Pic of the Day. |
( Grant, Shadrack, Herold &
Giyani.)
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / JayDee –
JayDee River Rd.
Afternoon Drive.
( Grant, Shadrack, Herold, Giyani &
Petros.)
Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Mbali – Mvubu
Crossing.
Leopard ( Gijima Male & Unknown
Male) / Motswari – Xinatsi Dam Rd West.
Daily Synopsis.
Waking around four to the distant sound
of thunder and looking to the north from my window I could see we
were in for a big storm. It was not long before the wind picked up
bringing with it the cool chill of immanent rain. As five o'clock
rolled around so did a massive thunder storm unleashing all its fury.
Sheets of rain fell horizontally onto the ground which at first
absorbed it all like a huge sponge but it soon became to much and the
water began to flow under the force of gravity. If the sheer force of
the wind and rain were not enough to marvel at, there was the
incredible lighting show that was well accompanied by the rolling
thunder, to round off the perfect African thunderstorm.
Needless to say the show ran a little
late and we had to delay drive. Not surprising when we got out there
a number of rain rules came into effect with many properties being
closed for the morning and there was no off road driving on those
that did allow access. These precautions are put into place to limit
the damage the vehicles could have on the now very waterlogged and
soft soil.
This made for a very challenging
morning but it is how game drives are conducted in many reserves, the
Kruger included. It's back to “ Old School,” you see what you see
from the road. The plans from the previous evening were to follow up
on the Sohobele Boy's as well as the herd of Buffalo we found late in
the evening, half hoping they would be together. This plan
unfortunately was washed away with the rain. Driving the areas we
could, it was not long before we picked up on Leopard tracks, these
were fairly fresh as the tracks indicated that he had walked at the
tail end of the storm which ended only twenty or so minutes before we
set off. Despite all our efforts though he used the riverbed to his
advantage and eventually proved to elusive for us slipping across our
Northern boundary before we were able to catch up with him.
With not much else out and about apart
from a small breeding herd of Elephant they became the mornings main
attraction. It could also have been the fact that it is the first
herd of Elephant that we have seen in nearly a week. Our morning
started quietly but as the clouds began to lift we started to pick up
on more general game as they ventured out from their rain shelters
and we had nice sightings of Kudu, Waterbuck, Wildebeest, Steenbok,
Hippo and Zebra.
The rain also brought out a number of
interesting insects and I'm sure after these rains we can expect a
whole bunch more. With an increase in activity at the base level of
the food chain we can expect it to filter all the way through.
After a warming cup of hot chocolate we
took our turn in visiting the Elephant. At first it was a very poor
sighting from the road as they were feeding in a thickly vegetated
section of riverbed. Sitting patiently things improved and eventually
they made their way out of the riverbed and next to the vehicles. Who
says you need to go off road!
With the clouds breaking and the sun
coming out things got steamy very quickly and we took this as our cue
to head back to camp for brunch and to spend a lazy afternoon by the
pool.
The afternoon drive could not have
started under completely the opposite conditions to the morning with
it being blue bird skies, sunny and sweltering. With many of the
properties having dried up sufficiently to be reopened we looked
forward to busy afternoon. We headed to the North with a plan to
eventually cross slowly to the West and then head South in search of
Rhino, still believing that this weather was conducive to big game.
Things started off slowly but we picked up on a fair amount of
general game and some of the smaller things like tortoises and
terrapins. With my guests having an interest in all things big and
small my job is that much easier. Unfortunately it's not the same for
everyone and with it being very quiet on the cat front the guides are
under a fair amount of pressure at the moment. Chatting with them
along drive there were stories of only having seen Steenbok, Giraffe
and Kudu, with no signs of anything that resembled a predator. I kept
reminding them things can change in a heartbeat, to which they
responded it better had quickly as there hearts were close to
stopping.
With the sun disappearing behind a
cloudless horizon we stopped for a very chilled sundowner in the
Tsharalumi Riverbed. On resuming drive we headed along the riverbed
intent on finding Leopard. Running out of time and place's to look we
decided to visit a place Victor, a guest of mine, calls Magic Pan, as
a last ditch effort. As we approached the pan the ever vigilant Jacky
called out Ingwe! Looking to my left there stood a sight for sore
eyes, Gijima Male. Slowly following him into the bush we found that
he was following another male Leopard who was walking fifty metres in
front of him. At first I thought it was a female and was tempted to
leave him and bridge the gap as I thought it would be more relaxed
and a more reliable sighting but then Jacky pointed out that it was
in fact another male. Not knowing who he was and the fact that Gijima
Male was showing no interest in us at all we decided to stay put
until the others arrived. Having had a great sighting of him we moved
off slowly to let others all get a turn. As you can imagine he was
pretty popular! We did spend a little of time trying to locate the
other male but he appeared to have vanished into the night, so
unfortunately we don't know who he was. It could possibly have been
Vyeboom Dam Male his brother or maybe his dad Argyle Male, or even
another skittish male that has popped up in the area that the guys
refer to as a Cheetah, because every time you see him he is running
at full speed into the bush.
Finally finding a cat we returned to
camp for dinner, need I add we were all a little late. I wonder if
this is the turning point and tomorrow all our animals will have
returned, we wait and see!
Thanks for all the photos and updates - wish I was there!
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