26th September: Back In The Office.

Pic of the Day.

Morning Drive.

( Herold.)

Leopard ( Ntombela) / Java – Back of Java.

Leopard ( Hlakiso Female) / Peru – Giraffe Kill Rd.

Lion ( 3x Kubasa Ngala) / Vielmieter – Java Vielmieter Cutline.

Afternoon Drive.

Lion ( 2 x Jacaranda Females & Cub + 1 x Timbavati Female) / Argyle – Long Rd.

Lion ( 3 x Kubasa Sub Adults) / Vielmieter – Java Vielmieter Cutline.

Elephant ( Kambaku's) / Peru – Flooded Crossing.

Elephant ( Kambaku) / Peru – Sohobele Plains.

Leopard ( Ntombela) / Java – Back Of Java.

Leopard ( Unknown Male) / DeLuca – Timbavati Umbabat Cutline.

( Herold & Grant.)

Daily Synopsis.

Hello..........................I'm back! And by this I mean me Grant. I'll be taking over the blog for the next week or so while Chad enjoys his R&R. Not that he will be far choosing to spend his break at Ingwelala, hmm......... I wonder if this will have any effect on our sightings. We wait and see! Enjoy your well deserved break mate!

With only Herold out on morning drive it sounded like a busy morning with a buffet of sightings to choose from. As is usual Herold chose wisely and had himself a very nice sighting of Ntombela. By the sounds of things he had to work for it though as she led him through some very difficult areas criss crossing the Machaton River a couple of times before coming to rest up in a tree, well worth the hard work in following her.

In the region they also picked up on the three sub adult members of the Kubasa Pride. They still have not regrouped and with them moving further South it looks like it may be some time before they do, as their aunt is still up North with the Jacaranda Pride. Interesting times lie ahead with many a question to be answered. Lets hope this week we can answer a few of them!

Jacky and I'll be joining for the afternoon buffet, lets hope there is the variety that there was this morning.

We were not to be disappointed in the afternoon and there was plenty on offer. As my guests arrived a little late for drive we were a little behind on everything but this worked to our advantage as it was pretty busy out there and there seemed to be a line up for everything. By the time we got around to any of the sightings we were the last and could spend as little or as much time as we wished.

While waiting on our guests arrival we visited the Jacaranda Pride who were to be found in the Sohobele Riverbed not far from camp. They had taken to resting next to a pool of water in the otherwise dry riverbed still trying to fight their indigestion from the Giraffe they had consumed the previous few days. We got lucky as mom and her cub were out on the opposite bank and the cub was in a particularly playful mood. We watched as it ran around trying to engage it's unamused mother in play, eventually giving up it took to playing with a stick or was it giving the vegetarian thing a go, hmm............................I'm not to sure.

After our link up and everybody on board we turned South and headed off to visit the White Lions. Normally we would not travel that far on our first drive but given that they were very close to one of our boundaries and there was the chance that we would not see them again in the morning it was a must.

As is usual when you trying to get somewhere everything pops out of the wood work and along our journey South two notable sightings that are worth a mention were that of courting Steenbok. I would have sat there most of the afternoon as they were very relaxed and went about their business regardless of us. It's always great to witness animal behaviour in action as it confirms all that you read in the books. The other sighting was that of an Elephant Bull, once again displaying animal behaviour that you seldom get to show to your guests.

Without getting to distracted and hearing things had quietened down at the sighting we made our way there. On pulling in to the sighting we found the three of them fast asleep, no real surprises there, although given the time we thought they would at least be head up. I guess with the long distances they are presently walking after dark trying to reunite with their mothers they need all the rest they can get. The entire time that we were there they slept but this did not matter much as we were looking at two of three White Lions that we know to exist here in the Timbavati and that is something extremely special no matter the visual or their state of activity.

With time running out fast we left them to their sleep wanting to respond to one last surprise for the afternoon. Ntombela had been relocated not far from the Lion sighting and we thought it would be the perfect way to end off our afternoon. We followed her as she made her way along a drainage line in hunting mode. Not wanting to disturb her chances to much we did not use any lights and followed her until dusks glow failed us which had given us just enough time to appreciate the steal and beauty of this great predator.

A splash and dash on the way home brought the perfect day to an end.