And more migration!

 Wednesday September 4

We decided to spend the morning on a leisurely game drive followed by checking out a couple of crossing sites along the river, just in case we were lucky again. Within about a mile from camp we saw three lionesses and a young male lion, as well as many other animals and birds. 

When we got to the river, we saw a large group of wildebeest near the water at “crossing No. 2”. We watched for about 45 minutes but all they did was mill around, sometimes distracted by zebra which seemed to be able to convince the wildebeest to reverse their intended path. We also noticed several large crocodiles on a nearby sandbar. 

We went to “crossing No. 4” and saw a huge herd of wildebeest in a meadow far from the water that showed no interest in moving closer. 

After 15 minutes we gave up and drove back to #2. The wildebeest had come closer to the water, but then started climbing back up the bank (much to our dismay). Suddenly one wildebeest (we named him Frederick the Great for his leadership skills) waded into the water by himself. Suddenly the whole herd said “oh, Fred’s in the water, let’s go”… and within 15 minutes about 700 had crossed the river right in front of us! The crossing was the more dramatic for us because we knew there were crocodiles nearby—- which in the end claimed two of the wildebeest (one after a tremendous struggle). 

We went back to #4 for a picnic lunch, and saw that the wildebeest had moved slightly to the east and slightly closer to the water. A group of them had even congregated at the top of a sandy cliff as if they were considering leaping the 40 feet to the water.  After lunch we decided to hang around just in case.  We waited about 30 minutes, the main herd milled about aimlessly. Then the group from the cliff returned; the first 20 or so just rejoined the herd. The rest of the cliff group sneaked through bushes along the cliff edge to approach the crossing point. Suddenly  one animal (we named him Clifford) dashed down the slope and into the water.  The entire herd followed — an even larger herd than we had realized. The dust they stirred up as they rushed to the shoreline added to the drama. 

Two large crocodiles immediately swam towards the line of wildebeest, and grabbed one. The line halted and bunched up, with the ones closest to the middle of the river attempting to turn around. But there were so many animals pouring down the slope that the flow was re-established, and in 15 minutes 3000 animals had passed!  Only one other young wildebeest was grabbed by a croc. 

Just as we were ready to leave, a lone wildebeest appeared, and seemed to wander around where the herd had been, looking lonely. She decided to cross by herself, long after the others. An enormous (we estimate 15 feet long) crocodile was just waiting for her. It was an inevitable and sad conclusion, but it was still interesting to watch him manipulate the carcass in the water.

Three crossings in 24 hours! And in the last case, there were only our two jeeps on our side of the river, and about 12 on the southern shore. The nearest bridge has washed out, ensuring us much more privacy than in prior years.  We saw a sign that said our vantage point for the 2nd  of today’s crossings was limited to 60 vehicles. That would have been dreadful.

Pictured: 2nd crossing with dust clouds, 1st crossing with spectator zebras, lioness, zebra with young foal.