12 December 2015
This afternoon
we welcomed 2 new guests, arriving in about 40 degrees after a long journey
from Germany. We transferred to the Park in our open safari vehicle and shortly
after entry encountered a small herd of Kudu, browsing nearby as well as a herd
of Impala with a large number of lambs.
At a sighting of
two large old male Buffalo we also saw a Black-bellied Bustard on a large
termite mound, calling as a territorial advertisement.
Distant thunderstorms
with the occasional bolt of lightning were approaching and the wind quickly
picked up. We encountered a male White Rhino against the wind and it was rather
skittish in such conditions, but did eventually cross the road in front of us.
It was then that the rain drops started falling and we headed back to camp for
a welcome dinner and a good night's sleep accompanied by the sound of rumbling
thunder!
13 December 2015
Today was
absolutely perfect conditions for a game drive after the overnight rain and we
set out early with a light drizzle coming down. Approximately 1 hour into our
drive we encountered 3 male cheetah in an open area and in quite a playful
mood, chasing each other and rolling around, stretching and eventually settling
on a termite mound to survey the surroundings. Evidently something drew their
attention as all 3 got up simultaneously and trotted off, into a thicket and
out of sight.
We then passed
an active hyena den and had 4 adults and 4 cubs out of the den, the cubs
especially in a very playful mood, coaxing the adults into their games and also
investigating the smells on the various parked vehicles observing them.
Not long after
that we came across a female white rhino and her calf of about 2 years old.
Also feeling refreshed and energetic after the rain, the calf was nudging his
mom and jumping around and eventually got her to play back and they ran chasing
each other around in an apparent game of tag, eventually trotting across the
road in front of our vehicle.
This was followed
by a sighting of 2 large dark-manned male lions in their prime, with full
bellies, lying in an open area about 30 meters off the road. They were both in
magnificent condition and although not very active, had their heads up most of
the time allowing us some very good views.
We returned to
camp for a midday break before heading out for a short late afternoon drive
during which, incredibly, we were fortunate enough to see all of the Big 5! The
highlight of these was undoubtedly our leopard sighting...
The young male
was lying down about 5 meters off the road, soaking up the attention from
holiday makers and surrounded by a small herd of about 15 elephants feeding.
The leopard's ears perked up at the sound of Impala calling not too far off and
it quickly got up and moved in that direction, crossed the road and lay down in
the grass. It then seemed to loose interest in the impala and got comfortable
on its side, apparently having a snooze. Thus it was back to camp for us to
conclude an exceptional day's game viewing.
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