Tracking a Lion Pride in Winter
There are no words to quite describe the feeling of heading out at first light on a winter’s morning in the bushveld. Crisp air brushing your cheeks, low lying mist hanging in the depressions and the glow of morning light weaving its way through the air. I look back at my guests, they are wrapped up in blankets with hot-water bottles tucked on their laps and have grins as wide as the sky.
Winter game viewing is phenomenal. The cooler days mean that the larger, charismatic cats are active for longer and the vegetative die-back means greater visibility in the bush. It is more comfortable for us too and we stay out later, like the cats. And then, there is the winter light… soft, diffused and golden, it paints the landscape, gifting us soul food and of course, spectacular photographic opportunities. But for me, the most exciting part of winter is tracking.
Tracking is different in each season, with different clues being important at different times of the year. Thick summer grass leaves subtle trails where animals have roamed, how dry a mud droplet from a nearby water pan can reveal when a rhino lumbered past and what the plethora of insects and migratory birds stories reveal... In winter however, the dry dusty earth divulges a map of clues and signs that need interpretation and intuition. Layers of tracks are time stamps for who has wandered where and when, and a combination of understanding animal behaviour and sharp observation is needed to untangle the messages.
The lion tracks are crisp, their edges clear. This is a good sign for us. A hyena track is partially laid over one set of tracks which means it is likely a hyena was trailing the pride, at what distance for now we are not sure. The tracks are heading in the direction of a known water pan, we leapfrog ahead to check if they came down to drink. Pug marks line the water's edge but the water trails have dried so there is still some distance between us. We are connected now, us to this pride, through intention and visualisation. We search their direction from the pan, and continue to follow...
Over grassy crests and through sandy drainage lines, the tracks lead us into the south eastern stretches of the reserve, a magnetism pulling us along. The pride has stopped and laid down, the scuff marks in the dirt showing where a tail has brushed and a body has stretched out. They are tiring and we’re catching up.
My tracker Lucky and I proceed on foot through a thicket and towards a crest. As we start to emerge from the denser vegetation, a low rumble greets us. “Don’t come any closer” it says and we listen. We see a flick of a tail in the grass ahead; the gap between us and the pride has closed. We make our way back to the game viewer and drive in for our guests to enjoy a sighting of small cubs tousling over their mother and allo-grooming. It's a wonderful display of lion interaction from the only truly social cat. A successful morning track.
Tracking is an ancient practice that most of us have forgotten in modern society, yet are still tied to in the most primal way. There is something innate about the process that sparks when we are out on safari and ignites a reawakening in us, an awareness of space, detail and time. It is one of our greatest hopes - that our guests experience tracking in its truest form. We actively participate in tracking as private guides, and we ensure that we send our guests to properties with strong tracking cultures and experienced guides and trackers. Are you ready to join us on safari and track down the animals you've always dreamt of seeing?
- Written by Andrea Fitzpatrick
We create safaris in 12 African countries. Your adventure starts here.
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Something we hear from our guests often is that they get a certain feeling on safari. Alive, relaxed, present, connected and joyful are some of the ways it’s described. It’s this that many have questioned how to better keep alive when they return home. At the heart of what we do is connect people to the wilderness and so (with the help of the African bushveld) we’ve designed a way to transport you across time and space by igniting those memories and feelings…
Founder, Private Guide and Safari Planner
Being born the daughter of David Attenborough (it’s true but he’s probably not the one you’re thinking of) I don’t believe I ever really had much choice about what direction my life would take. I grew up in the city of Durban, South Africa but for as long as I can remember nature has called to me. Whenever I could I would escape to the forests around my home barefoot and in search of chameleons and red duiker to befriend.
And so in 2010, after completing my Journalism and Media Studies degree, I followed that calling to the wilds of Southern Africa to become a game ranger. I planned to stay for a year but it turned into ten. During that time, I worked at Phinda Private Game Reserve, Ngala Private Game Reserve and Londolozi Game Reserve, some of South Africa’s most prestigious lodges and immersed myself in the natural world. I learnt to track animals with Zulu and Shangaan trackers and spent as much time as I could on foot approaching animals with my guests. I also put my photojournalism degree to use by becoming a specialist photographic guide. I travelled to Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, India and throughout South America in search of wildlife. My greatest adventure was living in Gabon training local guides for the WWF and Smithsonian Institute, where we spent weeks at a time living like early nomads in the dense and remote coastal forests, fulfilling a life-long dream of tracking and habituating wild gorillas. Seeing how embodied and present animals are inspired me to begin practicing yoga. I am a qualified vinyasa and yin teacher and spent six months training under a Hatha master in Boulder, Colorado. I am also a certified Martha Beck life coach. With this mixture of knowledge, interests and skills, I started Wild Again to help others really experience the wild places I know and love so much. Through my specialised Wellness Safaris that incorporate yoga, meditation, mindfulness and personalised life coaching I continue to grow more conscious safaris that return people to nature and to themselves. As we re-wild ourselves we hear the earth, our common mother, again. It is only then that we can co-create with her healing.
Tell us if you’re keen to plan a safari or join a retreat. We’re ready to create your dream experience.
