Scoring a Big Four Out of “The Big Five”: Etosha National Park Day 10

Lion, Buffalo, Cheetah, Rhino and Leopard.  Collectively known in Africa as the “Big 5”, these are of course, the most sought-after sights to see.   Lion and Buffalo are fairly common, while the Rhino, Cheetah and Leopard are harder to spot.  We were told ahead of time that seeing Rhinos in their natural habitat would be verry difficult, and even more infrequently spotted in the wild are the Leopards and Cheetahs.

Not to be discouraged by this, we decided that we absolutely must do some guided game tours while in Etosha.   We figured we would do lots of driving on our own getting to and out of Etosha park, and would hopefully see some animals that way, but really counted on a tourguide to show us around and really know where these Big 5 hide during the day.

Sunrise and giraffes=great combination

So first thing in the morning on our second day at Etosha, we got up crazy early to meet the game truck at 6am for the “morning drive.”  Since the sun doesn’t even rise in this area of Africa until about 7am, we were driving in the dark for a good hour, hoping to catch a glimpse of something creeping about for an early breakfast.  After a while we spotted some wildebeest, and soon after that we saw some hyena.  Hyena aren’t as easily spotted as one might think, so it was pretty cool to see them.

Our morning greeted by this hyena

The drive continued on, and it was really chilly so Matt and I cuddled as close together to stay warm.  It was a relatively boring drive for a while, until Ron spotted a rhino in the distance.  That started to wake us up a bit!  Shortly thereafter we drove on, and we saw in the distance a group of hyena and vultures crowding around the plains.  That could only mean one thing: a feeding.  Sure enough, with our binoculars we could see that they were in fact feasting on a zebra carcass.  As we were peering through the binoculars, both Ron and I happened to see about 100 meters away a small mound that was absolutely NOT a bush.  After a closer drive to the mound, we discovered it was 3 lions, laying around after eating their meal of a zebra.  (We learned that there is a problem with anthrax and zebra fatalities in the area, so I’m not sure if these were as a result of that or if these were kills.  I’m assuming it is the former.)  Mesmerized, we stared into our binoculars for what seemed to be hours watching the 2 lionesses and lion sitting in a gluttonous food stupor, taking in the sun.  My gosh are they beautiful animals!

Up until this point, we had done a few game drives and had not seen lions and I have to admit that I was starting to get a little uneasy that we wouldn’t see any during our travels.  And while this was indeed a lion viewing, I still had hope that maybe, just maybe, we could see some a little more up close.  I had visions of seeing lions lying by the road under a tree, taking a little mid-afternoon siesta in the heat of the day, or seeing a couple run out in front of the truck as it chased down its prey.  Pretty tall order, I know, but hey, This is Africa, right?

Cheetah with her cub

Anyway, satisfied that I had at least seen that lions do actually exist in the park, we continued on a bit, and what do you suppose we stumbled upon about 5 minutes later?  A female cheetah and her 4 cubs.  Just walking out in the middle of the day, completely oblivious to the 3 cars that were crowding around her desperate to get a photo.  And keep in mind that cheetah sightings are rare; most times this is the one animal people don’t get to see on safari.  I have to admit, I was pretty stoked about this one.

The drive continued on, and we saw more zebra and springbok and wildebeest than one should ever have to see in their lifetime, and spotted a few more giraffes and some gorgeous African birds.  But to be perfectly honest, we were thrilled with what we had seen and was happy to call it a game. 

Rhino at the Watering Hole

So we headed back to the camp, had a mid-morning breakfast, followed by a nap on a cool cement table not far from our campsite (the tents absorb as much heat as they possibly can so napping in them once the sun comes up is pretty much impossible.  So we went for the next best thing: a cool cement table in the large group area of the campsite.  Aside from the firmness of the cement, it wasn’t all that bad!!).  We had several hours before our next guided game drive at 8pm, so we spent some time relaxing by the pool and headed down once again to the watering hole.  This time Matt and I arrived as an elephant was leaving and a rhino was coming in.  The rhino spent probably at least an hour drinking and bathing in the hole.  It was absolutely incredible.  So far, 3 of the Big 5 seen in one day.  Awesome.

By 8’o clock we were pretty beat from our early day but gathered our energy and headed back to the truck for our 3 hour night drive.  We were greeted by our tour guide, Rambo, and we let him know we had very low expectations; we only wanted to see leopards during this drive.  He just laughed and said he’d do his best.

Selfie at the Watering Hole

The drive started out pretty much like the morning drive; boring and not a lot to see.  Since it’s night, we are at the mercy of the driver’s flashlight swinging to and from as he looks for reflections in eyes.  This actually makes it harder to spot things as you don’t have your own light to spot things, thereby adding 7 extra pairs of eyes looking out for animals.  Instead, we’re at the mercy of our guide to use his night-vision expertise to see what’s going on out there.  At first we only saw a few rabbits and steen bok, (small deer), so it was easy to get lulled to sleep.  Then he took us to a watering hole and as were looking out over the water, we saw another (!) rhino.  As we were looking at him, our guide Rambo was looking to his left, and very interested in something over there.  He took out his light, which had a red cover over it that helps to not blind the animals as we look for them, and removed the cap so it was a flooded bright white light.  He continued to sweep the area and finally told us, “there’s a leopard out there.”

Leopard walking right by our truck

HUH???!!!??  THAT woke us up a bit.  Excited about watching the slight movements of the shaded creature, Rambo watched his direction and slowly drove to the area toward where the cat was walking.  After about 15 minutes, we saw him creep out of the bush, about 25 feet away from us.  And by some miracle, he walked right next to the truck, and around the other side.  Very slowly, very deliberately, and very uninterested in us.  It’s almost as if he was letting us get a good look at him, for he did not care in the least that we were there.  Rambo told us that the difference between leopards and lions is, a leopard will spot you, look at you for a moment, but then walk away without giving you a second glance.  Whereas the lion will walk away but continue to turn around and watch your movements.  And this leopard did just that, he never once turned to look at us again.

It was an amazingly surreal experience, watching this guy walk right next to us.  And he walked in utter silence, as we watched in utter silence.  It’s almost as if you put the tv on mute and watched a scene out of National Geographic.  I took photos but of course, with the darkness and the red spotlight on him, you never can do justice of the shot.

Okay, now THIS has been an incredible day.  We’ve seen 4 of the Big 5.  In one day.  Most people spend 10 days-2 weeks in a safari resort and if they’re lucky see 3 of the Big 5.  They might witness a little more action of the animals, but it’s truly luck of the draw.  We were feeling pretty stoked about our sighting.

And we still had about an hour and a half left to go!  We were all feeling like we could call it a very successful day of game viewing and head back to camp, but there were 3 other people in the truck and I’m pretty sure they wanted to get their money’s worth (‘cause they weren’t on our truck this morning so most likely this was the coolest thing they’ve seen).  So we ventured on, relying on Rambo’s light and eyes to see what was out there.  And low and behold, another leopard.

Leopard #2

Seriously, now we’re just getting spoiled!  This time, he was sitting in the bush as about 4 jackals and 1 hyena were feasting on something.  Apparently he was biding his time.  And like the last leopard, completely oblivious and uninterested in our presence.  He sat for a while, watching the feasting take place, and slowly he got up and walked a little closer, and sat down, biding his time.  It was so amazingly similar to the movements of a housecat, watching him walk around, sit down and take in the view.  He almost seemed cuddly.  Of course, I wasn’t about to walk out of the truck to find out!

Okay, so two leopards, a cheetah, 3 lions, 3 rhinos and elephants.  All in one day.  Oh my gosh.  So stunning. 

Our drive continued on for another 45 minutes or so, and by now we are all fighting to stay awake.  But it’s a good thing we did because we came upon on group of elephants crossing the street.  As we pulled up they were eating leaves to the left of us, and slowly they started to make their way across the street.  Rambo told us that elephants typically walk together in groups; if you see only a few together it’s usually because they have a little one with them that is slower, and so they slow down for him.  As he was telling us this, we indeed did see a mother with her baby, only about 3-4 months.  This guy was absolutely adorable.  I mean, we’re talking Dumbo cute!

As the mother and baby and a few others made their way across the street, we all of a sudden heard what sounded like a growl from the mother.  Rambo told us that this is her stomach grumbling, and other animals can hear this from about ½ mile away.  Remember that the next time your stomach growls in the company meeting!

Anyway, the elephants have made their way across the road by now, but one younger-ish elephant still remained, chewing on his grass.  We learned that elephants’ eyes are very poor, but their hearing and sense of smell are very strong so even though they couldn’t see us, they knew exactly where we were.  And this guy was literally about 8 feet directly to the left of me.  So I looked at him and said, “you’d better get going little guy, the rest of the group is leaving you!”  And, I promise you, he snorted, threw the grass he was holding in his trunk onto the ground, and made for across the road.  As if he was having a temper tantrum that I suggested he hurry.  It was so funny.

Slowly we made our way back to the campsite, and in good luck as by now, we’ve seen just about all we can see in one day.  We thanked Rambo for his awesome job and made our way back to our camp, so thrilled about our sightings and chatting excitedly about the leopards. 

So now, it’s time for BED. 

But maybe…yeah, maybe just one more walk down to the watering hole to see what’s going on.

And wouldn’t you know it, the exact same elephant that had his temper tantrum with me was making his way into the watering hole.

Full.  Circle.

(By the way, in case you were wondering, buffalo are not in Etosha National Park.  They prefer to be closer to water, so they migrate closer to the Caprivi Strip in Namibia.  Which is where we were when we saw several a few days before.  So technically, we scored a big fat 5 out of 5.  But I thought I'd be fair and not take claim to see a buffalo on the same day we saw the other big 5.  But any way you slice it, we saw them ALL.  Yay. Us.)