Luci is the name is the name of my solar lamp, I have four of them. I often recharge them on my bonnet when parked somewhere remote. But I mustn’t forget to collect them before I drive off.

I was on my way inland today. Ja, 4WD engaged, and off we trotted late morning. It was chilly and overcast again. If I am cold then the animals are cold too and need to warm up first, as do I.

We took the turnoff south on Pende Road, a few solar-pumped waterholes are located in a fair radius. I hadn’t had much hope for something too exciting like a leopard or cheetah. You won’t see them from the campground either. I just like driving these tracks with Zimba, who is so comfortable in climbing over stick and stone.

I stopped at this large riverbed with greens around. There is still water underground. I had a closer look through my lens for any ambush hunters. This riverbed is a perfect spot to surprise anyone. If there are any predators here, they camouflaged well.

After some more up and down, we reached Pende Waterhole 1.

Nothing. Nada. Null. Not even baboons showed.

A lone Sable Antelope dropped in and disappeared again.

I heard car revs after half an hour of waiting in vain, two more bakkies arrived. Two couples, a bit older than me, greeted me. ‘It’s quiet here’ I said. ‘Have you seen anything worth mentioning?’

‘Two female lions in a dry but green riverbed’ Paula said. ‘But they are well camouflaged, they blend in with the rocks.’

‘Yes, I noticed that. I couldn’t spot anything there. I have a closer look on my way back.’

A large herd of buffalo slowly moved in and up the rising track. For an animal this size, buffalo are very timid. As the wind blew in their direction, the buffalo could smell us miles away.

Their eyesight isn’t better than ours. It takes them a while to find out, ‘friend or foe.’ They were thirsty and didn’t move closer with a zebra parked close by. Pumba with his Kuifie haircut urged them on. Or was it now safer to drink with an army of hoofs and horns surrounding the warthogs?

I didn’t want to keep these massive animals thirsty and moved on. I drove to the nearby Pende Waterhole 2, which is a bit tricky for wildlife watching. It is located in a dry river bed and there is not much of a chance to get out if animals like elephants move in. A few birds sipped on the murky surface water but nothing much else happened.

‘Okay, maybe the buffalo are drinking now?’ as I was on my way back. They had already gone.

Instead, along the way, a lone elephant bull roamed close to the dirt track. He is heading towards the waterhole number one. He is hungry as well, as he chewed on twigs and branches.

I overtook him from a safe distance and parked Zimba towards the upcoming loner. He wasn’t sure what to think and moved into the scrubs.

Here it was even more obvious how an animal this size just disappears in scrubs. He showed up not far from the driver’s side, I followed his movements closely. I knew he was coming from this direction as he wasn’t sure what to think of us. Neither did I.

He appeared behind some bushes as his trunk went up and the ears flapped forward. But only for a second.

‘Easy boy!’ It wasn’t an aggressive move, more a curious one as he stopped his movement and moved on.

It was an interesting feeling as my right hand was still gripping the car keys, just in case. Phew.

Alright, let’s see if I could spot those two lions. I looked in the northern direction as directed, but could not see anything. It was now when I realized, that two of my Luci’s had fallen off my bonnet whilst driving. I only noticed because one was still lying on the hood. Stupid me.

I wasn’t going to get that one now, there are big cats close by as I heard. Yes, they were. Laying under cover from the heat. Two lionesses in the southern direction were inspecting my zebra. They were close enough not to miss but they weren’t moving much.

I now have to turn around and recollect my solar lamps. I turned Zimba in a tight spot and back again we go. Surely they had fallen off the bonnet when I reversed from the buffalo herd. They didn’t.

Instead, a herd of elephants had moved in.

More than a dozen elephants of any sizes surrounded this small pond.

They were thirsty, it had warmed up by now.

The young ones stayed close to their mothers.

It was a close affair altogether.

Some kept checking up on me,

‘We know you are there”.

A few zebras showed up but realized quickly that they had no chance for a drink for a while.

Youngsters were breastfeeding, this will take a while. Awww…

It was an amazing and amusing encounter but I had to wait until the herd moved on to look for my Lucis.

The zebras were still waiting too.

Once the elephants worked out in what direction to go too, I had a chance to check up on my solar lamps. Without success. They held on for a while as I found them scattered almost reaching waterhole number two. I still find it amusing that I couldn’t see them on my hood while I was driving.

Rainwaters created puddles that look similar to a silver round disc like my solar lamps. I found both of them but by now time is getting close to sunset.

I still had an hour’s drive ahead of me, maybe even longer. I crossed the riverbed for the fourth time today.

The lioness’ laid even closer towards the dry creek crossing. Both are healthy females, no doubt the rest of the pride isn’t far off.

It’s dark soon, surely they will hunt tonight. An insensitive for tomorrow’s wildlife Safari.