This is one of the best stories that I will tell my kids one day and all thanks to the tracking tips my Dad taught me.
Tracking is possible even while you are in the car, without stepping out, and staying on the main roads.
So this is how it all starts: I was in the Kruger National park day 2 of our lovely adventure, it was about 12pm at as this stage the hottest point of the day. My Wife was dying to go to the toilet (as woman do)so we took the map we got from the tourist shop and figured our way to the closest Toilet.
The toilet is guarded as its in the middle of nowhere but there were a few other cars which had stopped for the owners to enjoy a break while for others, some lunch.
Okay toilet stops all done.
This was the first point where we started tracking: We were looking for a water hole as we know its in the middle of winter being the dry season we knew animals will definitely flock to the water in the heat of the day.
So we started driving in the direction to the closest water hole, 5 min later my daughter spotted vultures sitting in the tree. Oh great! my wife exclaimed, “lets take a picture”, she added.
But my mind kicked into overdrive as I realised what was about to unfold. Closely looking at the vultures I tried to check what direction they were looking at.
I noticed they looked predominantly into the direction we were driving to. I told everyone to look at the direction where Vultures facing for there must be a kill nearby.
Driving very slowly I saw some foxes. They are also little scavengers but didnt get to take photos of them.
Five minutes later I noticed this face far in the bush and it looked like he was sitting next to a black rock. Yes!
This was a Lion eating his prey. At this stage I realised there was quite a strong wind blowing from the direction of the water hole (which we hadnt got to yet) but the Lion obviously smelt the prey but they werent aware of him.
This also explains the Vulture and Fox as they detected the odour of the meal. The photos I got of the Lion were not great but we have them.
I opened my window and stuck my hand out the car and checked the direction of the wind, I then turned around as there could be other animals heading to the Kill site.
Five minutes later, guess who came to join the party; Yes youre right, the hyena.
This was spectacular seeing the hyena walking so close to the car and ready to see if he could find some scraps. The Hyena would obviously wait for the Lion to leave before making an attempt. But isnt this amazing the pieces of the puzzle starting to fit together and it was great to figure our way through this and know what to expect next.
If I didnt bother too much about the vultures, we would have missed the fox and the Lion and the breathtaking hyenas, if we did this.
So make sure when youre on your adventure you look out for all these things and one animal is a sign of another to come. Nothing stops you to turn around and follow those hyenas if you happen to miss the Lion.
The Tips I have offered in my eBook will help and assist you to get these types of finds.
Happy Safari All
