Intruders in the Wild

by Leanne Holmes (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

I didn't expect to find South Africa

Kruger was spellbinding. I couldn’t stop staring, not just because I might miss a sighting. I was engrossed. Something about the changing landscape kept me staring at it. I felt as though the land was challenging me, daring me to keep looking. So I did. It was almost the end of spring, and rainfall had been few and far between. Most patches hadn’t managed to maintain their greenery. As we trundled down the road, the landscape took on an aggressive form. The overcast sky drained the land of any colourful vibrancy it may have had. Trees that I assumed were supposed to have leaves were bare, their spiky branches left exposed, giving them a threatening appearance. Save the occasional jagged tree, the land was open and flat. The sand coloured grass went on for miles. I felt as though even if I went looking for it, the horizon would never be found. As we turned the corner the sun broke free from the clouds and the dark mystery of land revealed it’s bright beauty. The huge, sparkling rivers lined with lush shrubs were surrounded by giraffes and buffaloes thriving in the long grass. The beasts sheltered under trees covered in glowing leaves while impalas roamed freely. Life shone from every fibre of every being gathered around the riverbed. The clouds gathered again. As quickly as it was revealed, the brightness disappeared, and this strange world returned to murkiness. We drove on. Despite driving steadily around for hours, we saw next to nothing. A few impalas were spotted, perhaps the occasional bird, but I was becoming weary of searching. My eyes were beginning to invent sightings out of nothing. I mistook branches, rocks and even oddly shaped logs for beasts. I began to play into these misinterpretations, just to cure the boredom. It was like an elaborate game of cloud watching. The grey rocks looked like sleeping rhinos, the fallen tree branches like kudus. Those huge rocks, the ones erupting up to the sky in a desperate attempt to become mountains could even be mystical giants if I let my imagination fling far enough. Maybe this was retaliation? Maybe the land was fighting back by manipulating the human mind that was destroying it. Maybe if I stayed and played this game long enough, I’d be driven to madness. We were heading in for the night when we saw a small group of cars had stopped in the middle of the road. In Kruger, that usually means they’ve come across a sighting. We slowed right down, looking out the windows as we got closer. At first I couldn’t see anything through the dry grass and small trees covering the bank. “There, underneath those roots!” exclaimed another bystander. I let my eyes follow to where he was pointing, and there, underneath a knot of exposed roots, was a lioness gently licking her cub. My boredom evaporated in an instant. I think most people have seen how lioness’ stalk their prey, working as a unit to take down huge beasts. I’d never seen a lioness like this before. She was tender, loving, the perfect picture of maternal care. While her cub may have been stretched out next to her, relaxed and carefree, she was not. The lioness remained vigilant, her eyes roaming the surroundings, scanning for potential danger, ready to protect. Thankfully, the group of gawping humans in the distance didn’t register as a threat. I dread to think what would have happened if we had. Park rangers do carry rifles. Obviously, shooting is the very last resort, and is usually the result of reckless behaviour from humans, but they are not unheard of. As more humans gathered, the lioness seemed to sense our presence and in a series of swift movements, she and her cub disappeared into the bush. People hung around for a few minutes. Perhaps they thought she would return, or maybe they needed some time to process what they’d witnessed. As we drove off, I couldn’t help but imagine Kruger before it was Kruger. Before the tourism. One without roads, gift shops, restaurants, thatched huts, campsites or borders. One where these wild, savage beasts were free to be just that.