Trigger warning: this post has some of the more aggressive wildlife of Africa in it, including a few fascinating and somewhat mortifying pictures of their victims. I’ll warn you when the more graphic photos are coming up.
After our morning walk, we piled back in the truck for a drive through the rough part of town. The algae covering the river was so thick it looked like really flat land in places, except for the occasional predator poking its head up.
Finally in Action Town, we met some of the big guys on campus in the middle of making a bit of a mess.
They were surrounded by more hoodlums.
You never really get used to being near an animal the size of a small building.
It wasn’t just the fat and heavy ones either. You know how giraffes look really tall in pictures and movies? Seeing them in real life, your brain isn’t ready for them to actually exist.
But then some animals are just funny-colored versions of ones you already know. For example, I guess if you have mostly monochromatic eyesight, the print on zebras actually works OK.
Impala are neat, though. They run in zig zags and big jumps to escape predators, which makes it the cutest terrified desperate long-shot bid for unlikely survival I can imagine.
Remember my warning in the teaser? This next bit might be upsetting to some, but really, it’s just part of nature.
One of the older elephants passed away (apparently naturally) and the herd left it behind. It was set upon by the lions first, who apparently started with the tasty and easy-to-eat face. Once they had their fill and went to sleep off the meal, the vultures moved in.
The first sign that you’re coming up on something different is half a trunk.
Then we went around to the front. So far as wildlife deaths go, this one apparently was pretty peaceful, in its sleep, before it turned into food.
Nearby, we found a lion family in a food coma.
This whole “wait for an elephant to die naturally and then eat its face” deal isn’t unusual here, apparently.
With this horrifying sight in our heads, we went back for dinner. Dave even grabbed some fruit, fallen from the sausage tree.
Or was it some roadkill?
It had been a long day, but we weren’t done yet! Time for a night safari.
As lethargic as everyone seemed during the day, the park came alive at night. If you get your light swung around in time, you could see wildlife everywhere.
We followed a big hippo from the river inland a bit. He was going to eat… or mate… or eat a mate, or something,
He was booking it somewhere. Come to think of it, everything was.
Next time: another safari? but I used up all the good puns!