Lions v Buffalo
We found the famous Buffalo herd of Ruaha National Park, about 1000 animals strong, near a dry river bed in the morning. They were grazing while all coming down to drink water. There wasn’t much left in the river bed so they were funnelling down. Then I saw something on the opposite side of the river which caught my eye. I told the guests we should cross over to the other side and have a look. We engaged the four-wheel drive and crossed the soft sand. The Land Cruiser ambled over with no issues. It soon became clear that the bush Gods were looking down on us favourably – we had good safari karma!
On the other side were 12 Lions all lying low in the grass, primed for a hunt and waiting for their opportunity. There was a nice big old Tamarind tree which we parked the car under for some cool shade. We turned the engine off and watched for the next two hours.
Lions vs Buffalo. Some very exciting ambushes were set, and one by one the Lions charged and faced off with a Buffalo that they had singled out.
Amazingly, not one of the attempts ended in a kill. A good day for the Buffalo, and no Lions were injured so while they may have gone away hungry, they at least avoided any nasty encounters with horns! Every one of the guests agreed that it was a few hours of breathless drama and a highlight of their Authentic Tanzania safari.