21 October 2015
So far we had
two lion sightings this safari and both were nice, but not 100% great.
As both times
we had to look through bushes and around trees, we were longing for a better
view of some nice lions and today we were rewarded.
After a third
mediocre lion sighting we ended up at an amazing sighting of a mating pair.
They were in an open area quite close to the road so there was a nice view for
everyone at the sighting. Upon arrival the lions were sleeping but we had time
and patience so we hang around a while. When the lady was ready she went up to
her mate and made him get up too. They shortly mated and it looked like it was
more of a compulsory affair than that they actually had fun. Possibly this was
the end of their honeymoon period and the male was just tired by now. However
the guests had great enjoyment in watching the affair go down, even though it
was subdued. It resulted in some great pictures and a video!
Our second
highlight was spending our siesta time at Transport Dam. We couldn't check-in
in our new camp till two pm, so after lunch we drove to the dam and enjoyed a
bit of national geographic live.
There were
elephants swimming in the dam which looked like fun, and then two exited the
water close by to have some bushy snacks. The last one in the water got a visit
from a hippo that might have wanted to impress the elephant but when he got
within two meters he made a big splash and the hippo dashed away.
Also there were
waterbucks hanging around, Warthogs and zebras came, had a drink and went. We
watched Egyptian geese get frantic about something, a pied wagtail taking a
bath, an African jacana walking by and a fish eagle flew over too.
And three kudu
bulls came for a drink too, only to be chased away by an angry elephant. We
have no idea what the kudus had done to him as he was eating the bushes on the
other side when they arrived, but he purposefully walked around and then ran
after the kudus. A very unfair fight it was!!
Other interesting
sightings included reptiles like a tree agama, rainbow skink, side-striped
skink, giant plated lizard, leopard tortoise, water monitor and a crocodile.
Also we saw a
reedbuck, steenbok, lots more zebras, giraffes, a herd of elephants, buffalos,
hyenas three times (once when a hyena came out of its layer in the heat of the
day, did a poo and went back into its layer to sleep!), bushbucks, impalas, and
a new animal: blue wildebeest.
Birds included
green woodhoopoes, hadeda ibis, goliath heron, cattle egret, grey heron, brown
snake eagle, bateleurs, black stork, three banded plover, helmeted guineafowls,
purple crested turacos, grey go-away birds, magpie shrikes and two giant
kingfishers.
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