Savannahsoap

Savannahsoap

We’ve been traveling for about half a week now with a group of seventeen. We’re traveling in three cars. Today is the day on which we will finally visit Etosha National Park. The day before we left Maun in Botswana and we’ve driven all the way to Etosha in Nambia. That was quite a distance! We left Maun 6 in the morning and about 2.30 in the night we arrived before the gates of Etosha. We quickly put up our tents and already at 5.30 we are waiting for the gates to open. But it would finally begin: a visit to the famous Etosha!

The morning got us all kinds of new species, like Black Rhino and Kori bustard. Also new were two predators: Black-backed jackal and Spotted hyena. The hyena was pretty laid back and the jackal sniffed around it attentively. Look at the size of the hyena!

Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyena and Black-backed Jackal

The jackal is not a shy animal and we had a close view.

Black-backed Jackal

In the afternoon we went for a stop in Halali: a small fenced camp in the park. There we went for a swim. Around two o’clock we went on the road again, freshened up and in high spirits. The afternoon started well with a Black Rhino showing itself really well at a watering hole.

Black Rhino

Driving a bit further, we suddenly see big birds coming from the sky: vultures! When those birds fly closely together like that it can only mean one thing: there is a kill! It doesn’t take long before we see a true savanna scene. A dead zebra is lying on the ground and two jackals are pulling at it. Next to it, perfectly lined up, are White-backed Vultures. The line is growing. A big vulture is striking, that’s a Lappet-faced Vulture.

White-backed Vultures and a Lappet-faced Vulture

While we are looking at it we are wondering what might have killed the zebra. For the jackals that would be a bit too ambitious. We don’t have to wait long. Suddenly a group of Springboks is rushing towards us.

Springbok

Then we see what scared them, a lioness!

Lion

The lioness of course comes to claim her kill. We’re witnessing a savannahsoap: one of those mini stories that happen every day somewhere in Africa and that we until now had only seen on documentaries. One of the jackals is not eager to leave, but against a lioness it has no chance. So she starts chewing her prey.

Black-backed Jackal and Lion

Lion and Springbok

Springbok and Lion

The story is not over yet though. Two Secretary Birds come flying in! We drive over to the birds and I can get some nice flight shots. They land a bit further in the savannah.

Secretary Birds

They are truly huge birds! So we have a great little hour on the Namibian savanna. The lioness was a little far away, but luckily we would have a Lion closer in the Pilanesberg park.

Lion

The Lion of Etosha is my very first Lion, so that means a new species for my worldcatlist. That brings it to the impressive total of two species!

For more from my Africa trip see the links below:

How about my encounter with a Cheetah and a Leopard on the same afternoon!

I also wrote some posts about the specific birds of Africa: birds of the African swamp, birds of the African garden, birds of the savannah and a hornbill special.

And also some posts about other iconic mammals of Africa: elephants, several ungulates and the mammals of the Okavango Delta.

We also enjoyed amazing landscapes like the Okavango, Sossusvlei and Spitzkoppe.