Hyena Watch
3 November 2018
When in the Kruger National Park it is always so easy to miss an amazing sighting while gazing at another sighting.
We were having quite a great drive on the S126 in the Kruger National Park when we arrived at a waterhole near the H1-3. There were about three cars on our right-hand side at the waterhole looking at some elephants calmly drinking water.
I started to look around a bit more just in case there are some other animals near the waterhole. To my absolute amazement I was able to spot a jackal, hyena and a buffalo on my left-hand side. The other people unfortunately did not seem to notice the three animals on their left-hand side.
The jackal soon disappeared into the long grass after sniffing around a bit hoping that the hyena was going to cause a ruckus. The hyena basically did not do anything except for running around and lying around lazily, hoping for a small prey to come by easily.
The buffalo soon disappeared as well. Probably because of lack of interest. The hyena crossed the road over to the right-hand side to get a better look at some impala that were appearing one for one out of the bushes. It wasn't too long when she decided to lie down lazily in the grass. She was extremely camouflaged within the light brown grass. Basically impossible to see without anyone indicating that she was there.
A car popped out around the corner of the road, slowed down to see what we were looking at since we were not even near the elephants at the waterhole. We decided to inform them that there was a hyena lying in the grass not far from the road. They were absolutely amazed that they did not see the hyena at all when they were driving past her.
Needless to say, it is always important to check our surroundings at a sighting. You might see more than what you expect to see.
