5 December 2014
This morning we
left camp early and immediately came upon a herd of waterbuck which were
crossing the road in front. Watching this, as well as us, was a dwarf mongoose
perched up on the top of a termite mound. Along numbi tar lots of general game
such as kudu, giraffe and zebra. We then got a brief look at a male baboon sitting
on the road before he disappeared into the grass. We had a scout around to see
if there was a family group about but it looked like he was all alone.
Turning onto Napi
we found a nice herd of impala complete with a few youngsters. This herd was
acting very nervous and skittish, first looking this way and then that way with
the occasional alarm call going up. As much as we looked we could not find
anything that might be worrying them.
Further along
our first elephant, this one in the distance but when we moved down to shithave
dam we found another one having a drink, also at the dam the resident hippo, a
herd of waterbuck turned up and a grey heron and egyptian geese were also present.
We then carried on along napi finding a herd of buffalo which were being well
hidden by the dense scrub. Luckily for us, after taking a turn around the
boulders, we headed back the same way and found the buffalos again but this
time they had moved much closer to the road. In fact plenty of them were
standing on the road so we had a bit of a road block. We also got a lovely
elephant sighting, initially two but one walked off but the second was happy to
hang around just a few meters off the road right next to the road. So relaxed that
he even took a bit of a nap in the shade of a marula tree and with trunk
resting on one of his tusks.
We then popped
into Pk for a coffee and a bit of shopping before hitting the road again.
Back on Napi we
found a leopard sat up in a tree before he jumped down and disappeared into the
bush. Then down to shithave we found southern ground hornbill and then the last
few stragglers of the buffalo herd crossing the road. The herd we had seen
earlier. We also spotted the lovely lilac-breasted roller as well as a
black-bellied bustard. We also saw a male warthog and a male waterbuck before
getting to Transport dam.
Here we saw the
resident hippo, egyptian geese, fish eagle, jacanas and lapwings as well as
impala.
As we left
transport dam turning back onto Nhapi we found more zebra before I noticed
something walking in the road, as we got closer the tell tale sign emerged and
we recognized it as a leopard. He had moved a little out of sight as he looked
around the area but then he started to move giving us to the chance to park the
car strategically to get a nice clear view. We followed him for a couple of
minutes before he moved away into the bush.
We then stopped
at skukuza for lunch before heading back to the lodge via doispane and
Albasini. The afternoon was full of elephant sightings nearly all male though
we did see a small female herd in the distance who were being kept company by a
couple of zebra and wildebeest. As well as plenty more impala, some bull kudus
with their impressive spiraled horns and a common reedbuck and common duiker.
We also found another leopard. Too start it was a bit difficult to locate this
one but then it started to move out into the open and sadly away from us.
Although this leopard was not as good as a sighting as before it is still an
enjoyable experience seeing this beautiful cat again.
More coming
soon!!
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