacefully so we watched them only for a short time. Then it was back the way we had come as night fell. The reason the ride was so harrowing was that we had to cross three makeshift bridges over ditches filled with water and leeches. The bridges consisted of six small logs - three for each wheel. Some of the logs were broken and others we missing part of the middle log. Newton's excellent driving skills and instructions to hang on tight got us to the safety of the road back to camp. We saw several nightjars on the way, a Pennant even flew into the vehicle for a bit. A word about the leeches here - they have some called Buffalo Leeches which are huge and can suck the blood out of a human in no time flat and kill them! UGH
Another delicious supper - I ordered the Mushroom Wellington - too rich and too good. Did I mention that we had asked for some chilli peppers to go with our meals. The first night we had seeded green chillies, the next day we had the hotter seeded red chillies mixed with the green, and yesterday, had green and red chilies with their seeds. Very hot but we enjoyed them.
We retired to our rooms for a shower and bed. Wakeup call tomorrow at 7:00. We get to sleep in!
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