29th October: The Boys Are Back In Town!

Pic of the Day.

Morning Drive.

( Shadrack, Herold, Giyani & Petros.)

Lion ( 3 x Sohobele Males) / Karans – Top Rd East.

Elephant ( Kambaku) / Karans – Corkwood Drive.

Rhino ( Unknown Male)

Afternoon Drive.

( Grant, Herold & Petros.)

Lion ( 3 x Machaton Females & 7 x Cubs) / Kings – Little Ridge.

Lion ( 3 x Sohobele Males) / Karans – Top Rd East.

Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Mbali – Buffalo Kill Rd.

Elephant ( Kambaku) / Vielmieter – Double Highway.

Daily Synopsis.

Unfortunately not having gone on drive myself this morning, as my guests chose to enjoy a relaxed morning sleep in, I did not get any photo's and can only pass on what was recounted to me. With the weather being overcast and the distant rumble of thunder to the North it looked liked the lie in option was the one, this was further justified when it began raining. Not being a heavy rain the guys stuck it out and were duly rewarded when they found the Sohobele Males on a fresh Buffalo kill. So our hypotheses from the day before was right on the money and they had killed a large female Buffalo from the herd that we had seen at Majavi Dam two nights prior. From the amount that they have eaten it looks like they may have killed it yesterday morning, maybe during the storm. On hearing that they missed out on Lions my guests were a little disappointed but they need not worry as there is a fair amount of meat still on the carcass and they will be there for the next couple of days.

Chatting with the guys it would also appear that a number of other animals have made a re-emergence with there being Elephant and Rhino out there. Lets hope this trend continues throughout the afternoon, when we will certainly be out there.

With the afternoon once again clearing and the temperaturesrising we decided to stick to water and meander along the Tsharalumi River to the South, see what would come our way. Wee started with a very nice herd of Giraffe which was followed up with a number of sightings of Waterbuck and Impala in different states of activity. We stopped off at Sohobele Dam for a little birding where we racked up some nice water birds. We also added the beautiful Tawny Eagle, which is once again nesting to the West of the Dam, to our ever expanding list.  

The mammal list was becoming a little more difficult to add to but we did manage three new species in the afternoon. The first was that of a Sharpe's Grysbok, this antelope is very similar to a Steenbok but is nocturnal and it's coat is flecked white as aposed to being solid rust. The second addition came a while later when we where much further South where we found ourselves a nice family of Banded Mongooses going about their afternoon rummage. Our reason for being so far South was actually to visit our third and final new addition, the Machaton Pride. Earlier in the afternoon we received an invitation from Kings to come down and visit the resident pride of the South. Having spent the last couple of days in the North we took the opportunity to head to new territory, that and the fact that it has been some time since we have last seen the pride and it would be great to see how they are getting on. Arriving at the sighting we found the pride spread out resting in amongst some Flaky Thorn Acacias. The were semi active with the majority of them heads up and while we sat with them they did get up and move around before settling in to what must have been perceived as a more comfortable position. Shortly before leaving they were all so comfortable in fact that they barely opened an eye to acknowledge our departure.

After yet another glorious sunset and sundowner we made our way back to the lodge. Along the way you could see the almost instantaneous effect the rain has had on the insect life with every size and shape of goggo ( insect) out and about. This in turn has wakened the Chameleons from their winter dormancy and we found ourselves a nice Flapped Necked Chameleon to round off what was a pretty great drive nicely!