Rare Wildlife Sightings

One of the most rewarding parts of spending 2 months in “the African bush” is that it provides opportunities to see so much wildlife, some of which is quite rare and considered lucky to see, even by the permanent residents. I mentioned in previous posts my aardvark and leopard sightings…. well the magic continues. A few nights ago I participated in a field count which involves driving out into the “little Serengeti” as it is referred, otherwise known as “the Big Field”. First, someone spotted an aardvark, yes, making that two aardvarks I’ve seen now! I tried to snap a photo as it ran off, but all I got was some aardvark booty. Better than no proof I suppose.

Not too long after that, someone spotted a pangolin! Holy smokes!! Matti, the amazing and wonderful staff member helping with our game count, motioned for us all to climb out of the safari vehicle to get a closer look at it. Luckily, this creature does not run off and we got to get up close and personal with him. Incredible. What’s a pangolin you say? See for yourself!

The magic followed me to Bellebenno yesterday. On our way back from a late trip to feed the cheetahs, Ryan and I saw something cross the road ahead. He said “African wild dog?” to which I said “Brown hyena?”… Well we slowed down the truck to see if the critter was still within sight, and hiding there behind a bush was an aardwolf! So beautiful. I didn’t realize they were so brilliantly colorful. We hopped out of the truck and he headed off to see if we could track him (an insect eater so no worries about safety) for a little bit. Apparently, my camera was more fascinated with the bushes, but I’ve got a blurry shot of aardwolf proof.

Lastly, this morning was a magical morning. Not because I had 6am goat milking duties (which itself requires another blog post at a future time), but as I was walking from the dorms, up towards the cheetah enclosures, I’m looking up to my left at the moon still in the sky, only to look back forward and see a WILD CHEETAH walk briskly past me, about 20 meters away. No doubt this is the male called HiFi who’s territory includes the main center of CCF and thus all the lovely ladies in the Eland enclosures. He is a frequent visitor, but it was my first sighting and I could not be more ecstatic! Did I have my camera ready? Absolutely not. Am I sad that I failed to capture him on film? Of course, but seeing a wild cheetah has been on my wish list for a long time and I finally saw one! That cannot be taken away from me. Next time I have 6am milking duties I will be sure to bring a camera in tow!