On Safari With Mark From 11 September 2016

11 September 2016

Highlight for today was on our afternoon drive, when driving down the road we found a female Leopard enjoy the shade of a false marola tree. She couldn't have been more than 10m off the road and in open view. For some the elusive cat stayed an elusive cat as people came and passed us without seen her. After a while she got up and started on her late afternoon walk about. Great to spot a second leopard up in the north.

12 September 2016

Our highlight for the morning drive was at the klipperfontein water hole as we rounded a corner so we found 2 male lions having a drink. Both were in brilliant condition and after a while moved a little further away from us and proceeded to take a morning nap in the shade of a large mopani tree.

Our second highlight was at the same waterhole out walked a lioness and walked over to have a drink. Once done she moved to the other 2 males but was very quickly chased off by the 2.

13 September 2016

It was a rather quiet day for the safari and mostly the animal highlights had to go down as some of the picturesque late afternoon photo opportunities, until we heard of a buffalo kill by 12 lions. Without a hesitation it was off to go try locate this pride.

Wow was a word that came to mind with some of the youngsters trying to rip pieces of meat off the carcass approximately 5m from our car. This was fantastic and many brilliant photos were taken. Then we turned the car and headed back to our camp for a well deserved sundowner.

14 September 2016

It was onto shingwetzi, and although very little happened on route, we got to hear about a pride of (5) lions and followed up on them. Luckily we were able to locate them and watched as they drank from one of the smaller puddles in the riverbed. After this, they all lay right next to the puddle and proceeded to have a mid afternoon nap.

Both early morning drive and afternoon drive was dedicated to spotted Hyena's as we found an active den with different sizes. Even the young were familiar with our vehicle and came straight up to it. Great to watch them playfully "hunt" other siblings and adults. Very often falling over their own feet.  

15 September 2016

Must be a day to remember the "TALL" animals in the park as we spotted no less than 50 giraffe just on the morning drive and afternoon drive even more. Fantastic to be able to just sit and watch these graceful creatures walk together, babies playing and bulls just watching as we pass.  Some fabulous shots with morning and afternoon lights are hidden on our cameras and imprinted in our memories.

16 September 2016

Great day had by us as we went to a waterhole and found a signal Eland bull. We were hoping for more to come out but as we stayed waiting patiently, the wind started to pick up and most of the animals moved into the thickets rather than been bothered by all the dust in the air.

17 September 2016

We returned to Tihenginyeni waterhole to see if we could find more Eland or even might have been lucky with Roan antelope but no luck on them. We did however find a lioness that was lying in the shade of the gwari bushes. She just lay as though the Kruger was owned by her. Great stuff to watch as most animals weren't even aware of her presence and it seemed that she wasn't bothered by theirs.

18 September 2016

Today was the coldest day on the safari and very little was seen as the wind howled and icy weather seemed the order of the day. As Hugh and Cathy did this for their enjoyment, it was a day of relaxation and sorting of photos.

19 September 2016

On our departure to Orpen rest camp we decided to stop off, for one last glance at the Mooiplaas water hole. To my surprise as we drove we came across a male Lion that had just killed a buffalo calf and busy with removing the in-trails.

This was a perfect start to a great day as we were the only vehicle there. We spent sometime with the lion and then headed for Orpen.

20 September 2016

Highlight was 2 male lions just outside of Satara lying in the shade of a gwari bush. Distant visual but photos could be taken.

Further highlights were that of a mating pair of leopards, with male up the tree and female lying on the ground a couple of meters away from him. While we were at this sighting we were told of a further 3 lions 2 kms away and so we obviously went to check on them. This wasn't a great sighting as they were flat like carpets but still a lion is a lion. With guests loving it, we decided to call it a day and head back to camp where we could sit around a campfire and chat about all we have seen.