I woke up when I heard loud, thunderous footsteps running towards me and soon the shapes became visible on a fully moonlit night. An impala, dazzling us with quick moves around Mamatumi trying to escape its predator, a spotted hyena. Illuminated by dappled moonlight both were running if their lives depended on it, which in the case of the impala it really did. With the impala circling the hide where we were sleeping and the spotted hyena in close pursuit it was a rude awakening to an otherwise pleasant and uneventful night.

Out in the open in front of Mamatumi the impala, exhausted by a probable chase of a few kilometers by the hyena, was finally brought down in a flurry of dust, limbs and growling. With one last desperate sound the impala was killed and the hyena settled down to eat a hard-won meal. Obviously, sleep didn’t come for a long time with bones being crushed and meat being torn from the body. When after 4 hours the hyena left the crime scene and with the sun offering a new dawn there was little evidence left of what happened to the impala.