Wednesday 9 March 2011

08th March – Argyle Male Leopard, but still no lions...

On This Day

08th March 2009 - the late Rockfig female leopard showing interest in impala
8th March 2009 - Nkateko leopardess exploring her mom's territory
8th March 2009 - Nkateko, daughter of Rockfig, when she was still a resident leopard - after independence and the death of her mother, she moved many, many kilometres south and is now resident on Ngala Property in southern Timbavati!!!
08th March 2008 - a breeding herd of elephants at Makulu Dam - looks like 2011 is going to be as dry a year as 2008 was...it will be a long winter!

Morning Drive
(Elliot and Johannes)
Lots of elephants (sorry, will try get a proper update from the guides, they couldn’t tell me what they saw besides elephant!)

Afternoon Drive
(Elliot and Johannes)
1 x leopard (Argyle Male) – Motswari, Wisani Access
2 x elephant bulls – Buchner
(to be completed!)

Daily Synopsis
Howdy folks!  Well I am back from a week in the Big Smoke that is Johannesburg! 
Sounds like I missed out on some good sightings, particularly the cheetah and wild dogs which I was really bummed about!  The leopard viewing also sounded good, with great leopard around camp!  Kuhanya really seems to be making herself at home, and I had a good chuckle reading John’s (our trusty night-watchman!) nightly reports, especially as he saw her no fewer than 4 times in the week that I was away – some of his nights were as good as my game drives!  Here are a few excerpts from his ‘night watch book’)...
2nd March – “02h00: report 1x leopard next to the reception”
3rd March – “01h31: report a honey badger around reception”
5th March – “21h39: report 2 elephants in camp”
5th March – “00h28: chase 2x hyenas out of the boma”
5th March – “02h06: chase 2x hyenas chewing the bones at kudu house”
6th March – “21h45: report a leopard drinking in front of reception”
6th March – “00h13: report 2x honey badgers in boma”
6th March – “03h21” report 1x leopard at pool”
7th March – “19h04: report leopard drinking water at front of reception”
7th March – “21h31: report 2x buffalo around guest parking”
7th March – “21h43: report 1x elephant in camp”
7th March – “01h13: chase 3x hyenas out of gallery”

Talk about having nature all around you!
Apologies for the scant report, but I didn’t manage to get a proper chance to talk to Johannes and to find out what he saw today, and Elliot could only recall seeing elephants!  Will bring you more up to date tomorrow, I promise!!!
I am only on drive again on Wednesday, but will try fill the blog with some interesting stuff until then!
Cheers,
Chad

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the updates Chad,
    It is quite amazing how quickly everything dried out after all the rain.

    Man, love the chasing of heynas the whole time. And off course my Favorite animal drinking at reception, and making the camp their own :-).

    Lourens

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