Just getting to writing about 14 September here on 20 September, sitting at a writing desk on the upstairs deck of the Linkwasha Camp in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, overlooking the watering hole where some Water Buck Antelope, storks, and baboons are refreshing themselves in the afternoon heat... the elephants and hippos will be by later, and maybe the odd lion or two.
Speaking of lions, on the morning game drive on 14 September, we sat for probably an hour watching two lions mating... we were no more than 50 feet from them, but they weren't exactly focused on us. A pair of lions will mate for as long as two or three days, every 15 minutes or so, each 'mating' taking only a few seconds. They lay there, seemingly uninterested in each other until, at some point. the female will give a signal or sidle over to the male, at which point he will mount her for a few seconds, ending with a satisfied growl... then lay back down to wait for the next round. This particular pair consisted of one of the senior females of the local pride and one of two encroaching males from outside the pride. Our guides know the various individual animals by sight.
On the afternoon game drive, we encountered the same male mating with the daughter of the lioness from the morning encounter. Again, we watched from close range as they completed two or three matings. They truly are beautiful and magnificent beasts.
Today we also saw, as we did most days, zebra, giraffe, elephant, impala (and sundry other species of antelope), marabou storks, wart hogs, tseebe antelope, and countless species of birds. Hyenas, nocturnal scavengers, are rarely seen, but as we were driving back to camp, we spotted a couple in the remaining dusky light. At one point, an elephant thought we were a bit close and charged our safari vehicle, coming within a few yards of us, blaring and head down... then it stopped... whew! The guide told us they will mount 'mock' charges like that occasionally, hoping to scare off whatever threat they have perceived.
Not to be outdone by the baboons...
Our guide euphemistically calls the mating process 'jigga jigga'
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