10 December 2014
This morning we
immediately bumped into two bull elephants crossing the road and then we saw
impala and kudu until we got to shithave dam. Here we found giraffe, zebra and
buffalo all close to one another and at the dam itself the hippo, a crocodile
sunning itself and Waterbuck.
We carried on and
had a great rhino sighting. Four rhinos right next to the road and out in the open.
It was such a lovely sighting we spent more than thirty minutes with them as
they ignored all the cars and just grazed.
Further along we
spotted two hyena lay down flat on some rocks only occasionally looking up as
the cars drove by. We had more impala, giraffe, zebra as well as warthog and a
steenbok up to Transport dam which was buzzing with birdlife but no large
mammals with the exception of the hippo family.
We then made
our way up to matekenyane view point where you can get some lovely scenic
photos on a nice sunny day and it was up here where I got a tip off about some
wild dogs. As soon as everyone had got enough photos we went straight to the
tip off and we were in luck as the dogs hadn't moved. We counted seven in total
however there could have been more hidden as they were not in a very energetic
mood this morning. Apart from a couple who got up and moved around the rest
stayed put.
When we left
the dogs it was getting late in the morning so we headed for some breakfast
After out pit
stop we headed back to our restcamp along the way finding nice giraffe and
zebra sightings, impala, kudu, buffalo and rhino. We also had a great sighting
of elephant as well, initially we just saw four together but as we hung about
watching these four more and more appeared from the bushes and crossed the road
in front and behind us. We then watched as a group of seven walked to the shade
of a big tree turned around, so heads faced out, and started sleeping. We
watched for about forty minutes as we saw more elephants appear before we left
them and went into camp for lunch.
This afternoon we
went out for a short drive around, immediately finding another herd of
elephants as well as seeing more impala, kudu, waterbuck, steenbok, buffalo and
rhino. We also found a very nice dark chanting goshawk sat on a termite mound
getting an early dinner of termites.
11 December 2014
Unfortunately
we had come to the last day of this particular tour but we still had time for
one last drive. We started out very early, in fact so early we found the
helmeted guinea fowl only just waking up from their roosts with a few flying
down to the ground.
Once on Napi we
found plenty of impala herds and kudu along with a lone waterbuck. As we
progressed we found plenty more general game until we got to flat rocks where
we found the hyenas. Much more active this early in the morning as three adults
were all out and about walking out in the road. We also saw a youngster run
across the road before disappearing into its den.
More general
game and then probably the sighting of the day. Three rhino, mum and calf as
well as an adult male. We sat and watched and it soon became apparent that this
was no friendly trio. The male had amorous intentions towards the female but
she had other ideas. Plenty of snorting and still her message had failed. After
about fifteen minutes she had had enough. If softly tactics were not to work
then she made it pretty clear what she wanted as she chased the male away. She
then moved off with her calf in tow.
Later on we
came to the end of a leopard sighting, I say the end as that is exactly all we
saw of it. Just one of the guests saw the fleeting glance of the leopard as it
moved into the undergrowth.
Suddenly it was
that time everyone dreads, time to leave the park and head back to Nelspruit.
Sandra and Gillian it had been great having you on safari, safe travels back to
Ireland and hopefully we see you back on safari one day.
More coming soon!
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