Tuesday 6 September 2011

05th September: No Expectations.

Pic of the Day.
Morning Drive.

( Herold, Marka, Grant & Colbert.)

Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Russet Rd.
Rhino ( Male & Female)

Afternoon Drive.

( Herold, Marka, Grant & Colbert.)

Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Buchner.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Buchner.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Buchner.
Elephant ( Kambaku's) / Buchner.
Elephant ( Kambaku's) / Argyle – Vyeboom Dam.
Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Argyle – Vyeboom Dam.
Leopard ( Kuhanya) / Motswari – Wisani Crossing.
Rhino ( Male & Female)

Daily Synopsis.

Heading out on morning drive I think we all knew that we would not be able to repeat the drive that we had the previous afternoon and left camp with no expectations. As it was some of my guests last drive they requested one last thing to be added to the Christmas List. They wanted to spend some time with Elephant before having to head on home. Not being a tall order to fill Jacky and I decided to head to the East on a particular beautiful drive all be it not the most productive area. Travelling through areas of unspoilt bush alone, as not many people travel these areas, we were able to fully absorb the beauty of the area and all it had to offer. As has happened many a time we did not find much but the drive highlighted the vast expanse of the African Bush.







With time running out we received news that a herd of Elephant had been found not far from the Tsharalumi Riverbed and having come to the end of our picturesque drive we decided to head in their direction as a surprise final sighting. Stopping for a cup of coffee along the way we delayed it to the last moment and when all hope appeared lost we turned into the sighting, much to our guests surprise and joy. Our remaining time was spent with the herd who was very relaxed with our presence and allowed us to approach right up to them. Eventually having to drag ourselves away from a particularly cute youngster we headed back to the lodge, mission complete!








As for the rest, well.................................... The guys were very keen on Rhino and Herold and Difference spent their entire morning following up on tracks which they eventually had to abandon as they ran out of time. In contrast Colbert finished up with morning coffee and was on his way back to camp when he bumped into two Rhino, unfortunately to late for Herold. Amazing how the bush works though. Overall though we all had a quiet morning but with the weather promising to improve we look forward to a busy afternoon.

With my guests staying seven nights and fancying a change of pace we set off to the far North East. It is not somewhere you head when wanting to find lots of game but the drive and property is one of the prettiest in the area and there is definitely no beating the sundowner spot. That's actually the whole purpose of the drive.

So while the others had themselves a fairly active afternoon with Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino, we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the rocky outcrops of the North. A pleasant surprise awaited with us finding a number of breeding herds of Elephant. One in particular was a great sighting, the herd was very relaxed considering the number of young that were present. We pulled alongside one mom in particular with a calf that could not have been more than a couple of months old. They were very chilled and went about their business as if we were not there. It was a nice comparison after we had spent some time earlier with one of the bigger Bull Elephants I have seen in a while.










Not forgetting our purpose we headed off for the koppies before the sun disappeared. Climbing to the top of the rocks we had a beautiful view of the vast expanse of the surrounding bush and our timing could not have been better with the sun slowly melting into the horizon.




On our way back to the lodge we received news from Marka that he had found Kuhanya North of Motswari camp being on our way we were going to pop in and visit but she unfortunately moved down into the Sohobele Riverbed stalking Impala and the guys lost her in the thick riverine bush.
I guess it was not meant to be, so we headed back to camp for dinner.  

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