Today may well have been one of the best wildlife days of our lives! It’s been a bit of a slow start at Tswalu for wildlife but today our luck changed! It started on the way to a sighting of a Black Rhino, the first time we’ve ever seen one! On the way there we saw a Sable, a very large antelope with a jet black coat. Beautiful creature that is very distinctive in the desert ish environment. We also spotted a Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, a tiny florescent green bird that looks right out of the tropics.
Back to the Rhino, the Black Rhino are smaller than White Rhino and usually a lot more ornery! Luckily we found a mother and calf that were shockingly chill and they let us observe them for quite awhile. I didn’t get any good pics because they were too far away for my phone but Matt will have some later.
After that we were alerted to Wild Dogs, it was a miracle!!!! The alpha female had just given birth so the area around their den was off limits for a couple weeks. Thankfully the rest of the pack of four was still hunting outside the excluded area. After some serious bush driving, dodging thorn bushes and giant holes in waist high grass, we caught up with them. They had given up on the hunt for the day and were laying down in the shade. Their coloration is really crazy making them camouflage really well! We were just a 10 yards away and they would sometimes disappear. After watching and slowly following them for a bit it was off to morning coffee. Once there we got a bit of a show as two make Oryx got in a bit of a tussle, locking horns over and over again. Then to our next sighting, a fresh giraffe carcass.
Because our stay hadn’t been special enough, haha, we went horseback riding in the late afternoon, basking in the golden rays and having fun. Our horses, brothers Lex and Lancelot, liked to compete for whom was in back. Matt’s skills came back to him right away and he did great. Trotting and controlling the horse with ease. My non-existent skills did not come back, I had fun but was slightly wary the whole time. All this even though I was on a horse nicknamed “the couch.”. We finished our ride on the top of a red sand dune where we had dinner with our tracker and guide as the sun set.
At some point during the night or early morning, a young giraffe died. It might have been during play fighting or some other accident, but no animal in Tswalu could have killed it. Either way, it made an enormous feast to whomever found it first, add the lucky ones were a pair of cheetah brothers. By the time we got there they had gorged themselves and were relaxing in the shade of a bush next to the giraffe. They looked positively round, clearly happy and contented. Because of their demeanor, our Guide took us out of the safari vehicle and we approached them on foot. Don’t worry, he had a very large gun and we didn’t get that close. So we looped downwind and got low on the ground getting a great vantage point of the beautiful animals. It was about 20 yards to the cats and we spent a few minutes there watching and marveling at them.
Then a long journey to object of the night, a pangolin. We sped across the reserve, Matt and I in a ridiculous amount of fleece, scarves and blankets, hoping to see our rare and elusive prey. Along the way, the milky way came out, as crisp and defined as I’ve ever seen. I usually can’t see it in places where others can but here it was stunning in all it’s glory. Along the way we came across bat-eared foxes, cute nocturnal black foxes with the most enormous ears. A Springhare which is a rabbit sized rodent that hops around like a kangaroo, and a few jackals. Finally we get to the area with the Pangolin den and we set off hiking to see if we can find its owner. After a ridiculously short time, the tracker found the female pangolin, making her way on her hunt for ants. She was a lot bigger than expected, probably around 50lbs and looked like an armored anteater. She made clicking and snickering noises, sounding like the baby dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. She moved quickly, walking hunched over like on all fours but on two legs. She was a magnificent creature, like some alien from another world. Sadly they are going extinct very quickly, they are the most trafficked animal in the world.
On our way back we caught glimpses of other animals, a giant owl, more foxes, jackals, and Springhare. Then we got caught in a traffic jam, a giant porcupine refused to get out of the road and led us for quite awhile. He clicked like crazy as he ran, all his quills clattering together, and refused to leave the road! Finally, thankfully, the road split and we were able to leave a very irate porcupine behind.