20 March 2014
Last night's sundowner drive was a success. They set out
from Numbi gate spotting zebras and hippos on the way to the sunset spot where
they drank some Amarula. When it got dark they drove around with a spotlight,
being lucky to see a spotted eagle owl, white rhino, hyena and a honeybadger!
Today we went out for a full day game drive. On camp road we greeted our impala friends and almost at the end we found a road block in the form of a buffalo. Instead of moving to the side he stop and had a poo in the middle of the road, taking his time. We waited and spotted a tree squirrel with a fluffy baby in the tree next to us.
When we continued we heard about a leopard sighting and made our way there. We met another car on the way that showed us the place. We saw some warthogs running away and then we indeed saw the leopard! As soon as we stopped him he got up and moved down out of site. We waited a little, as there was no way to go anyway since there were lots of cars all around, when suddenly an alarm call sounds and this big kudu bull comes jumping out of the thick bush. He scares us, us being there scares him so he screams again and jumps back into the bush the other way. Then we decide to turn around as the cars behind us did and while turning we get another glimpse of him first sitting up on the rocks and then slowly walking out of sight. We were hoping to see him on the other side of the rocks, but no such luck.
At the crossroads we spotted a warthog reading the road sign - no 'looking' at the sign, So this warthog stands in the middle of the crossroads looking at the road sign and then at us. He is quite indecisive so we warn him not to go towards the leopard, but who knows where he went when we left him...
We left the sighting to have a quick toilet break at Pretoriuskop and then continued onto Napi. We spotted an elephant feeding, this one much bigger than the one we saw yesterday. On Napi Boulders we saw 5 male giraffes. A young one and a youngish one who was twice his size were having a very half-hearted fight. They showed the moves but no power or passion. Even when two even bigger ones joined the squabble it looked like a slow motion show without conviction! So no giraffe got injured even a little bit. A little further we saw a terrapin crossing the road from one puddle to another.
We stopped at Transport Dam and saw a large herd of waterbuck snoozing on the opposite side. There was a water monitor on a rock and we saw two hippos in the water. An elephant was feeding but as he was all wet he probably just had a swim before we arrived. We also saw a pied kingfisher showing what he does best: fish. And we saw a lot of other birds like the carmine bee eater, grey heron, greenbacked heron, white faced ducks, water thicknees, blacksmith lapwings and yellow billed hornbills are the ones I remember.
We then turned onto the H3, heading for Afsaal. It is always stunning to see how different the vegetation and the sights get while driving in different areas. The road had some crossing wildlife like impalas, a leopard tortoise and a chameleon. The last one being very slow, showing his imitation of a leaf in the wind, until he got close to the other side of the road and took a sprint! We spotted a nice kudu bull on the side of the road, one that didn't look like he was about to jump in the car. Close to Afsaal on the open area we saw a massive elephant and more kudus.
After our coffee break at Afsaal, the road towards Skukuza had become rather quiet, spotting even hardly any impalas. We decided to take a look around the river as we were told about lions while at Afsaal, but these were unfortunately hiding somewhere unknown. At high level bridge however we spotted some more hippos and saw two nice and close crocodiles. On the way to the golfclub we also saw some zebras and another warthog.
We stopped for lunch at the Skukuza golfclub where a hippo kept on showing half his body above the water. On the way out we spotted a bushbuck hiding in the bush.
Today we went out for a full day game drive. On camp road we greeted our impala friends and almost at the end we found a road block in the form of a buffalo. Instead of moving to the side he stop and had a poo in the middle of the road, taking his time. We waited and spotted a tree squirrel with a fluffy baby in the tree next to us.
When we continued we heard about a leopard sighting and made our way there. We met another car on the way that showed us the place. We saw some warthogs running away and then we indeed saw the leopard! As soon as we stopped him he got up and moved down out of site. We waited a little, as there was no way to go anyway since there were lots of cars all around, when suddenly an alarm call sounds and this big kudu bull comes jumping out of the thick bush. He scares us, us being there scares him so he screams again and jumps back into the bush the other way. Then we decide to turn around as the cars behind us did and while turning we get another glimpse of him first sitting up on the rocks and then slowly walking out of sight. We were hoping to see him on the other side of the rocks, but no such luck.
At the crossroads we spotted a warthog reading the road sign - no 'looking' at the sign, So this warthog stands in the middle of the crossroads looking at the road sign and then at us. He is quite indecisive so we warn him not to go towards the leopard, but who knows where he went when we left him...
We left the sighting to have a quick toilet break at Pretoriuskop and then continued onto Napi. We spotted an elephant feeding, this one much bigger than the one we saw yesterday. On Napi Boulders we saw 5 male giraffes. A young one and a youngish one who was twice his size were having a very half-hearted fight. They showed the moves but no power or passion. Even when two even bigger ones joined the squabble it looked like a slow motion show without conviction! So no giraffe got injured even a little bit. A little further we saw a terrapin crossing the road from one puddle to another.
We stopped at Transport Dam and saw a large herd of waterbuck snoozing on the opposite side. There was a water monitor on a rock and we saw two hippos in the water. An elephant was feeding but as he was all wet he probably just had a swim before we arrived. We also saw a pied kingfisher showing what he does best: fish. And we saw a lot of other birds like the carmine bee eater, grey heron, greenbacked heron, white faced ducks, water thicknees, blacksmith lapwings and yellow billed hornbills are the ones I remember.
We then turned onto the H3, heading for Afsaal. It is always stunning to see how different the vegetation and the sights get while driving in different areas. The road had some crossing wildlife like impalas, a leopard tortoise and a chameleon. The last one being very slow, showing his imitation of a leaf in the wind, until he got close to the other side of the road and took a sprint! We spotted a nice kudu bull on the side of the road, one that didn't look like he was about to jump in the car. Close to Afsaal on the open area we saw a massive elephant and more kudus.
After our coffee break at Afsaal, the road towards Skukuza had become rather quiet, spotting even hardly any impalas. We decided to take a look around the river as we were told about lions while at Afsaal, but these were unfortunately hiding somewhere unknown. At high level bridge however we spotted some more hippos and saw two nice and close crocodiles. On the way to the golfclub we also saw some zebras and another warthog.
We stopped for lunch at the Skukuza golfclub where a hippo kept on showing half his body above the water. On the way out we spotted a bushbuck hiding in the bush.
Just before we turned onto Doispane we saw a massive herd of buffalo and some zebras which tried to blend in with the herd. The trail of the herd crossed in front of the car when we actually turned onto Doispane.
A little further on we were stopped by another safari vehicle. They had found a leopard, quite far in the bush but with binoculars excellently visible. Grateful we watched until it jumped out of the tree it was lying in. It look like it was going into the direction of a herd of impalas we had just passed, so we turned around. We sat with the impalas for a little while when indeed the leopard showed up crouching in the long grass. We watched it go nearer and nearer but then lost visual when it was about 10m away. Too far to make a dash and the impalas were not aware of the leopard yet. So we hang around for a while, all the time scouting the area in between the last spot we saw the leopard and the impalas. But she did not return in our sights and unfortunately we had to leave as we were running out of time.
We turned onto Watergat and spotted some vervet monkeys. They were hanging around, quite literally as 1 was hanging upside down on a tree ready to jump/let go. The youngsters were having some playing time. We also saw a large elephant bull and more kudus and impalas.
Back on Napi we came across another herd of buffalo. But then close to Transport Dam we saw 11 hyenas outside their den. Of those 11 only 4 were adults and the rest was youngsters of various ages and one female looked heavily pregnant too. The babies were drinking with their mothers while the youngsters were running around in the grass.
After sitting with them for a while, we really had to go. While driving back to Nkambeni there was no more time for stopping, except for some dwarf mongoose and later on impalas in the middle of the road (we wouldn't want to run over anything, now would we!). It had been a long day, but a very successful one.
22 March 2014
Today was our last day. We left after breakfast once again
and passed our impala friends on camp road without stopping this time. On the
tar road we spotted zebras.
There were rumours there were lions on the Shabeni koppies so we took a drive around the loop. The previous vehicles there hadn't seen anything, but it couldn't hurt to see for ourselves. We drove right way around the koppies and spotted buffalos, impalas and a klipspringer. When we were all around we decided to go around the loop one more time the left way around. To see things from a different perspective, we joked. We once again saw the klipspringer and then suddenly spotted movement. We stopped and through our binoculars we didn't see the lions we were hoping for but a leopard! He was watching around and sometimes even straight at us. The klipspringer started whistling alarm when the leopard got up and walked in his direction. He ran away when the leopard came too close. We sat watching the leopard for about 30min, all by ourselves. The klipspringer came back, showing his mate the location of the leopard too. We could almost see them whisper "look, honey, there he is. I told you there was a leopard".
We also heard vervet mknkeys alarm calling in the area. Probably for that same leopard. As the leopard was settling down again, our attention waivered in trying to find the monkeys, but to no avail.
Then we decided to finish the Shabeni loop, with unfortunately no sightings of lions, but we did see another buffalo and a hovering black shouldered kite.
Just before we turned into Albassini road we saw a small herd of buffalo crossing. And then all the way up Albassini to Phabeni Gate we saw absolutely nothing. Not even an impala. Guess our luck had run out!
At Phabeni Gate we quickly stopped for a toilet break. Kelly thought it was wise to point out we have been so lucky with the weather those four days.... Needless to say we drove to the airport through thick fog and rain! But that didn't change anything. I had to say goodbye to Kelly and Alex at the airport, who are having a bit more holiday in Cape Town and surroundings before they are heading home. It was great having you on safari with us, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
There were rumours there were lions on the Shabeni koppies so we took a drive around the loop. The previous vehicles there hadn't seen anything, but it couldn't hurt to see for ourselves. We drove right way around the koppies and spotted buffalos, impalas and a klipspringer. When we were all around we decided to go around the loop one more time the left way around. To see things from a different perspective, we joked. We once again saw the klipspringer and then suddenly spotted movement. We stopped and through our binoculars we didn't see the lions we were hoping for but a leopard! He was watching around and sometimes even straight at us. The klipspringer started whistling alarm when the leopard got up and walked in his direction. He ran away when the leopard came too close. We sat watching the leopard for about 30min, all by ourselves. The klipspringer came back, showing his mate the location of the leopard too. We could almost see them whisper "look, honey, there he is. I told you there was a leopard".
We also heard vervet mknkeys alarm calling in the area. Probably for that same leopard. As the leopard was settling down again, our attention waivered in trying to find the monkeys, but to no avail.
Then we decided to finish the Shabeni loop, with unfortunately no sightings of lions, but we did see another buffalo and a hovering black shouldered kite.
Just before we turned into Albassini road we saw a small herd of buffalo crossing. And then all the way up Albassini to Phabeni Gate we saw absolutely nothing. Not even an impala. Guess our luck had run out!
At Phabeni Gate we quickly stopped for a toilet break. Kelly thought it was wise to point out we have been so lucky with the weather those four days.... Needless to say we drove to the airport through thick fog and rain! But that didn't change anything. I had to say goodbye to Kelly and Alex at the airport, who are having a bit more holiday in Cape Town and surroundings before they are heading home. It was great having you on safari with us, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
No comments:
Post a Comment