On Safari With Curtis From 17 February 2014

17 February 2014

Today two of my guests were leaving so I decided to aim for specific sightings, just those that we hadn't seen yet and those which we hadn't had the best viewings of. We left the lodge at 06:30 and headed down Albasini making just brief stops at the Rhino and Elephants we came across. We then spotted Zebra and Wildebeest close up and w...ere able to have a nice clear sighting of both. Along doispane we also spotted Leopard Tortoise, Impala and Kudu before we found a troupe of Baboons, something we hadn't found yet on this tour.

After turning onto Watergut we also found Impala, more Zebra and Wildebeest, Kudu, Giraffe, a brief glimpse of Dwarf Mongoose and Common Duiker. As we come to the end of the road I was stopped and informed of a sighting at Transport Dam. I made my way there and sure enough we came across a pack of African Wild Dog. Apparently they had been eating an Impala which was stolen by a Crocodile. However it was nice to see them and the array of Vultures which had descended around them. There was also Waterbuck and Zebra at the dam.

After we left the dam we moved on and things were quite quiet when a member of the public flashed me down and told me of a leopard sighting just down the road. Big thanks to that person as when we got to the location I spotted not just one but two Leopards in a marula tree. However as we pulled up one of them jumped straight down and we never saw it again, the second one stayed in the tree and we spent a good 20 minutes at the sighting before leaving him. Before we got to Numbi gate we also spotted more Elephants and Rhino as well as Impala and Vervet monkeys.

I then said goodbye to two of my guests, Manish and Aaron before they set off for new adventures. Enjoy Cape Town !!!

18 February 2014

Leaving the lodge early in the morning I hadn't got no more than a kilometre down the road when I was informed of a Lion sighting on the Doispane road. I turned around and started to make my way to the area of the sighting. As we drove we found Impala and Elephant.

When we got to the area of the Lion sightings both male and female were having a bit of a siesta in the shade, we sat with them for about 40 minutes and got a few moments when the male popped his head up and had a look at us, the female still just lounging around. It didn't seem that they were going to move any time soon so I said to the guests we would take a short drive to Nyamundwa dam and then return to the Lions a bit later.

On the drive to the dam we came across Zebra, Wildebeest and more Impala while at the dam itself there was Buffalo and Hippo. After a while we headed back to the Lions who hadn't moved an inch, we carried on watching, hoping for some movement but it was not to be. I turned around and headed back down the road when just a few hundred metres from the original sighting we found ourselves watching a second male and female pair of Lions standing on the road. They seemed a bit surprised by our vehicle and moved quickly into the long grass where we lost visual. I slowly turned and moved down towards the first pair of Lions hoping the second pair would join them, unfortunately they didn't. We moved off again and sure enough a few hundred metres down the road we found the second pair again lying by the road, this time they didn't move off and started to walk down the road. We followed at a distance for some time until the pair split up, the female still on the road the male moving into the bush. We got a few more glimpses of the male before he disappeared completely.

After leaving the Lions we headed back down Albasini finding Impala, Giraffe, Kudu, Waterbuck, Elephants and Baboon before getting to Numbi gate, this is where the tour ended for two of my guests who are heading down to Cape Town.

The rest of us headed back to camp for some lunch, a sleep and a swim before my remaining guests go out on their night drive. Details about that tomorrow.

19 February 2014

Today was the last of this particular tour and so we were up early to go for a short drive before heading out of the park. On the drive we came across Elephant, Rhino , Buffalo, Impala, Kudu and a brief glimpse of a family of Banded Mongoose who quickly scurried back into the long grass when they saw us coming.

On leaving we headed down to Nelspruit for my remaining guests to be transferred to Johannesburg. Big thanks to Brian, Andrea, Manish, Aaron, Ashley, Clay, Dennis, Sarah and Mish for their company over the last few days. I hope you all enjoyed the amazing sightings we had as much as I did.

Keep watching for more!!