Pilanesberg

 This week we went to Pilanesberg game reserve for a safari day with the kids.  It was an amazing day, probably one of the best safaris that we’ve ever had.

We got to see a lion chasing a herd of wildebeests.

When it didn’t get its kill, we followed it as it walked over to two other lions that were eating a baby wildebeest that they had just killed.  (We didn’t get to see them hunting and killing this, it had happened just before we arrived.)

When the third lion arrived, the three of them fought over their meal, playing tug of war with it, each one trying to get the largest piece.  They were probably about 30 feet away from us and we watched them as they struggled back and forth, growling at one another.

Finally, each one tore off its own piece of meat and they went to their own area to eat their lunch.

During the whole process, an adult wildebeest stood about 100 yards away watching.  We assume that this was the parent of the baby that had been killed, but we have no way of knowing for sure.

Several black backed jackals also stood by watching, waiting to get their piece of the left over meat.

It was the most amazing, rare experience.  We’ve been on countless safaris and have never seen lions in the wild this close, much less seen them fighting over a kill.

We also saw giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebras, kudu, impala, monkeys and ostriches. But those are much more common to see at Pilanesberg.

And we had a few wild animals of our own in the car with us.

~ Lincoln