On safari With Gert 23/24 September 2015

23 September 2015

Setting out early this morning, we were lucky enough to get 3 Spotted Hyena not far from camp. They came running out the bush and we followed them down the road for some time. We then had some wispy cloud cover to dull the effect of the early morning sun and as a result were also lucky enough to find 2 large male Lions about 30m of the road basking in a clearing. We watched as they rolled around, got up a few times to re position and also groomed each other. Eventually the sun came through in earnest and they moved into the shade.‎ 

Later on we also found a large male elephant in musth and feeling quite confrontational, not enjoying all the attention he was getting from some of the vehicles.

One of the highlights of the day was watching a herd of about 300 Buffalo crossing the road‎ ahead of us. It was also a good day for birding, especially raptors as we had sightings of both Marabou and Saddle-billed Storks, Martial Eagle, Wahlberg's Eagle, Tawny Eagle, African Hawk Eagle, African Fish Eagle, Bateleur, White-backed Vulture and a Lizard Buzzard. To top it all I am writing this as the first real thunderstorm of the season is about to be unleashed!

 24 September 2015

Today was mostly spent driving along the river and it certainly paid off as it was also a very hot day.

We had 5 different lion sightings, including 2 lionesses and a cub walking in the river bed. We were also lucky enough to encounter a leopard walking along the road, but he quickly went into hiding not to be seen again... some of the highlights of the day included many herds of elephant and a few big bulls close to the road. The most memorable sighting was that of a large male White Rhino sleeping close to the road, which also completed our Big 5 for the day!

On safari With Curtis 23 September 2015

23 September 2015

Our final morning of the tour and we went out for one final drive.

The morning was a nice relaxing drive with lots of general game.

We enjoyed one particular sighting where we saw two white rhino grazing in the distance accompanied by a small group of buffalo and a herd of waterbuck. Then with a scattering of Impala and a beautiful lilac breasted roller perched on a branch to finish off a perfect picturesque scene.

Time had unfortunately caught up on us and it was time to say our farewells to what has been a truly extraordinary tour with some amazing sightings.

It has been lovely meeting all you guys and girls and have loads of fun as you continue on your travels around South Africa.

On Safari With Karen 23/24 September 2015

23 September 2015

It can rain, it can shine in the Lowveld. Unfortunately the newly arrived guests experienced the first on their sundowner safari. Clouds started forming already when they climbed onto the safari vehicle. They therefor already had no sunset with their drinks, but even worse, just after their drinks stop it came pummeling down. The drive was therefor cut short as besides the guests getting soaking wet, the animals had found a safe haven out of sight and away from the rain.

24 September 2015

Except for the humidity their was no evidence left in the sky of yesterday's storm as all was blue and sunny. We left after breakfast and got some pretty good sightings today. 

Our highlight was seeing a herd of elephants up close, munching their way through the fresh green leaves. With their trunk they would wrap around a branch and pull off all the nice green bits to eat. Eventually they even crossed in front of us so we had a good look at them. In the afternoon we were joined by 4 more guests and it was nice to once again encounter elephants close by. 

Later we also found another highlight as it was our first predator, and for everyone to enjoy too: a leopard. She was resting after a hot day, but very interested in the amount of people coming by to look at her. She was very relaxed and even though she was in between some bushes and tall grass, we got a good look at her. Especially since she looked at us directly multiple times. 

Other animals seen: lots of impalas, mating tree squirrels (yup, spring is in the air!), waterbucks, kudus, a steenbok, giraffes, white rhinos, zebras, warthogs, a tree agama, hippos playing, dwarf mongooses, common grey duikers, lots of buffalos, sable antelopes, vervet monkeys, a water monitor crossing and crocodiles sunning. 

Birds included a sighting of 6 rare ground hornbills, lilac breasted rollers, cape glossy starlings, an African fish eagle, Egyptian geese, an African jacana, bataleurs, tawny eagles making babies (told you, spring is in the air!), white-backed vultures, fork-tailed drongos, dark-capped bulbuls, a sub-adult martial eagle and an African hoopoe. 

On Safari With Curtis 22 September 2015

22 September 2015

Today was a wash with great sighting after great sighting!!!

The highlight was the leopard sightings we had. Called in by Gert we responded to it and found a traffic jam all looking out for these leopards.

Taking a chance we entered the little loop from the other direction and got lucky as one leopard popped up right next to us while all the other vehicles were looking elsewhere. While it walked we then circled the loop and positioned the vehicle again hoping to get another look.

Well it was either great positioning or amazing luck but out popped the leopard again this time crossing the road in front of us...

Well if you can be lucky twice why not a third time so at the end of the morning, just before lunch, we returned to have another look.

Hey presto we found it again, this time lying in a tree just three meters from the road and about ten foot high giving myself and my guests a great photo shoot. And this time we had the sighting all too ourselves!!!

In the rest of the day we found a pride of lions relaxing in the shade, but by being patient we got some great pics as one decided to pose for us on a termite mound, elephants, buffalo, white rhino, kudu, waterbuck, zebra, wildebeest, warthog, giraffe, hyena, sable, klipspringer, Impala, baboon, hippo and crocodile we also spotted.

Birds include the bataleur, African fish eagle, blue waxbill, southern ground hornbill, cape glossy starling, purple crested turaco, grey heron, hamerkop, Egyptian geese, red billed hornbill and yellow billed hornbill.

On Safari With Gert 22 September 2015

22 September 2015

This morning we set off early, with one goal in mind - to find leopards as they have been avoiding on the first 2 days of safari... First out the gate, we went searching at a notorious hiding place. There were some fresh cat tracks in the road and suddenly Louisa said she saw something flicking in the bush. Instinctively I knew we had found what we came looking for, as it is often the flick of the leopard's white tail-tip that gives it's presence away...

We sat waiting and then realized that there are 2 of them - youngsters of about 10 months old, playing in the tall grass, just visible when pouncing on or chasing one another! They then disappeared into a ditch and I feared that might have been the end of our sighting, but we turned around and decided to wait a while.

It wasn't long before both came back out, sitting on a termite mound basking in the early morning sun and grooming themselves... by this time a few cars had gathered behind us and we decided to move on in an attempt to let everyone else see them.

About 50 m further down the road, their sibling, a young male, was lying out in the open on a rock, surveying his surroundings and also grooming in the early morning sun! We sat watching him for another 15 minutes until some more cars arrived, when it was time to get out of there for coffee and breakfast.

We returned to the scene a couple of hours later to find 1 of them lying in a tree very close to the road, the others obviously close by, but hiding very well. It was a great treat and we could not have asked for a better leopard sighting, especially since they were not bothered by all the attention they were getting! It is hard to top a start to the day such as that, but we were also lucky enough to find our first elephants of the safari as well as a mother White Rhino and her 1 year old calf. There was an adult male Rhino grazing close to them and it got a bit to close to the youngster for the mom's liking.

She charged up and slammed horn first into the large male who barely had time to brace himself for the impact. She had made her point and the male slowly moved off afterwards! Certainly another memorable day on Safari!