Yesterday we drove out before sunset to set
up a little table and camp chairs on a vast, empty plain and watch the sun go
down while dining on leftover pasta. A wildebeest wandered in the middle
distance.
We packed the hamper away when darkness
fell and then got out the spotlight for a night drive. Sightings were few and
far between until we rolled up to the edge of a small watering hole. The driver
continued forward, having spotted some wading birds to the right and
momentarily oblivious to the enormous rhino rising up in the spotlight dead
ahead of us as it emerged from the water. I helpfully trilled ‘Rhi-nooooo!’ in a panicky falsetto to
draw everyone’s attention to this sudden apparition, upon which the engine and
spotlight which had been causing it annoyance were hurriedly shut down. Thankfully it lumbered off to one side instead of trying
to impale the vehicle on its horn (my door being the closest to it).
My bladder and I were terrifically grateful
to return to the safety of the house later that evening. But an hour later as I
was luxuriating in the bath and adding a hot water top-up, I heard an ominous
sound from outside. I turned off the tap and recognized the quite unmistakable
sound of a lion roaring in the immediate vicinity. Had I been on my own, I
would have locked myself in a cupboard. But I was emboldened by my bush-wise
hosts to drag on a towel and follow them outside with a spotlight to look for
the animal. The baboons in the surrounding trees were grunting their alarm
calls. A huge male lion with a black mane was sighted just around the corner of
the house, but not by me as I was hovering within dashing distance of the
lounge door.
My dreams last night were troubled…
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