Birthday with lions, elephants, cheetahs & co.

Sunday, 17.01.2016

At 5 minutes before 5, I'm awake and see an incredible sunrise behind our tent.

At 5.00 a.m., a maid tiptoes to our tent, whispers 'morning' and sets a tray with tea and coffee on the small table in the tent, then disappears almost silently towards the main house.

Since there is no toilet on the way, I content myself with half a cup of tea on our terrace and simply enjoy the view of the plain, which is now more and more illuminated by a golden-orange sun and several elephants are already visible.

5.10 a.m., tea cup in hand - and already two elephants in front of me

Amakhala Reserve in the morning light at 5:30 a.m.

At 5:30 a.m., we sit in the jeep with Alex at Brad's and start the morning safari. Beate sleeps in a bit, the two of them are flying back to Europe today so it's (another) night with little sleep.

For me it's my birthday today and it will probably be the best one of my life.

After only about 15 minutes, a complete lion family with father, mother, and two cubs comes into sight. They come from the right, walk very close to our jeep, and then leisurely observe a group of zebras.

The zebras seem nervous and move away a bit. One constantly looks at the lions. We sit with the engine off, binoculars, cameras, and naked eye, observing what happens next. While the lion father approaches the zebra group from the right, the mother trots towards the group from the front.

The lion males are naturally more conspicuous and so the zebras also keep more of an eye on the males. As Brad says, this is also why it's usually the lionesses who do the hunting, because they are less noticeable. The two cubs sit attentively behind their mother and watch what the parents are doing. This is truly an animal lesson in the subject of "stalking". However, there is no chase - normally, at this point, the male would have driven the zebras towards the females. We are totally amazed by the experience and the great impressions and of course photos.

In front of our jeep

The youngster

We continue with elephants, all kinds of antelopes, and then the next highlight. At a watering hole, there is a cheetah with three cubs. Only lions live in real family alliances, cheetahs are solitary animals, which only run with their mother until they reach "adolescence". Lion cubs stay with the mother until they start their own family, which can certainly happen with their own father. According to Brad, lions are the only "social cats" that exist, as they live in families and partnerships.

Cheetahs have hollow bones and are animals that are absolutely designed for speed. From 0 to 70 km/h in 2 seconds and with a top speed of 120 km/h, they are the fastest mammals in the world. It's great to see the graceful movements of the animals here.

Water buffalo

After 3.5 hours and many gnus, waterbucks, etc., we reach our lodge again. What a birthday!

You order breakfast as desired before the game drive, with hot breakfast options such as eggs, bacon, tomato, and mushrooms. There are also 2 types of yogurt, 2 types of jam, various types of cheese/sausage/fruit, dried fruits, homemade bread, toast, coffee, tea - incredible!

After breakfast, Axel and Beate leave and G. and I are completely alone at the pool/terrace, as the others are sitting in or in front of their tents.

First, I go through the almost 600 photos that I took on the two game drives today and yesterday - much of it can be deleted because there are only half animals or blurry shots from the jeep. Nevertheless, the loot is good.

Henning calls on Whatsapp, and it's of course strange to sit here in the wilderness, making a phone call via Wi-Fi and talking to Berlin while looking at the elephants in front of the hotel.

Soon it will be time for lunch with a delicious salad and a birthday cake, along with a serenade from the African staff. Their voices - simply goosebumps!

My birthday choir

Hans and Ursel from Mühlacker near Stuttgart arrive and at 4 p.m., they join us in our car for the afternoon game drive.

Today's drive takes us along a route that we haven't taken before. Up to a hill with an insane panoramic view of the large plain, which was once a lake.

The picnic takes place together with the other game drive group from our lodge, and in close proximity to some giraffes. It's surreal to stand there, drink white wine, and see giraffes - who are not fenced in but rather leisurely feeding on treetops about 100 meters away and sticking their heads out of the green here and there.

Wildebeest

On a dusty road that crosses the two parts of Amakhala, we come across the cheetah family merrily strolling along here. But then they disappear from the view of the onlookers into the nature to the right of the road, and we can still observe them from a distance.

Towards the end of the 3-hour tour, we once again see the complete lion family lying in the grass. Mother and father in the shade, the cubs a few meters away, tossing around a young warthog. We don't see much of the cubs. They are quite well hidden in the tall grass.

Wildebeest

In the sunset, we reach the lodge. Quickly freshen up and off to dinner. Exchange email addresses with Dalilah and Matteo, as well as Ian and his wife, eat, laugh, chat.

I can't believe what a fantastic birthday is coming to an end here. It cannot be topped. No matter how old I get.