On Safari With Gert From 5 July 2016

5 July 2016

Today we started a new Safari with 2 guests from Canada. Entering the park just after noon, we stopped for a quick lunch break before our Afternoon drive.

Early on during the drive we found a Spotted Hyena close to a den-site as well as another on the move a bit further on. It was a good afternoon for general game as we saw a few different herds of Zebra and also some Giraffe silhouetted against the sunset.

The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly a stop at a large waterhole, where a large herd of Elephants were drinking and playing in the water, with another large herd approaching. There was also a herd of Waterbuck with a few large Bulls close by, a Hippo in the water and a large Crocodile on the bank, not to mention the bird life amongst which were Black Storks as well as a beautiful Saddle-billed Stork, a good drive to kick off the Safari!

6 July 2016

After an early breakfast we departed for our Game Drive in clear and rather cold conditions.

It started of very well as we encountered a solitary African Wilddog, trying to find his companions, as he kept running in a large circular route and contact calling. A very exciting sighting as he came out onto the road quite often and we managed to get a very good view of him, although constantly on the move!

Shortly after that we stopped at a new Hyena den where we had a nice sighting of a female with 2 very young cubs suckling.

Then followed our first of two lion sightings for the day.

We found a young male sleeping soundly in a patch of sunlight about 40 meters from the road. It appeared to be fast asleep, except for the occasional flick of an ear. We decided to hang around for a while as it was slowly warming up and only a matter of time before he would get up to move into a shady spot. Eventually our patience paid off as he started getting restless and lifted his head, starting to look around for a cooler spot. He then got up, stretched and walked through a clearing; disappearing into the thicket beyond.

Our next Lion sighting was of a large Male lying in a riverbed, a distant but clear sighting. He made himself very comfortable and by the time we left he was lying flat on his back, paws in the air!

Later on we found a beautiful breeding herd of Elephant, with a high number of youngsters in their midst foraging close to road and watched as they all crossed the road behind our vehicle, a fitting end to a very nice Safari!

On Safari With Gert From 2 July 2016

2 July 2016

After an early breakfast, we set out for our morning game drive in cold and windy conditions, not the best game viewing weather.

However, a pleasant surprise lay in store as we were lucky very early on, spotting a lioness on the slope of a rocky outcrop, making herself comfortable in a sunny spot and enjoying a grooming session. She looked like she might have been in a fight as she had an injured left eye. We watched until she decided to move further up the rocks and disappeared in the tall grass, a great start!

We then had 2 separate Spotted Hyena sightings, both on the move close to their den-sites.

We also had 2 great Elephant sightings; the first a small breeding herd on the move crossing the road close to us, the second an almost fully grown male leisurely feeding next to the road!

We were also lucky enough to find a beautiful herd of Sable Antelope with an adult bull and about 15 females and young, very relaxed and close to the road - great to get such a quality sighting of these rare and magnificent creatures!

One of the highlights of the morning was a large female White Rhino with a young calf of about 4 weeks old! This was a fairly quick sighting as they were a bit nervous and decided to keep to the thicket, but always good to see!

We ended the day with a very large Buffalo herd, at least 200 strong, shortly before retuning to camp - a very successful day considering the conditions!

3 July 2016

After an early breakfast and loading luggage, we set off on our final morning drive. It was still very cold, windy and overcast, hence everything we found were hiding in the thickets. About halfway through our drive the sun started coming through, something we were looking forward to as that could lead to more animal activity after the cold days.

We were not disappointed as we encountered a large male White Rhino on the move and he trotted across the road in front of us!

A little further on we found a small pride of 6 lions, with 2 adult females, a sub-adult male and 3 cubs of about 6 months old. At first we could only see them vaguely, under a bush in tall grass, but starting to move around. Eventually they were all up and on the move, looking like they might be on the hunt. The 2 adults crossed the road, but eventually crossed back as the youngsters were a bit nervous because of the vehicles building up. They kept calling each other to keep track of their movements and we got some very nice views as they then walked parallel to the road for a while.

We left them in peace as it was time to get out of the park - a very special sighting to end the tour on a high note!