28th August and 29th August – The Struggle Continues!!!

On This Day

28th August - A Wild Dog Den on De Luca with 7 adults and 12 pups!

28^th August Morning Drive

(Herold)

3 x rhino (2 relaxed female and 1 male white rhino)

28^th August Afternoon Drive

(Herold, Petros and Marka)

1 x leopard (Argyle Male) – Argyle, Mangova Rd

3 x buffalo bulls – Peru, Hippo Rocky Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Rudy’s Rd

3 x elephant bulls – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam

29^th August Morning Drive

(Herold, Petros and Marka)

3 x buffalo bulls – Karans, Northern Access

29^th August Afternoon Drive

(Herold, Petros and Marka)

11 x lions (Machaton Pride – 3 lionesses and 8 cubs) – Tanda Tula, Sunset Rd

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Tanda Tula, Cecil Street

5 x buffalo (being chased by lions) – Tanda Tula, Sunset Rd

1 x buffalo bull – Tanda Tula, Elloff Street

2 x rhino (relaxed females)

1 x rhino (Nhlangula male)

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Tanda Tula, Argyle Rd

1 x elephant bull – Peru, Flooded Crossing

1 x elephant bull – Karans, Moeniejag Crossing

Daily Synopsis

So not having been on drive the last few days, there is not much for me to write...and looking at the sightings, even if I was on drive, there would not have been much for me to write!

The quiet period continues, and the last two days have been far from spectacular – that being said, the guides have commented on the good numbers of general game (kudu, zebra, giraffe, impala, waterbuck) that they have been seeing.

Sunday night saw the return of Argyle male leopard, and Marka and Herold got to see him near Argyle Dam before he was sadly lost in some thick bush before Petros could respond.  Once more, John, our night watchman, appears to have the leopard luck, and he watched a leopard chasing after bushbuck in front of the camp in the middle of the night!

Monday morning sounded deadly quiet on the big game front, but that all turned around in the afternoon!

The north was struggling for lions again, and Tanda Tula thankfully came to the rescue and invited the northern stations down to the south in the afternoon to go and see the Machaton Pride.  As all the northern stations accepted this invite, it left the north unmanned, but they all had a good afternoon in the south.  Still on our property, the guides found Nhlangula male rhino near Nkombi Pan, and continuing further south, another two relaxed female rhinos were found on Argyle Rd, as was a breeding herd of elephants.

At the lion sighting, Petros and his guests had a heart-stopping moment when the three lionesses started to chase five buffalo bulls...but chased them straight for the Land Rover!  Petros reversed a fraction and the buffalo’s veered off at the last minute with three lionesses in hot pursuit, and the eight cubs jogging along behind!  Exciting stuff, but sadly the lions missed and the buffalo got away.

Grant is back from leave, a memorable one for him I guess!  So he will be taking over blogging duties from tomorrow and until I return!  I guess though, with me leaving, the animals are bound to come out and in force: so expect cheetah, wild dog, leopard kills and white lions this coming week!  I tried my best to trick them by staying an extra week and not using my usual leave cycle, but it didn’t work...maybe it’s the soap I use?

Until then...take care!

And here are some pics of "on this day" :)

"On this Day" - Impala (2008), unknown young male leopard stalking a duiker (2009), zebras (2009), and an afternoon at the den site of our wild dog pack (2008)