01st February – So it only lasted half a day longer...

Photo of the Day

Morning Drive

(Marka and Herald)

1 x leopard (Rockfig Jnr Female) – Vielmetter, Hide Dam Southern Access

1 x breeding herd of elephant – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam

1 x breeding herd of elephant – Argyle, Rudi’s Rd

Afternoon Drive

(Marka and Elliot)

2 x buffalo bulls – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam

Daily Synopsis

After my guest’s great day yesterday, they decided to skip on the morning drive and enjoy a bit of a lie-in, so without guests of my own, I joined Herald for a short drive.  The morning was a bit of a quiet one for us, but we still enjoyed a nice sighting of a breeding herd of elephants feeding on Argyle.

Elephant cow feeding

While watching them, we could hear lions roaring to the south – the same lions Giyani had heard from his camp – but despite checking around Java, there were no signs of them, leading us to believe that which ever lions were roaring were still just off the property. 

We headed back north for an early check out, and besides impala, giraffe and a nice herd of zebras, there was not much about. 

Dark Chanting Goshawks

While looking for the lions, Marka found Rockfig Jnr female leopard and spent a nice period of time following her as she marked her territory near Hide Dam.  We had no sooner closed down at the lodge when Johannes radioed to tell us that he had found Argyle male leopard sleeping up a marula tree on the Motswari – Ingwelala cutline not 700m from the camp.  I told Herald who tried to take his one guest to see this, but he had no sooner left when the big male leopard climbed down and walked west into Ingwelala.

In the afternoon, it sounded like a bit of a struggle for big game; besides some good general game, the only big 5 animals seen were some buffalo bulls.

I am off drive until Friday, so I will keep you posted on what Elliot and Marka see on the next few days, and will return with more photos and stories on the weekend!