A lioness pooping!
Let me tell you, that is a horrible smell. Oof. She was one of a pride of nine females and cubs that were sleeping in the heat of the day. We were on one of the Kruger Park’s sunset drives. Our guide/driver stopped the big game viewing truck so that all the tourists could get their photos in. We’d been there for a bit when this lioness woke up, walked a couple of meters from the rest, and dropped a deuce.
Right as the guide was telling us how bad lion shit smells, the wind shifted and carried the odor to us. There is nothing that smells that bad.
(In case you’re wondering, no they don’t bury their poop like a house cat).
This was mine and my wife’s fourth trip together to the Kruger National Park. Each time there, we’ve seen the Big 5 (Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Leopard) and a couple of times we’ve been luckily enough to see African Wild Dog: 
Seeing the bigger and more common animals is always fun, but we’ve come love seeing smaller animals, birds, or behavior or interactions that you normally don’t see. Yes, like the lion taking a dump.
One morning we made it out of the gate at the Skukuza rest camp at about 5:00am and headed up a dirt road for our morning game drive. We were extraordinarily lucky that morning as we were the only vehicle on the road when we came across a Black Backed Jackal on a morning hunt.
You don’t see them too often. This guy was moving quickly looking for breakfast. They remind me of coyotes; they’re a bit smaller, but they look similar.
Our last morning in the park gave us our favorite sighting though… We came up on a den that had two little hyenas, one teenager, and an adult that was baby sitting. The younger ones were roughhousing: wrestling and chasing each other around while the adult seemed pretty non-pulsed.
We turned off the truck we we could sit there for a bit and watch. The youngsters took an interest in the truck (it must have been the rhino and elephant poop and the mud on the tires and under the bumper). They all came sniffing around, looking up at us in the cab.
Seriously, is there anything cuter?
There was a point when I couldn’t see them because they were around the front and under the truck. I started the engine to see all of them scatter across the road and to the safety of the adult (who never lifted her head). When they realized the truck wasn’t chasing after them, they all cautiously approached. I gunned the engine lightly, sending them all back to the den. They were brave as long as the engine was idling, and spike in RPMs, and they ran for it…
We watched for a long time. Then we drove to the next camp. By the time we came back through, they had moved on.
As usual, The Kruger delivered.
Poetry Overland 