It was a fun time of the
year because of there were lots of baby animals.
The Mama hyenas stay together to try to protect their young.
The baby elephants were darling!
The Mamas of all species are very protective. We had a close encounter as we stopped to watch a herd of water buffalo.
I was startled by a movement in the long grass, and looked down to see a hyena looking up at us, just a few feet away. I was amazed how close he was (about 6 feet from us), yet he was almost hidden completely by the grass. Then we noticed there was another one nearby. They were stalking a baby buffalo, that was laying in the deep grass.
Our guide said the baby must be sick and that the 2 hyenas had picked him out for their next meal. The herd turned and started to move away. The Mama Buffalo was torn and finally turned to follow the herd.
The hyenas were very stealthy and started to move in for the kill. Then the Mama Buffalo turned around and started to walk back towards the calf. I felt I could hear her plead “Get Up, Get Up and follow me.”
The hyenas moved closer,
as the herd receded and the Mama lowered her head, and showed her determination that she would fight for her baby. (The guide said the hyenas would win, because the calf must have been too weak to move.) You can see the calf in the lower left hand corner.
Then something wonderful happened before our eyes. The baby calf got up and followed the Mama buffalo and they joined the retreating herd. I nearly wept with relief, as the hyenas skulked off to go look for something else.
Now, I will end with one of my favorite sightings of the safari. We saw this baby giraffe and it’s mother. The baby was only three days old. We really saw "The Circle of Life".
We have many astounding memories of these beautiful animals that we will treasure the rest of our lives!
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