7th February – The Beauty of the Bush!

Photo of the Day

Stotting Impala and buffalo

Morning Drive

(Chad)

3 x buffalo bulls – Argyle, Argyle Dam/Piva Plains

Afternoon Drive

(Chad)

1 x elephant bull – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam

3 x buffalo bulls – Argyle, Argyle Dam

Daily Synopsis

The beauty about the bush is that you just never know what to expect, and every single day is different, and that is what makes being out here so special – even when you have a ‘quiet’ day like today!

The morning drive was a quiet one, with only three vehicles out in the northern sections of the reserve.  There were tracks for the Mahlathini male lions near Vyeboom Dam, and a brief sighting of one of them, but he was lost going into a mopane thicket, and not relocated despite our efforts.  That was about the only ‘newsworthy’ sighting in the north – the lions that woke us up before 5am with their roaring close to camp were not located either, nor were any of their tracks – and that makes tracking them down a bit more difficult!!!

The general game was also on a go slow, but over the morning we saw impala, kudu bulls, nyala, some distant giraffe and hippos.  Despite the slow morning, it ended nicely for me, as we enjoyed some time with a large herd of impalas running around and stotting on Piva Plains in the company of three buffalo bulls and a troop of baboons!

The less fearsome animals of the bush equally offer some special viewing - baboons, buffalo and energetic impala included!

The guests saw an interesting sighting of a rock monitor eating a young squirrel in camp, but that was about where our predatory action stopped for the afternoon.  I had new guests joining me (who incidentally had a great introduction to the Timbavati – seeing a pair of mating lions not 5 minutes after arriving in the reserve!), and we took it easy in the north looking for leopard and anything else of interest.  The monkey that had been alarm calling earlier in the day didn’t lead us to any predators, but we did see some nice impala, the same three buffalo bulls resting in the water at Argyle Dam, a troop of baboons and some nice birds.

Carmine bee-eater

Buffalo bulls again cooling off in the heat of the afternoon

Towards sunset we spent time with a lone elephant bull and some hippo before setting off to look for the Mahlathini male lions with the aid of a spotlight, but to no avail and they didn’t show themselves.

We did find a nice flap-necked chameleon, as well as a rather vocal hyena from the Xinatsi clan walking around on our airstrip before enjoying another wonderful meal under the African Sky!

Flap-necked Chameleon

So although today was a cat-free day, there is always the hope that tomorrow will bring some more special sightings!