101 Kruger Tales: Extraordinary Stories from Ordinary Visitors to the Kruger National Park by Jeff Gordon

Author:Jeff Gordon [Gordon, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Kruger National Park, safari, wildlife, Africa, South Africa
ISBN: 9780620611336
Publisher: Leadwood Publishing
Published: 2014-06-07T21:00:00+00:00

— 57 —

BATTLE BEFORE THE GATES OF SKUKUZA

Kerri Bowie

There is a tendency in Kruger to think that the best sightings are to be found the furthest away from camp, or are saved for those who visit the Park regularly. This is nonsense, of course. In fact, the most incredible sighting of my life happened on only my second ever visit – and with the gates of Skukuza just about in sight.

Ironically, my mother and I weren’t even staying at Skukuza that Sunday. We were in Pretoriuskop rest camp about two hours to the south-west. But it being our final full day in the Park before heading back to Cape Town, we had decided to do a large loop – along the Napi Road, bypassing Skukuza, then down to Lower Sabie before heading west back to Pretoriuskop.

It had been a quiet drive until we got near Skukuza. As we turned right at the four-way junction where the road leading into the camp dissects the road heading east towards Lower Sabie, I spotted a traffic jam up towards the camp gates. Anyone who has been to the Park will know that traffic jams usually mean there are cats about. This was no exception; we were in the process of turning the car around to go and investigate when a ranger slowed down alongside us and told us there were lions in the bush.

We soon joined the line of cars and, peering into the bush, saw three male lions quietly filing through the grass, with an intense, focused look on their faces. Pulling the car slightly forward, we discovered why: a herd of buffalo were standing around grazing just in front of them.

My mother, being the wildlife enthusiast she is, quickly realised what was going to happen and manoeuvred the car into a better position up ahead. We waited there for a good five minutes, never taking our eyes off the lions who, in turn, never took their eyes off the buffalo. Suddenly, one of the buffalo caught wind of the lions and grunted a warning. Moments later, a herd of about 25 of them came thundering through the bush right next to us, before breaking cover and charging across the road. My mother’s calculations had been correct; despite having arrived late to the party, we were now in prime position.

The three lions were hot on the buffaloes’ hooves. They didn’t seem to have a particular target picked out – their quarry only became prey for the simple reason that it turned around to charge what I imagine it thought was a single lion pursuing the herd. As it did so, it discovered that it was in fact surrounded by three lions. Realising its blunder, the buffalo turned around again to run back into the bush, but unfortunately it lost its footing on the tar. As it slipped, one of the lions leapt onto its back. The second lion jumped in to help, while the third seemed a bit unsure of what to do and hung back.

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