On trail in Kruger
Beautiful scenery
Friday morning dawned bright and clear. We turned left when leaving the camp this time and, after spotting a hyena, headed straight for Mathikithi itself. This is an isolated sandstone hill of about 313m high and obviously we would be climbing it today. We were greeted by a breathtaking view at the top, wow! At such moments you really feel the grandeur of God’s creation and the fact that you are only a small human being. After spending some time at the top we continued our morning walk. Like the day before, it was instructive and impressive altogether.
In the afternoon our guides promised us a walk in a beautiful area. It didn’t seem so at first, since all I saw while walking was tall grass. However, we finally crossed a riverbed and beautiful it certainly was. This riverbed still contained a small stream of water, and the green plants made it gorgeous.
Meeting pussycats…
On the way back we crossed the riverbed again, and that is when the guides started looking worried. The riverbed was filled with lion tracks! Encountering a single lion wasn’t a big issue, but a big pride? Had the lions crossed the river an hour ago? Two hours ago? Or was it only five minutes ago? We had no choice but to scramble up the riverbank and find out, since that was the way back.
We had only gone a short ways when we spotted them, lions! We surprised them, causing them to scatter in all directions. Three lionesses remained where they were, watching us. The guides had a short discussion and then announced, “We have no choice. It’s getting dark and the way to the vehicle is right in the direction of the lions. We’ll head straight for them. Keep in mind: if they charge, you stand still and follow instructions. Got that?” We all nodded.
We silently followed the guides, single file as usual. Then it happened…with a grand roar one of the females charged at us, stopping at a distance of approximately 70 meters. The guides stopped, like we all did, and told us to silently move back. We did this very quietly.
Since we had come upon the lions unawares, we had frightened them. They’d gone in all directions. In a normal situation that wouldn’t have been a problem, but these lions had cubs we hadn’t seen due to the tall grass. The cubs had also gone all over the place, some of them right at us and some of them into the riverbed behind us. This meant that the lioness felt threatened. Her cubs might be in danger because we were between her and her cubs! She was warning us…
How to get back?
The guides decided to take a slight detour, regrouping the order we were walking in. Men at the back. The detour couldn’t be long, because the sun was setting and being out in the dark could really mean danger. The lions didn’t think we were taking a wide enough berth, because suddenly three of them came charging at us! Once again we stopped, listened to the guides and moved back, increasing the distance between us and the lions.
We followed the front guide, who continued with a wider circler around the lions, and quickened our pace. Thankfully this seemed acceptable to the lions, even though they still growled and roared ferociously. Finally we reached the vehicle again, just in time because soon the sun set, making it really dark. We all sighed, thankful that we had been kept safe, realising that Gods protection is needed every minute of the day.
Sunrise from Mathikithi
Meeting lions on foot
Sunset in Kruger
