23rd December - The Heat is On!

Pic of the Day.

Morning Drive.

Elephant: ( 1 x Kambaku) / Motswari – Motswari Airstrip.

Afternoon Drive.

Elephant: ( Breeding Herd) / Motswari – Motswari Dam.

Elephant: ( Breeding Herd) / Motswari – Sean's Clearing.

Elephant: ( 2 x Kambaku's) / Argyle – Argyle Dam.

Elephant: ( 1 x Kambaku) / Peru – Wild West.

Buffalo: ( 5 x Dagha Boys) / Jaydee – Mkombe Pan.

Lions: ( 5 x White Lions) / Vielmieter – Nyosi Confluence.

Daily Synopsis.

Well any resemblance of the previous days to winter weather is a distant memory/ dream, with temps yesterday climbing to 42C! I guess summer has arrived with the solstice occurring on the 22^nd and bringing along with it the heat! As was with the previous mornings drive were Elliot struggled, it was now the turn of myself and Herald. We both were under pressure to find Rhino, so we headed to areas that few travel taking a chance that we would find this elusive prehistoric looking beast. Unfortunately lady luck did not shine on us, but something a little hotter was and had us returning to camp seeking the shelter of air-conditioned rooms and the refreshing coolness of the pool! The drive was not totally in vain as we were able to concentrate on the smaller things and talk about how everything is intricately linked from the small Dung Beetle to the gigantic Elephant.

The afternoon started off hot and when it's like this there is only one place to find game, around water! So that is what we did, checking Xinatsi Dam and Argyle Dam, where we found two Kambaku's feeding alongside the dam wall. While we viewed them I got a message from Herald that he had found a Breeding Herd directly in front of the lodge heading for the dam. Hearing there were some very young Ele's present I responded. Unfortunately arriving just to late as they had made their way across the dam and into the bushes next to the lodges chalets. Knowing of a mud wallow there I headed around to see if we would get lucky with them mud bathing themselves. Lucky is an understatement, we hit the jackpot, as the entire herd made their way into the muddy water, babies included.

They were all splashing one another and rolling about on the bank and in the water having a grand old time, mud flying everywhere. The babies must not be more than a week old and they were all over the place slipping and sliding, trying to get control of their appendages. The herd must have all been feeling the heat, as they totally ignored us and spent ages playing about, it was a great sighting and another one for my Top Five of 2010.

After spending the rest of the afternoon looking for Leopard in the North without any joy we headed South to visit the White Lions, who were lying up in a riverbed. Purposely arriving after sunset we hoped they would be a little more active than “ Flat Cats”, but I guess the Kudu and Buffalo meal, combined with the heat had them lying on their backs out for the count, no comments thank you Chad! While we were there two of the cubs did show signs of life, however it was very short lived but did allow us to get a few pic's in.

Leaving them to their slumber we made our way back to Motswari so that we may eat and sleep too!