Day 11. Tue 27th April
Sunday Pan.
We grab a quick breakfast and set off at seven for a drive. The usual springbok,
oryx, wildebeest and red hartebeest, but no predators.
We drive up to Deception Pan, close to where Mark
and Delia Owens had their camp. Deception Valley is the remains of
an ancient river that last flowed about 16,000 years ago, but was left
as a "fossil" river bed when the climate turned arid.
On the way back we see three black-backed jackals quite close to us.
 3.JPG "Jackall (diginocs) 3")
Deception Pan is a huge, perfectly round, clay salt pan, that in the wet
season is filled with water. It was given its name by the San because when
it is dry the grey clay soil in its bottom creates the illusion that it
is still full of water. Mark and Delia Owens reported in their book "The
Cry of the Kalahari" that the illusion is so complete that they saw migratory
water birds drawn to it during drought.
I can stop worrying about my "diginocs" as the camera now registers
"full", so I must now wait to return to civilisation to see what I've got.
We return to the camp and I offer my incendiary skills again, but this
time fail to get a fire going. I go for the firelighters, but Ken loses
patience and shows me how to do it, by getting a great fistful of dry grass
in one hand and shoving his cigarette lighter into it with the other. He
dumps it unceremoniously on top of last night's ashes, chucks a couple
of handfuls of sticks on top and has a roaring blaze going in about 20
seconds. He then tells us his trick for getting a fire going in the wet
when you have no matches - siphon petrol out of the vehicle onto the wood
and then light it by attaching the jump leads to the battery and shorting
them out. I think I'll stick to firelighters.
Ken makes beefburgers for lunch, and we have another lazy afternoon, all
of us ending up fast asleep in our tents.
At five we set off for a game drive.
For a while we see only the usual springbok and wildebeest, but then
suddenly we round a bush and find three young male lions lazing in the
grass right next to the road.
Ken stops the Land Rover so that we can watch them. This is quite scary
as Pete, Kathy and I are on the roof. One of the lions gets up, stretches,
and begins to saunter towards us. We hear the Land Rover starter motor
turn - and miss. A second time it fails to start. The third time it fires,
to our great relief. However, by this time the lion has lost interest and
wanders off down the road, shortly followed by the other two. Ken reckons
they are probably brothers looking for a pride. They look well fed and
have probably killed recently. If they find a pride they will fight the
other males, and if they win, will take over the pride in coalition, sharing
the favours of the females, although they may kill any cubs.
Once the sun is down we dig out the spotlight and I get to sit at the
front and wave it about. The trick with the light is to look for the reflection
of eyes glowing in the beam. It is often difficult to work out what is
behind the eyes, usually just a bemused springbok, but after a while a
gleam and a snuffle right next to the road turns out to be a porcupine,
a rare sight as they are very shy animals. True to form this one immediately
shuffles off into the undergrowth. We drive around the trees but fail to
pick it up again.
The rest of the drive is uneventful, and we return to the camp well
satisfied, and still very excited about the lions.
Ken gets the fire going and we have rump steak and mashed spuds for
supper, after which we sit and finish off the remains of the J. D. until
eleven - a late night!