Day 11 - The lion king

Brrr only 5° this morning. It's cold when we start our long safari day at 6.15 am. Fortunately, fleece ponchos are provided to keep us warm. What keeps us also warm for the moment is the prospect of seeing as many animals as possible. The Big Five will not be possible. The buffalo does not live here. We can also forget about hippos and crocodiles due to of lack of real waterholes. But of course there still remains a long wish list ...

Our friends the zebras are in the morning sun enjoying the first sunbeams of the day.

You can’t get enough of zebras because they remain unique animals. Literally, because no single ‘barcode’ is the same. A little further they cross the road via the 'zebra crossing'. A ground squirrel just creaked out of her little hole. The giraffes continue their breakfast of acacia leaf. In the distance we discover a lioness who is walking in the steppe.

It gets even better when two lion brothers appear on the other side. They are clearly looking for the lioness but do not find her for the time being.

These macho's walk close to our jeep and honor their reputation as king of the jungle. A little further in the grass they lay themselves down. It is exhausting of course to spend your morning like this. At the large artificial waterhole many springboks are quenching their thirst. The result of all that jumping. Impalas also come to the pool to get some relieve. At the next water pool, the zebras start a drinking party. A jackal looks at the scene, but does not dare to mix between the zebras for the moment. Impala's don’t care and seek cooling down between the zebras. A secretary bird is able to show off in the meadow. Then we meet a first herd of elephants between the trees. They are also having their breakfast. It's a small family.

A little later we see a lonely ostrich and a few warthogs. We continue to a large water pool. From the tree row we see a giant family of elephants arriving.

Their air conditioning is on: their ears are waving heavily, their way of cooling off. They quickly take some water. One of the little ones likes to play in the water. With his trunk he sucks water up and throws it over his back. Suddenly an adult male elephant arrives. He probably thinks he can have his way with all these female elephants. The elephant group doesn’t appreciate it. They start breezing hoping to scare the elephant away. Curious about all this commotion a group of kudu's arrives. They benefit from the occasion to have a drink as well.

The elephant male keeps trying. From the trees suddenly the male elephants of the group appears. We rub in our hands because this is going to give sparks. But our friend finally gives up. No elephant fight for us. We leave the group in peace and drive further. On our way we find another elephant family along the side of the road. We can observe them closely. Then it's time for lunch. We got a lunch package from the lodge that we eat at a safe water pond. During the meal we observe the animals who come here to drink. A whole herd of oryxes is coming down. They enter the water to cool themselves.

Oryxes are very cool animals: they look heavy  but have a beautiful color pattern and very sophisticated horns. Also the compulsory jumping springboks and a whole series of zebras are arriving. After lunch we jump into the 4X4 because not far from our lunch spot a rhino was spotted. We find him soon but he's a little shy and let's us see only his not that beautiful side: his back.He moves further away from us.

No luck. Then we drive all the way to the west side of Etosha. There is only one water source for the next 22 km. On the way we see a whole  troop of wildebeest. The gnoe stays on the number one position in the list of the ‘Ugly Five’. A few zebras block the road. 3 giraffes, including a little one, are on a walk.

Arriving at the water pool we find no less than 16 lions including a few little ones. It is just too hot for these animals at the beginning of the afternoon. They have their afternoon nap with a view on the water. The next hour just feels like an episode from National Geographic but one broadcasted live from Etosha. The three giraffes we encountered on the way have also arrived. They are here to drink but the lions are here. Not only the giraffes are here. In the broader range we also find springboks and oryxes that remain at a safe distance. One of the lions needs to go to the bathroom. The giraffes discuss their tactics. They walk slightly higher where there are a multitude of springboks. The little giraffe stays behind at a safe distance. Soon a few other lions wake up. They stretch and take a sip of the water.

Mama lion wakes up her 2 children.

The rest of the animal kingdom present remains vigilant. Some mature lions straighten their head, look at the surroundings and then lay back down. The weather is too hot for a lion. After an hour, we leave them in peace. We drive back and on our way there is a wounded zebra standing along the road. The wounds caused by a lion's claw are clearly visible. In the jungle only the strongest survives. Weak or weakened animals don’ have a chance. Even on this day, the lion crowned himself king of the jungle.