AFTER IT!

After a few days we decided to try to walk again. After having two very dangerous encounters in our two walks, it was time to have a peaceful walk.

We decided to walk from the camp this time. We decided to go after the hyenas and try to discover where they have their den. As we walk, we are nervous. And who wouldn’t be. After those incidents everyone was very nervous, but happy to be walking again.

During our first 20 minutes walking towards the dam everyone was making jokes, in a quiet tone. Every time I was going to the back, the last person would look at me and point to me to start walking. Everyone knew that things happen when I’m in the back of the group.

We walked around an hour without seeing anything. No tracks, no impalas, even no birds.

– Something is off – “John” said – The bush looks like it is dead. Very weird… We are going back to the camp and we are going to drive around this area… There is something here… – “John” said while starting to walk back.

The day was cloudy, and the atmosphere felt heavy. Something wasn’t right. We are driving for 15 minutes and we see dragging tracks from one side of the road to the other. “John” stopped the car and we got out.

– So, what do you think? – “John” asked.

– Maybe a predator dragging its kill? – I suggested.

– Ok mister detective. Explain why – “John” challenged me.

It was my time to show I was not just a pretty face. I was a pretty face with a Sherlock Holmes mind. I started to examine the track.

– It was dragged from the left to the right of the road – I started – we can see it is a heavy animal by the size of the track – I continued. There are no tracks from the predator which means it has to be an animal bigger than the predator, so it’s not an impala.

By now “John” was getting very impressed but he sure didn’t want to be Watson to this amazing case. He goes:

– Also, we have a black hair here in this tree trunk – he picked up the clue – what animal would you say? – he asked.

Trying to find out from where did the growl came from.

I start to think what big animal could be with black hair. But before I could say anything, Mark jumped in and said:

– Maybe a Zebra? Could be the hair of the tail – Mark suggested.

– That’s a good guess – “John” said – for me I think it is a Blue-wildebeest.

We start to follow the trail. We followed it for 30 minutes and then we heard a growl. “John” signals us to stop and listen. There was some movement inside a bush, but we couldn’t see it very well. We decide to go around and try to have a better angle. The moment we tried to approach another growl warned us that it was a bad idea. We went around, another growl. After 4 more times we gave up.

– Ok this predator is definitely not happy with our presence. I don’t want to risk it. Next time we won’t get a growl. So, let’s go back to the car – “John” said while leading us to the car.

We get to the car and our moral is low, we were hoping to see the predator we tracked for almost an hour. But that is how the bush works, sometimes you get chased by a hippo, other times you get a very loud “BACK OFF!” from a predator.

But “John” wasn’t ready to admit defeat, so he decided to continue our walk but in another spot. He decided to drive us to a near dam. This was a big dam so normally it had a few hippos. We parked the car still far from the dam. Our goal was to observe the behaviour of the hippos once they see humans coming close to them by feet. This was to compare how they act when they can submerge themselves.

Normally the adults come forward and make a circle to protect the young ones. You see these angry faces staring at you giving you a good warning.

We got out of the car we start walking towards the dam. We arrived at the dam and there were no hippos in the water. It was still very early so it wasn’t a good sign. “John” signals us to come to him.

The growl comes from there. We can’t see it but the sound comes from there.

– So, there are no hippos in the water. Not good. That means hippos are still feeding and right now we are between the water and the hippos – “John” said – We will continue but keep your eyes open to the side away from the water. If a hippo comes, it will want to go to the water so don’t run towards the water! But don’t run! – “John” said remembering what happened with the elephants, and the hippo.

So, we start to walk, and I was the last one on the line. I was always looking to the left side and behind me. I didn’t want another hippo coming for us. Then “John” stopped and gave us the stand still sign. He’s looking in front of him. Then he starts running!

Everyone starts sprinting like him. We were running fast but fast! I’m running like crazy following them and looking behind me.

– I’m never going to the back of the group again! – I was thinking.

“John” is running like a crazy man, zig zaging as much as possible. But while he’s running, he keeps on pointing to the front of him.

– Are we chasing the hippo? – I thought! – How on earth did we get to the point of chasing a hippo!? And why are why after it!? – I could not believe it.

Then I see what we are chasing. Two honey badgers! If you don’t know what a honey badger is, it is just the most fearless animal you can ever meet! They are afraid of no one and there is a report one actually killed a lion! They eat king cobras! They are the badass of the bush. And now here I am, chasing the most fearless animal in Africa, two of them actually!

“John” stops after 5 minutes of running in the middle of the bush and he turns to us and says:

– Did you see them? How awesome was that? – He said like he was a young boy.

– What happened to no running? – I asked – I thought we had a hippo behind us! And everyone was running so slow, but I didn’t want to cut the line – so my brilliant mind was thinking that we were about to die and that I was the first one to the animal, but instead of using my youth to outrun the group, no! My naive mind didn’t want to cut the line!

– Sorry João! – “John” said – I got so excited that I wanted everyone to see them! Actually, it is kind of a bad idea to chase a honey badger! We were lucky they didn’t turn on us! – “John” said after realizing that with this group there would never be a calm walk.

We got to the car after another 30 minutes of walking, and at that exact moment we could hear the hippos returning to the water. We managed to avoid the hippos this time, but we had to return to finish our animal behaviour study.