Akin

What is your most memorable African wildlife experience and where was it? We are just starting our research to do our first visit to Southern and South Africa.

jesron

I have(like most of the other people on the forum) at lot of memorable wildlife experiences....So here are a few...

Seing wild dogs in Ruaha

Being charge by 5 elephants in Damaraland in Namibia

Seing gorillas in Bwindi, Uganda

A river cruise on the Chobe River seing loads of elephants, buffaloes and hippoes

A river cruise on the Nile in Murchisons Falls National Park in Uganda (A great park that in my opinion is underrated) seing elephants, huge crocs, hippoes, buffaloes etc.

Seing the migration in Serengeti...

I could keep going, but I have to say that my best wildlife experience isīt from Africa. It is from Chitwan national Park in Nepal, where a tiger mock charged our open vehicle... I felt very low on the food chain on that occasion

You will love Africa...Once you have been there you have to go back.... I am trying to put a trip together myself this summer!

matnikstym

eating dinner on the pool deck at a camp in Zimbabwe while an elephant was drinking out of the pool not 10 feet away.
seeing my first elephant, zebra, giraffe, wild dog, warthog, lion and everything else...but the last is just as exciting as the first.
lions in camp, elephants in camp, monkeys in camp.
every experience in Africa is memorable!

PredatorBiologist

So many great/memorable experiences but I can try to select a few events:

Driving at breakneck speed in Duma Tau trying to follow the Selinda pack of wild dogs on a hunt, passing a hyena with the same objective on the way. Losing them as they enter the mopane woodlands and then after less than 5 minutes we round a corner in the woodland and there is 11 dogs consuming an impala. After a couple minutes the dogs start calling and some of them run off and then they come back with another 10 dogs for the entire pack of 21 to consume the kill.

At Duba Plains following the tremendous roaring to locate the Duba Boys and discover that they are agitated by the presence of the largest lion I (and the guide) have ever seen on the other side of a channel. One Duba Boy is a little reluctant due to a recent beating with visible puncture wounds on his hind quarters but once his brother charges he comes right behind him. They both run full speed and jump clean over at least 15 feet of water as the intruder flees the scene. They then each swim back across the channel and go through a series of head rubs and bonding time.

Also at Duba Plains. We see two mature males of the Skimmer pride head rubbing and then intently watching in the distance where we see five males (4 year olds) of the Tsaro pride approaching the herd of 1,000 buffalo. We rush off to watch the hunt but the buffalo retreat into a palm island and lay down forcing the lions to lay in the shade. Meanwhile 2 3 1/2 year old Skimmer males join their older brothers and one by one they each cross the channel and walk right behind our vehicle with their eyes on fire as they approach the intruding Tsaro males. At this point was the only time on a game drive the guide told us do not move as the agitated lions passed one by one within 5 feet of our seats. They then grouped together giving us 9 male lions within 20 yards of one another and in proximity of 1,000 buffalo. Surprisingly it was pretty much a stalemate then and nothing would happened, everyone just lay around.

Tracking white rhino on foot at Little Ongava in Namibia. We knew we were close as we followed the spoor and then got a whiff of them but still didn't see them. We walked through the bush into a small clearing when all of a sudden out out popped a rhino, instantly followed by a slightly smaller one, and then an enormous one only about 25 feet away. Our guide wispers move back with an intense tone as we were surprised to find them so close, and then the big girl turns her head and the guide says "it's o.k., this is one horn (had a broken second horn) and she is very relaxed" at which point we were able to remain at very close quarters and snap away photos.

Finally, a very ordinary sighting of sleeping lions in Madikwe while staying at Buffalo Ridge. Just as darkness set in 2 adult and 2 juvenile males begin full on roaring from 10 feet away. Sitting in the pitch black dark with my body vibrating from the power of the sound is something I will never forget.

afrigalah

As Dennis says, every one is memorable. But a couple which will always come to mind readily are: tracking a black rhino in Hwange NP on foot and standing 10-15 metres from it as it browsed in thick bush; walking up to a wild dog den, also in Hwange, seeing a dog stand on its hind legs to look at us over the bushes, and hearing the pack's little alarm barks before they melted away. These experiences, which occurred on the same day 8 years ago, are not diminished even though I have no photos of them.

John

waynehazle

Even though we've had this thread a few times, it is always worth reliving.

My #1 'African safari experience' was not in Africa. it was Ranthambore India, seeing a male and female tiger skip across a field.

Seeing giraffes outside my tent in Masai Mara.

Lions hunting in the Crater

Nearly getting charged by elephants in Mara.

And any moment with the gorillas

atravelynn

Here are some memorable experiences in Southern Africa. I assume you are deciding which country(ies) to choose from within Southern Africa.

<u>Zambia</u> in no order: (1) Walking amongst herds of buffalo in N. and S. Luangwa (2) Watching and hearing eles cross the Luangwa River at sunrise in S. Luangwa (3) seeing a leopard on foot and a snake pit with a over a dozen pythons in S. Luangwa (4) hunting with a pride lions under a full moon in Kafue and having our dinner interrupted by their kill outside camp (5) In the Lower Zambezi canoeing from Sausage Tree to Old Mondoro on the Chifungulu Channel (6) walking with a pair of honey badgers in Lower Zambezi (7) seeing 3 lions on foot in N. Luangwa and watching the reaction of 6 nearby hoofed species. (8) Kutandala Camp in N. Luangwa and wading through the Mwaleshi River to get to and from camp.

<u>Zimbabwe</u> in no order: (1) Seeing a serval, a Pel’s Fishing Owl, and a charging mother elephant on foot in Mana Pools. (2) Being so close on foot to a herd of eles in Mana Pools that the click of the camera was forbidden. (3) Herds of eles drinking from the pans at sunset in Hwange (4) Herds of sable in Hwange. (5) Tracking a black rhino on foot for 2 days with eventual success in Matoba Hills.


<u>Botswana</u> in no order: (1) Mombo’s diverse and dense wildlife including denning wild dogs, a 6-member cheetah family, 5 leopards in one panoramic view, and a baby leopard we watched being transferred from mom’s care over to dad’s care for several days at a time (2) Chobe River sunset cruise with eles crossing/mating and animals drinking on each side (3) an unsecluded den of 8 wild dog pups and 7 adults only 15 minutes from camp at Chitabe (4) a night at the hide in Chitabe Walking Trails Camp (5) Watching the famous Duba Boys and their pride herd buffalo during several days and eventually make a kill (6) hanging out with a relaxed aardwolf at Duba Plains (7) 8 Bat Ear Fox in one panoramic view at Duba Plains (8) Spending 2 days with the Kuba pride that included 4 gorgeous subadult males and seeing the lionesses make a kill in Vumbura (9) 3 wild dog sightings in one day at Zibalianja in Selinda all before noon--first running past camp, another as we followed them hunting, and then wallowing in the camp’s waterhole. (10) A young leopard peering through the zipped netting of my tent at Little Mombo.

<u>South Africa</u>-just Soweto since I’ve only been to Johannesburg.

Hope you can add your own experiences to those here. If you go, you will.

Thembi

Top ones (so far) would be walking with the Elephants at Baines in the Okavango.
At Chobe NP, watching a big male lion on a dismembered mature male kudu kill lift the Kudos' head by the back of scull so the huge spiral horns go up each side of the lions head. I was lucky enough to catch it on camera, even through the grass. He was reasonably close, 4-5 metres from the vehicle. I call that snap &quot;Possessed&quot;.
Mating leopards in Morimi NP.
Bit off the thread, but I got to say the never-ending amazement for me was the unbelievable tracking and bush skill of our guide, Pilot Manga. I thing this guy could track a mouse over rock. Perfect imitation calls of any animal or bird that makes a sound. Identify game species by the sound of the birdcalls in the area. (This is how he found the mating leopards). He also had a great sense of humour and was a great storyteller. We all sat around the campfire at night, like children waiting for a bed time story from a favourite uncle. He never disappointed with a great tale or some interesting information about Botswana and her people and culture. His best story was his trip to the Canadian Artic and his misconceptions about how long it would take to get there and the complete inadequacy of what he packed for the climate. He has, I'm sure, had many clients and some perhaps on this forum may have been lucky enough to travel with Pilot and hear some of his stories and witness his skills.

Can’t wait to improve on my list!

One of the great pleasures of African adventure is the vicarious thrill one gets from others 'exciting moments'. We you've been there it isn't hard to put your self in the place of the storyteller.
Happy travels
Kaye

cary999

I'll never forget the time we were hacking our way through the coastal jungle of Zamkavere, four of us with six native porters carrying supplies. Three days into the journey one of the porters slipped on the trail and dropped our entire supply of Bombay Gin. Every dram of gin was lost and the poor devil porter ran off howling like a bushy tailed mongoose. For several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.
regards - tom
ps - RIP, W.C. Fields

katt58

Since this was our first trip to Africa, almost every moment was quite incredible. But since we have to choose:

Zimbabwe(Vundu)-approaching the wild dogs'den, adults and babies.

Waiting a bit for dinner one evening until the elephants had finished nibbling at the trees in our riverside dining area.

Zambia (Tafika)-
The leopards
Walking into our open air bathroom at 5:00 AM just as an elephant's trunk wiggled over the edge of our reed wall.
Also viewing animals from John Coppinger's ultralight at 6:15 in the morning is an unforgettable experience.

eyelaser

I am sure I am not alone when I say that I can't sleep when on safari. The excitement is too overpowering and I find myself laying awake in bed listening to the sounds of the bush. But certain experiences are ingrained into my brain. After not being in Africa for 21 years my son and I went in 2001 and at our first camp, Selinda, we had lions surrounding our tent one night. While my son slept soundly I had an overpowering urge to use the bathroom which unfortunately was not ensuite! Needless to say I learned how to hold it for what seemed like hours...because it was. Just when the lions left and I felt I could safely exit the front of the tent a hyena ran around the front of the tent...yikes. The second experience was on our last game drive at Singita. We were scheduled for a 9:30 departure and our guide decided to go to a neighboring property to see what he could find. About 10 min. out he got a radio call reporting cheetahs tracks had been found on the complete other side. So we made a joint executive decision to abandon plan A a go in search of the cheetah. We were down against a deadline though and kept getting radio calls that the cheetahs had not been found by any of the vehicles. Well we found a crash of rhino and spent a few minutes with them before continuing the search. Time was running out as it was nearly 8am and I was getting really nervous. Finally the radio crackles the news of a visual. A female with 2 cubs in tow. Another 15 minutes later and we get a glimpse of them rambling through the scrub. Finally the mother sets herself on a low, broad termite mound in a perfect cheetah pose. It was beautiful! Lee Fuller, the guide says &quot;this may be your lucky day&quot;. About 20 meters in front is a young kudu unaware of what is watching him. Trying to get all my photo gear ready, I drop my video camera in the grass and can't reach it. One of the other guys in the vehicle is an uncle of one of the lodge's assist. managers and his camera jams just as the cheetah launches himself at the kudu. Quickly the tracker jumps out retrieves my video camera and we're off...almost. Lee's gun jumps out of the holder and has to be retrieved as well. Finally we get to the cheetah just as she had grabbed the kudu and finishes her off. Whew, what a rush. Well, about 4 minutes later we see lions rushing in and a female heads straight for the cheetahs and the mom and 2 cubs head in separate directions. The lioness must have chased her for almost 1/2mile. Then we watched and laughed as 3 lioness and 1 male lion tried to locate the carcass. Don't they know why 3 vehicles are in a circle! Anyway after 10 minutes the male lion by sheer luck happens onto the carcass, licks it and then lifts it up just behind the head and carries it parallel to the ground within touching distance of our vehicle. I get both video and photos at eye level that are incredible. The lion then takes the kudu to the side and precedes to devour it. Well our miscues don't stop there because as we move in to watch the feeding we get a flat tire. So now we have to pull 100 or so meters away and fix a flat with hungry lions close by. We got it fixed in no time, returned to the feeding and then back to camp...oh we ran into mating lions on the way back...and trumpeting eles as we literally drove back into camp...my pulse normally about 58/min was literally over 100 and didn't settle down till we boarded our plane back to Jo'Burg. What a way to end a safari...it was at that moment that I knew I would be back again and again.
The next summer when I returned with my whole family led to the next most memorable experience. Again at Singita and again with Lee Fuller. Lee met us at the plane and was in shock when he saw my son and me. I reminded him I told him we would be back. His memory of our last drive with him was just as our...he showed us his photos of the lion with the kudu in his mouth which was almost a carbon copy of our. Anyway we went out on our first evening drive and saw eles, a few rhino (which my daughter called real rhinos as opposed to the rhino we she saw at Mombo that had radio antenae still protruding from their front blunted horns and could be tracked with telemetry) and then a leopard just ambling down the road. It was dark and we sat with the leopard for awhile. One advantage of having the vehicle to oneself is the ability to be patient without worrying others are bored. Lee explained that the leopard looked pretty saited and probably was not going hunting but leopards will take advantage if something happens to pass by. There were two other vehicles that did get bored and left after 20 min. We just sat there as the leopard just sat by the side of the road. We turned the spot light off and on every now and then to see if there was any change in behavior. Our tracker noted a bush buck deep in the bush so we turned off the lights, and waited as the leopard walked into the bush. Less than a minute later we heard the tell-tale sound of the leopard's attack and we rushed in to find the leopard strangling the bush buck...wow! We had the sighting to ourselves for a while until a few other vehicles returned. It was incredible and again we got it on video, film and our first digital camera...my wife's sony 707.
There have been others including being charged by 5 eles in Zambia in a vehicle with a balky starter that took 3 turns to start and the eles we within 20 meters of us before we got started...they chased us ears back, trunks down for about half a mile before pulling up.
A personal experience which I am happy I can talk about now is stepping on Mozambique Spitting Cobra at Mombo and luckily to being tagged or spit at.
But I must say the experience that was probably the most awesome was being at a crossing point on the Mara this past summer watching over 10,000 animals cross the river with 2 being taken by crocs. All this with only 1 other vehicle in sight....the sounds of the gnuing and braying of all these animals were the most amazing sounds I have ever heard.
Just writing out these experiences has gotten my pulse up...thanks for the opportunity to share.
E

eyelaser

Sorry, meant to sign the above.
Eric

afrigalah

Eric,

We've both had the only non-ensuite tent at Selinda! I assume there is none now that the whole camp has been upgraded.

John

eyelaser

I think I read that too, but I am sure there are other camps where others can have such a fun experience
Eric

afrigalah

Good thing, too...much too much coddling on safari nowadays, Eric

John

eyelaser

This summer I climbed Kilimanjaro and with all the diamox in me I was very happy there were no animals to be wary of as I used the &quot;restroom&quot; (aka nearest bush or rock) at 1am 2am 3am etc; plus I had to remind my wife and daughter who were sharing a tent that I was downstream from them and to please pay attention to that

Akin

Wow, wow, and wow. My pulse rate is soaring reading all of your experiences. We have since made a few destination selections: Zambia (South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi, &amp; Kafue National Park). We are also talking about including Chobe NP. I will be doing more reading on this board and asking more questions. Thanks to all!

atravelynn

Tom,
Don't you hate when that happens?

Good choices Akin! Please post again when you have specifics.

santharamhari

Wow!!! some great stuff........

Lynn, the 5 cheetah family caught my attention.....

Ok, here goes my fav moments.....

where do i begin.....my very first time in Africa, the whole trip was over-whelming and amazing!!! Guess what, every subsequent trip feels just as awesome.....i know the topic refers specifically to wildlife moments, but, in my trips to Africa i like to also remember the great people one meets and keeps in touch with.

My fav safari moments includes this past August when we came upon an unkown wild dog pack at lebala and went on a Ferrari safari chasing after them on a hunt.

Following the famous cheetah brothers (when they were still 3) in the savuti channel.

In the Mara during the migration, when our plane could not land for 20 minutes on the Governors camp airstrip due to the number of animals on the ground.

Some of my best memories would include the good times with the fabulous guides/camp management during the drive, dinners, just lounging in the camp etc etc etc.,

Hari

afrigalah

Hari,

You make a good point. I'm still corresponding with some of the people I met on safari 10 years ago...they live in wonderful NY and Ga. And I think I'd give an arm and a leg to dine at Zib with you next June But you know, you also meet some awful people...it's only a minority, for sure, but in 10 years of safaris, I have never met an animal I would not enjoy seeing again! You can't say the same about people. Sorry

John