Seeing Spots

2-20-09

The night game drive didn’t prove to be too spectacular, but we did see a pack of hyenas. They aren’t the evil creatures they’re made out to be in The Lion King. They’re very awkward looking and have a funny run, but they are kind of cute. We saw a couple geckos on the road and a lot of sun spiders that were about as big as my hand.

Two days ago I went birding again and saw some pretty cool stuff. The first thing we saw was a male Nyala. They are a type of really cool antelope. We saw a few interesting birds and as we were driving, we spotted where another car was stopped. Matt (senior game guard) got really excited and pointed out the leopard that was laying in the shade near the side of the road. She was beyond description. It was a very young female having an early morning nap. Matt said that he’d been keeping an eye on the leopards in the area and that this one had just been left by the mother to go it on her own. We sat there and watched her for 20 minutes before she wandered off. A pair of Franklins (birds) ran up in front of her and started cackling and you could see she was getting irritated, but didn’t want to chase them. Eventually she got disgusted and walked off. It was pretty funny to see a leopard get run off by a pair of birds. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life. And leopards are totally my favorite African animal!

I’ve also gotten to play a good bit of soccer. The employees of Shingwedzi have a soccer team and we’ve played them twice. The first time we lost badly, but last night it was a draw. I’m a bit sore today because I knocked heads with Matt when going up for a header. We’ll be playing them again soon and I think we can win. The temperature yesterday was around 103. Cheers!