16 October 2014
This morning
we set off with a mission to find a lion. Any lion would do, big or small. But
as it had started raining last night and it was still raining this morning we
started losing hope quite quickly. We left as soon as the gates opened and on
camp road found two buffalos who thought this early visit while they were
having breakfast was rather inappropriate. They didn't take the slightest
notice of us. One scratching its back on a tree, the other munching on the
grass on the side of the road a meter away from the car. Even starting the car
again gave no reaction at all!
Down Numbi tar
and Napi it was buffalos all over the place. As we've seen so many yesterday,
just had an amazing view of two and we were on a mission, we passed them all.
We also saw some nice duikers, all standing still in the cold rain. A loop
around Shabeni had given us two klipspringers and a troop of baboons passing
by. One baboon on top of the koppie was looking very miserable, cold and wet.
If possible he would have drowned his sorrows in a nearby pub given the look of
him.
Close to
Shitlhave Dam we saw three giraffes. The dam itself was quiet. A couple of
white egrets, two green-backed herons, blacksmith lapwings and a few impalas
coming to drink. A hippo showed his ears, eyes and nostrils, but that was it.
Down Napi we
saw even more buffalos, zebras and a couple of red-crested korhaans doing a
little dance. By the looks of it he wanted to mate but she wanted none of that!
He kept on mounting but she wiggled free. In the end she ran away and he
couldn't keep up. You go girl! Our new animal of today was a blue wildebeest,
just one male on his own.
Our loveliest
sighting this morning was a rock. Oh no, it is not a rock, it's a white rhino!
It was walking towards a side dirt road and we stood and watched it coming out
of the grass. And then this little baby rhino bounced out of the grass next to
mummy! Too little to be seen in the grasses we were all surprised the big rock
had a little rock. They were so cool around our vehicle that we had an amazing
sighting. When another vehicle suddenly reversed she got a fright and started
protecting her baby. With her baby in front of her she pushed it away from that
vehicle, back into plain view for us. Now more cars had arrived and she swiftly
crossed the road to safety shielding her baby from everyone else. On the other
side of the road her baby bounced happily around the mum again while the mother
started feeding on the fresh green grass.
Then it was
time to make our way back to the gate as it was time to say goodbye to Matt and
Shelley. One last look around the scenery, but the rain intensified and all the
animals were hiding away. Except for buffalos, as we caught the tail of a herd crossing
just before we reached Numbi. I hope Matt and Shelley had a wonderful time and
find better weather up in Cape Town! The lion mission failed, so we will save
it for next time.
A quick return
to Nkambeni for a break and to pick up some of the guests who had been on a
bushwalk. They encountered buffalos and zebras and learned lots about tracks
and other little things that make the bush teeming with wildlife. They had
enjoyed it immensely and a big thank you to their bushwalk guide Simon who had
made it so great.
We set off
late morning just before lunchtime when it was just easing off with the rain.
As the sun was shining, we decided to try our luck again with the loop that is
now know as the leopard loop. We stopped at the infamous rock underneath which
the leopards should be hiding. There were about 9 giant plated lizards lying on
this rock sunbathing so we had something to look at, but we wanted something
else. And this time it was fifth time lucky!! We sat very still for a while and
one by one out of their layer came 3 tiny little leopard cubs, probably about a
month old. They first adjusted a bit to the bright light and then started
playing. One tried climbing onto a rock, but was too eager and fell down again,
which made us giggle. Another was catching it's brother or sister's tail. It
was such a great sight watching these three newborns playing around we stayed
for quite some time.
When other
vehicles showed up we decided to be nice and let them have a look. So we moved
off and continuing our drive onto Napi. We saw a couple of steenboks before
arriving at Shitlhave Dam where three elephants were swimming. We sat watching
two young bulls play while the third and biggest one of them all came out of
the water and started throwing sand over himself before having some nice
sicklebush to munch.
When all bulls
were out of the water and crossed the road in front of us, we set of towards
Skukuza for a late lunch. We saw zebras, the young hyena pup close to Transport
Dam, more blue wildebeest, almost drove over a chameleon (but noticed him just
in time), stopped in time to let a couple of crested francolins cross the road,
saw some lovely white rhinos lounging close to the road, 5 kudu bulls and some
giraffes.
On the way
back it looked like a storm was brewing so we took the quickest route back,
which was down Napi again. We made a quick stop at Mathekanyan to look at the
view and photograph the storm, before trying to stay ahead of it on the way
down. A couple of days ago when we turned around we saw all new animals on the
same road, but this time nothing has changed. Same hyena pup, same white rhinos
and lots of elephants on the way back. The crested francolins and chameleon
however had moved off. Their place in front of the wheels was taking by an
impala ram (the ladies on the other side were worth the risk of almost being
run over by a safari car), red-crested korhaan (different kind of suicide for
this bird) and a bird party consisting of 2 red-billed hornbills, a
yellow-billed hornbill and 4 grey louries that pointblank refused to move off
the road.
We got a tip
about a male lion on Circle road so with the risk of the storm setting loose
above our heads we decided to check anyways. We were lucky in finding this lion
lying down in the high grass. As he was still a young male, his mane was the
same colour as the dry yellow grass and therefore he blended in very well. Not
a great photo opportunity so we waited as long as we could to see if he would
rise. His companion that was rumored to be at the same place was lying flat
somewhere around and was nowhere to be seen. When time run out we had to
continue and were happy that the fella at least had sat up with his head and
not like his companion lying completely hidden.
As the storm
started we drove back to Numbi Gate, quickly stopping for a duiker and a
warthog on separate occasions. When we arrived at the lodge the weather had
completely changed! We started the drive with a lovely afternoon sun and
returned with a proper South African bush storm: thunder, lightning, wind,
downpour and hail!! Unsurprisingly the power didn't survive this pounding of
nature and we spend the evening dinner with candles.
17 October 2014
The storm last
night created havoc. Many of us hadn't slept well as the wind kept on trying to
fly the tents away and some were even having some rain inside. When having
breakfast it was still raining and no matter how we looked at it, all was wet.
We took a bit of a slower breakfast, dreading going out in the wet and were
happy when it cleared up a bit. We packed up the car and set off for what would
be the last game drive for Kaye and Sarina.
On camp road
two buffalos showed that they didn't care about the rain much and they were
munching the grass with as much gusto as always. On Numbi tar we just missed a
small herd of buffalos crossing, but we caught the tail end of all butts turned
towards us. We took a drive down Circle Road, continuing on Fayi Loop, but
yesterday's lions were no longer in the area. They had moved off before the
rain had stopped, so didn't even see the tracks. However we did see some
duikers, zebras (including one pregnant one and unfortunately also an injured
one (a mum with a youngster to make the impression worse))), a skin and bones
of what used to be a giraffe, plenty of reedbuck and a hippo head in one of the
streams.
Two elephants
were munching close by before we turned onto the now famous Leopard Loop. We
just wanted to try to have a last look at the little cubs before setting off.
And once again we were in luck as we got a glimpse of two of them climbing out
of their hiding hole. However cars kept starting so they didn't last long out
in the open as their reaction to strange noises is good: hide, hide, hide!!
Now it was
time for us to go down to Nelspruit where we had to say goodbye to Sarina and
Kaye. Thanks for joining us ladies, and hope both of you have a nice flight
home! Hope you go home with great stories to share from your safaris and the
proper African storm.
At the same
time while saying goodbye, we welcomed Gordon and Mary to this tour. Their
first drive is the Sundowner Game Drive. As they left it was sunny, but
nowadays, here you never know... More about that later.
Meanwhile
Kerry, Emma and Claire had been on the Panorama Tour. On this tour you visit various
beautiful sites around the Blyde River Canyon. When they get back, they'll tell
us all about it too!
The Sundowner
Game Drive stayed dry and was thoroughly enjoyed. Before they stopped for
drinks at Mashawu Dam, they saw zebras, giraffe, buffalo, a white rhino, kudus,
impalas and the very seldom seen tsessebe. Their free drinks were joined by
hippos that were playing in the dam itself and two elephants that were feeding
on the other side of the dam wall they were standing on.
18 October 2014
We woke up
after a good night sleep to a bright new day with plenty if sunshine. We set
off after breakfast down camp road where we saw buffalos in the distance. The
drive started quiet seeing our new animal only on Shabeni Loop: an elephant was
munching on a bush. Furthermore we also saw some impalas and buffalos.
We took a
drive around Circle Road and Fayi Loop seeing lots of waterbucks and duikers, a
red crested korhaan, a couple of giraffes in the far distance and plenty of
zebras. A couple of eagles were flying above trying to find a thermal that
would take them someplace else.
And of
course we ended up on leopard loop. All three of the cubs came out to play in
the sunshine. As it was a nice and warm day they were a lot more active and we
watched them play and explore for over an hour. Then they got tired and had
disappeared into their safe hiding place for a nap. This was our cue for taking
our own break at Pretoriuskop.
Just
before the entrance gate though we stopped for what looked like a relay by
dwarf mongooses. One would run up to the road from our right, stop and look. A
second one ran up and as soon as he reached the spot of the first, he froze
while the first on the scene ran across and froze on the other side of the tar.
Then a third pushed the second across the road, the second the first into the
bush. And then a fourth did the same... But then there was no fifth so he just
ran across after letting another car pass by.
After the
break we set of for a last quick stop at Shitlhave Dam. On the way we got a
glimpse of a herd of sable antelopes through the burned trees, a warthog in the
distances and a couple of steenboks. Upon seeing us they got a fright and ran
away, both in separate directions. Realizing this they both turned and ran
towards each other, startling each other by their own move. In the end the male
settled for running after the female (what else is new!)
At
Shitlhave dam five giraffes were feeding on the green leaves. A waterbuck was
actually standing in the water, but otherwise it was a quiet spot. Then we had
to turn back to Numbi Gate as we were running out of time. We saw plenty of
duikers on the way back, a buffalo right next to the road and a mother and baby
giraffe. Some last pictures of swallows and whitef-ronted bee eaters on the power
lines and we arrived back at Numbi Gate. Unfortunately it was goodbye for Emma,
Kerry and Claire. Thanks for the fun times on this safari and hope you enjoyed
it as much as I did! Maybe we'll see you again on another safari, as the safari
bug never goes away.
As new
guests joined us in the afternoon we set course once again towards the leopard
cubs. On camp road we encountered a family of reedbuck and saw some buffalos in
the distances. Then on Numbi tar we spotted zebras and impalas as well as kudus
and more buffalos close to the road. A pretty lilac breasted roller was shy
because as soon as the cameras were out he flew away. The same happened with a
duiker, well, he didn't fly away, but ran.
At the
leopard cub sighting there were already some cars. We did get a glimpse of the
cubs but they weren't out to play for long and unfortunately our visual was
against the sun. When we had moved to a better spot the cubs were napping out
of sight. We waited quite some time but no luck, so when cars started arriving
and others kept on starting and left their engine running we cut our losses and
drove off.
On the
route back to camp via Napi we spotted two warthogs. They spotted us too and
kept on running away alongside the road and after reversing for about 500m we let
them go as we didn't catch up with them. We saw a lovely white rhino and some
more kudus before we ended up in the middle of a herd of buffalo. Parts of the
herd were grazing on both sides of the road, but none crossed.
We came
back to Nkambeni Safari Camp where our welcome/goodbye dinner is being served
in the boma tonight!
19 October 2014
As today was
the last day for some of the new guest we set off once again to try to find a
lion. I can inform you already that, once again, the mission failed. However we
saw lots of other good things on our morning drive. It started on camp road
where a family of zebras was feeding in the drainage line, and we also saw a
duiker.
Up Numbi tar
we spotted two of the three of the reedbuck family we noticed in the drainage
line yesterday afternoon. In the background there were some buffalo too. We
took a loop around Shabeni where we found more buffalos and had a lovely
sighting of two klipspringers. The female was feeding while themale stood
watch. He gave an excellent show of how well a klipspringer can hop on little
rocks. And then they switched rolls with the male feeding and the female taking
over the watch.
Around a
corner we saw a slender mongoose, three giant plated lizards, and a tree
squirrel all in one spot. The tree squirrel was being mobbed by a forktailed
drongo. The slender mongoose just passing by on his way to someplace else. And
the three giant plated lizards were just hanging out in the sun to warm up.
Then down Napi
we had a family of dwarf mongoose crossing the road at great speed, while a red
crested korhaan had a very slow morning as she walked across in slow motion. We
noticed a couple of bateleurs flying in the sky. Of course we did see impalas
today and also a very handsome kudu bull.
On Napi Boulders
we saw our first elephant for the day. He was in the distance and just showing
us his bum so we didn't stay long. Back on. Napi for the return journey we
spotted a herd of elephants at some distance, and a pretty young sable bull.
Whitebacked vultures were circling on a thermal which one by one took them in a
direction of wherever the wind would take them.
Of course now
that we know they are there we once again decided to go see the leopard cubs.
However this time around we didn't see them. We got glimpses of movement
between the branches but they didn't come out. Then again, there were lots of
cars around so they might have been a bit shy. Before we got parked in we took
our leave and quickly stopped at Pretoriuskop.
Then back out
around Circle road. This road was rather quiet with animals, seeing only some waterbucks,
an elephant far away and a dead giraffe. As some of the guests were keen to see
a giraffe we were hoping to see a alive one instead of just this bag of skin
with bones.
At the end of
this morning we drove down Numbi tar, where, apart from the zebras that were
hanging out with them, we found some live giraffes! With just a couple of 100
meters before the exit, pfew. Two were lying down to rest and one just came by
to greet them. Then they stood up and walked in the opposite direction as us,
as we were heading to Numbi Gate. We passed some more buffalos resting on the
side of the road and then it was really over.
Now we said
goodbye to Mary & Gordon, Grace and Debby, which were returning to Jo'burg
and Pretoria to go back to work. Well, the girls are as where Gordon is just
having a few more days of holiday before him and Mary are on a trip to Cape
Town. I hope all of you enjoyed your safari, even though it was a short break
in between work!
In the
afternoon we took a drive down to Mestel Dam for a change. On the way there we
spotted some impala and waterbuck before an elephant came showing himself of
rather close to the road. Another elephant was further into the bush. At Mestel
Dam there were Egyptian geese and blacksmith lapwings with the hippos yawning
in the background.
We continued
towards the overflow where a pied kingfisher showed us exactly how to fish. A
giraffe was crossing the drainage line and on the open area we spotted another
7 giraffes and a large herd of impalas. We turned around and saw most of the
animals in reverse order again before we tuned back onto the tar. Here we
encountered a couple of dwarf mongoose foraging, a couple more giraffes, kudus,
crested barbet and a diderick's cuckoo and lots of buffalos of all ages. We
even saw a leucist buffalo, looking like an old and grey buffalo.
20 October 2014
We woke up to
an overcast morning and were hoping it would stay dry. On the other hand it
would be nice if it wasn't going to be as hot as yesterday. In hindsight, it
was the later, boiling hot in the afternoon, but nonetheless we had a great
day. Here is our story:
As always when
you leave Nkambeni you turn onto Numbi tar. Today we slalomed around various
other safari cars which just started their day tours, as they were stopping for
lots of buffalos and zebras as well as kudu and impalas. And we are spoiled
with seeing those animals already on this tour, so we decided to get ahead.
We turned onto
Napi and had a little giggle about a flock of guineafowls digging around in
elephant poo for their breakfast. We stopped for a crested barbet but before a
photo was taking he already flew away. And we admired the Cape glossy
starlings. White rhinos we grazing and just passed it we had a big bull
elephant munching on the only green bush in a burned area and after a while
crossing just behind the vehicle.
At the exit of
the Napi Boulders we had our first dung beetle sighting of the season. This
little guy was rolling a little ball of poo into the grass and out of sight.
Then it was rather quiet until Skukuza, as we just saw some impalas, kudus,
blue wildebeest and some more elephants in the distance. Like I said, we are
spoiled! We stopped at Skukuza for a break where a leopard tortoise was walking
around on the grass at the entrance and a vervet monkey was strutting around
the public area looking for some scraps. Just before we left we noticed a
brightly coloured tree agama on a nearby tree too.
As the weather
had gotten nicer we decided to continue our day and drove the H4-1 from Skukuza
to Lower Sabie. Here is where it started to become a great day as we got a tip
about wild dogs on the way as we just left Skukuza. We arrived at the sighting
when the wild dogs were just settling in for a rest. We counted at least nine
of them divided in three shady areas, but there might even have been more. Some
were still a bit restless and kept on popping up their heads as cameras
clicked, however others were already fast asleep. And as the temperature had
risen quickly, that wasn't such a bad idea! It was good sleeping or lying in
the shade weather now!
Further along
we encountered some new antelope like bushbuck and nyala, but also saw lots of
ones we already had seen: impalas, impalas, steenbok, impalas and guess what,
impalas! Oh and a beautiful kudu bull looking at us through the trees. We also
saw lots of hippos and buffalos in the riverbed. Some hippos even got up and
showed us more than just their backs or worse, just nostrils.
Just when we
passed Nkuhlu picnic spot, we encountered some baboons on the road. The little
babies riding on Mommy's back. All were heading towards Nkuhlu, probably seeing
if they could rob some tourists of their lunch! We saw some nice fish eagles,
brown headed parrots, bateleurs and yellow-billed kites flying over.
Down at Sunset Dam a big crocodile was lying close to the shore. We parked at
safe distance to have some good photos and after a while he was getting too hot
and crouched back into the water. At the water's edge there were plenty of
yellow-billed storks, Egyptian geese, three-banded plovers and a spoonbill.
After lunch at
Lower Sabie we planned on heading back to Skukuza the same way, but not for a
little detour down the H10. As Curtis had found some cheetahs there, we took a
chance and went to have a look. We did get to see a bit of a head, some flicks
of a tail and four paws in the air when he decided to roll over. All body parts
counted together making up most of the cheetah. There were supposed to be two
cheetahs or maybe even three, but we could only count body parts.
Another quick
stop at Sunset Dam showed us the hippos had barely moved at all, neither had
most of the crocodiles and all the previous mentioned birds were still there
too. A stork feeding nearby taught a lesson to a little baby crocodile by
picking it on the head and body when it came too close to the feeding grounds
of the stork. Then we got a call about lions just ahead up the road. So we took
off in pursuit. We saw the back of one lion walking through the reeds, and
sometimes got a bit more visual.
Other animals
seen on the way back up to Skukuza: a big male giraffe standing close to the
road, lots of elephants in the Sabie river, plenty of hippos, crested
francolins crossing the road last minute in front of the vehicle, two white
backed vultures, more baboons and a sighting with two sleeping lions under a
tree with vervet monkey hopping around in the tree above.
As we were
running a bit late we drove down Napi on a drive by game drive. This time
around it was teeming with wildlife: a herd of blue wildebeest, warthogs,
waterbucks, grey duiker, steenbok and then suddenly a leopard. Here of course
we did stop and after a short investigation noticed one leopard in a tree with
a prey that she had caught, plus one leopard lying behind the tree on a little
sand hill watching plus a hyena underneath the tree. While pulling up the kill
and chewing on it the leopard dropped some bits and the hyena gratefully took
his share.
Then it was
really time to end this awesome day, so back down Numbi tar, saying goodbyes to
plenty of giraffes and buffalos before returning back at Nkambeni.
More coming
soon !!
