Image above taken by Adam Reis
In case you missed part I of my adventures at Singita Pamushana, click here.
See below for part II of my adventures from a recent trip to Zimbabwe’s Singita Pamushana:
Today (this would be day 3 of our trip) we embarked on yet another exciting game drive, coming across a white rhino just a few minutes into our safari. While watching the white rhino, our guide, Time, received a call that a black rhino had been spotted in the area. We attempted to track the black rhino but never ended up spotting him. We came across a group of six white rhino instead and were able to stop the vehicle and take a short walking safari to get closer to the rhinos. We watched the peaceful rhinos for about a half hour before getting back in our vehicle.
After spending time with the white rhino, we can across a group of elephants that were eating acacia pods off the ground. When the pods were all eaten off the ground, the elephants would rub against the trees and try to shake more acacia pods onto the ground. It was fascinating to watch!
In the afternoon we went to see the Bushmen paintings in nearby rocky outcrop. It was truly fascinating to see the different generations of rock art—some dating back thousands of years ago and others dating back hundreds of years ago.
Image above taken by Adam Reis
On the way back to the lodge, we came across a watering hole that we had not seen yet and stopped the vehicle to enjoy a few drinks. During our stay we saw dozens of impala and kudu, and spotted a giraffe, as well.
During our evening game drive we spotted a large animal hiding behind a tree. Time brought the vehicle a bit closer and we noticed that it was a male black rhino! The rhino was very inquisitive and came closer to investigate. As he got closer he began to charge our vehicle! Our guide smacked the side of the vehicle to make a large banging noise and huffed and puffed to scare the rhino off. It worked! But it wasn’t long before the rhino attempted to charge us once again! Our guide repeated his antics and sure enough the rhino backed off.
Image above taken by Adam Reis
Image above taken by Adam Reis
On our last day at Singita (day 4) we all wanted to see a wild dog but knew that would probably be too much to ask. We already saw the Big Five—what else could we possibly want to see?! So off we went on our morning game drive where we drove to one of the largest trees in the area to watch zebra, impala, elephants, and kudu. It was such a lovely way to end our trip to Zimbabwe and we were all so grateful to have seen all that we did.
But contrary to what we all believed that was not the end of our trip! Time received a call that said wild dogs had been spotted in the area. What luck!
We drove to the area where they were spotted and sure enough there was a group of 19 wild dogs eating an impala that they had just killed. They were all squatted down in the bush as they were eating and we could hear them crying and barking. After a few minutes watching them eat we started to drive away. But before we got very far we spotted a hyena looking at the wild dogs and their fresh kill. Before we knew it, there were three more hyena (they were super close to our vehicle and they smelled really bad!). They wanted the impala.
The wild dogs noticed the intruders and began to circle the hyenas in an attempt to get them into a confined area. Soon there was a quarrel between the dogs and the hyenas! All of the sudden the hyenas started rushing down the hill together and started “laughing.” One of the hyenas had stolen the carcass from the dogs!
The dogs were not going to let the hyena steal their meal—no way. They started chasing the hyenas and were able to get the impala carcass back into their possession. During the ruckus, one of the dogs actually bit a hyena in the bum! It was quite hilarious and what an exhilarating show of Mother Nature in action. We were so grateful for what we saw.
Afterwards, we headed to a nearby watering hole to enjoy some morning tea. The wild dogs soon showed up for a drink, too!
After our tea we headed down to another watering hole and spotted nine lions, lying around in the shade—it was the perfect final farewell for us!
We truly could not have asked for a better Zimbabwe safari vacation.
