The Impala, Crocodile and 7 Wild Dogs in Kruger National Park

It’s Friday morning and we’ve just arrived at the dam. The calendar reads the 9th of June and winter is here albeit not what we are used to as Canadian winters.

The Mpondo Dam seems deserted this morning. Apart from a pair of Egyptian geese on the opposite shore we really can’t spot anything worth special attention. Not even the pair of Fish eagles is in appearance.

Well, time is ripe for coffee and Chelsea bun. A coffee break early in the morning is a very serious matter that should be enjoyed in a perfect setting, just like this very morning at the Mpondo Dam. A few sips into our coffee it appears we’re not alone any longer.

In from the left comes a huge crocodile swimming in a semi-circle till it is parallel to the shoreline. We enjoy a very good view of it as it slowly meanders along in the relatively warm water.

Suddenly a loud splash! A lone impala ewe jumps into the water and starts swimming frantically, so it seems, in the same direction as the croc now some 50 metres ahead of it. We hold our breath waiting for the inevitable.

Sure enough before long the croc picks up on something interesting going on in the water behind it and makes a sudden u-turn. Too late, much too late the ewe realises its peril. For the crocodile it’s easy picking. All is over in seconds; only a few ripples bear witness of something going on under the water. Two, three minutes later it appears above the surface again with the limp impala between its jaws. Then we get sight of them.

Trotting along the ridge of the dam wall. Their silhouettes dark against the horizon. Seven very frustrated wild dogs. Suddenly we get the missing link!

Letter names withheld but shown in print edition.