A mongoose mystery

Thanks to the Cape Getaway Show at Lourensford and Flame of Africa, my husband and I recently enjoyed a wonderful trip to Botswana. We stayed for four nights at the Chobe Bush Lodge on the edge of the Chobe National Park, with various excursions and a trip to Victoria Falls included. Even before we started, it sounded wonderful, and the reality did not disappoint! As we flew in to Kasane we could see endless meandering waterways and grassy islands. Our first river cruise that afternoon reinforced the beauty of this amazing area. Over the next three days, we saw so many elephants we lost count, had encounters with wild dogs and lions, as well as many other species. The trip to Victoria Falls was incredible, with huge volumes of water cascading over the falls enhanced by amazing rainbows. On our last morning, we witnessed a rather unusual sight. A warthog family and several little banded mongooses were foraging for food just below our bedroom balcony. After a while, the warthogs disappeared – except for a large one lying motionless on the ground. We wondered if it was alive. Then we saw a mongoose approach it and climb onto it, followed tentatively by several others. They seemed to be grooming the warthog, which lay completely still most of the time. The warthog eventually raised one leg and dropped it back down again. Then the mongooses climbed off and the warthog stood up happily and sauntered off, relieved of some annoying parasites. We checked to see if this behaviour had been recorded before, and it turns out that the BBC filmed such encounters between warthogs and mongooses at a park in Uganda several years ago. We were completely fascinated!