2 September 2016
This afternoon
we started a new Safari with 1 guest from Canada.
We did a short
afternoon drive during which we found a couple of herds of Zebra and a very
impressive large Kudu bull browsing nearby.
One of the
highlights of the drive was a large herd of Elephant with a large proportion of
young. Although this was a rather distant sighting, the herd was in a shallow
valley and it was great to see them from above, spread out over a large area,
leisurely feeding along.
The other
highlights of the afternoon were some very nice bird sightings, including an
African Harrier-Hawk, a female African Fish-Eagle calling for her partner and a
Lilac-breasted Roller in perfect light, posing nicely for a few pictures before
taking off; a nice start to the Safari.
3 September 2016
An early
start, we left camp at sunrise after a quick breakfast. Not long into our game
drive we found what appeared to be a lone female Giraffe. Now although Giraffe
do not form very strong social bonds, a female is not often alone. As she
browses she stopped every now and then, looking attentively in one direction
and sure enough, her young calf of about 2 months, that until that point was
obscured in a thicket, slowly emerged and joined the mother for a suckle.
The most
interesting sighting for the day was when we saw a small troop of Chacma Baboon
with a female walking along carrying something in her one hand. After a good
look, it became apparent that she was carrying the, mostly skeletal, remains of
a deceased baby. I have seen this slightly heartbreaking occurrence before, but
only until 3 or 4 days after death. This illustrates the very strong mothering
instincts, taken to the extreme in this case, climbing in and around trees and
feeding with one hand occupied to her own detriment!
We ended the day
with a large herd of Elephant at a waterhole, a perfect end to a very
successful day on Safari!
4 September 2016
We headed out
on game drive this morning after an early breakfast and had a great day
awaiting us, with sightings of the all the members of your big 5 as well as
Wild dogs and Spotted Hyena.
One of the
highlights was when we found a half-eaten Impala hanging in the fork of a tree
about 5 meters of the road! On closer inspection we managed to also spot the
Leopard that put it there; a female lying a few meters further in, in a shady
spot. She was quite full and appeared to be getting very comfortable,
eventually lying down flat in her shady spot, but in the open from the right
angle, so we managed to get some very good views of her!
Another
highlight was a stop at a waterhole, where some Hippo were lying on the bank
sunbathing. Various adult bull Elephants were drinking at the same waterhole
and a couple were enjoying a thorough mud bath, kicking around in the mud to
loosen it and using their trunks to splash and throw mud covering themselves
completely, a perfect way to cool down and also applying very effective
sunscreen!
These were just
2 of our many amazing sightings throughout the day, which also included a
beautiful female Bateleur perched in a Marula tree nearby. Another very
successful day on Safari!
5 September 2016
After an early
breakfast and loading luggage, we left camp for our last morning drive.
We found
various herds of Elephant in close proximity to each other as well as several
males around the fringes of the herds. There was a fair amount of testosterone
around as many of the males are starting to go into musth and we were treated
to a display by some young males, trunk-tussling and play-fighting to test
their own and each other's strength. This display also included some of the
bulls pushing over and even completely uprooting some small trees and waving
them around and then of course leaving them in the road! All of this was
quietly observed by an older, mature bull who obviously had the respect of
the younger bulls, for as soon as he approached and made his deep rumbling
voice heard, the youngsters quickly fell into line and behaved as if nothing at
all was going on!
We then
stopped off at a waterhole with quite a bit of activity surrounding it. A
bachelor herd of 9 Buffalo lay on a sandbank close to a large Crocodile on the
edge of the water. Around the same waterhole we also found a pair of Egyptian
Geese, Water Thick-knee, Hamerkop, Pied Kingfisher, Grey Heron and a
breeding pair of magnificent Saddle-billed Stork!
We left the park
late morning, bringing an end to a great 4 days on Safari.
