Afternoon Drive Part 1
2 new guests, Australians, arrive and are placed on our vehicle. The guy, Colin, is also a photographer. We are still only 4 in the vehicle as the couple that was with us previously has moved on to another camp.
As we missed the puppies the previous day we head straight for them this afternoon.
At lunch we find out that the other group had gone to see the puppies in the morning and then found the pride of lions. Their guide tells me that we should have seen the puppies in the morning because you never know in the afternoon. Our guide never mentioned the possibility of seeing the puppies in the morning and only offered an afternoon visit. I’ll be heartbroken if I miss them.
Fortunately our luck held. Once we reached the right area it didn’t take long to find the pups. A flurry of activity with 14 pups running, yapping, nipping and chasing each other. It’s very difficult to focus on anything as the scene is constantly changing.
Then all of a sudden they collapse and lie like limp noodles. One gets up from time to time and bites his neighbor to start a scuffle and they both flop back down again. Half of the adults are around. We watch and photograph them for over half an hour.
As we drive off we see the lot of them taking off for the evening hunt. These are older pups and soon they will leave the den for good.
August 29, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Botswana/Zimbabwe page.