28th November: The Cats Go Into Hiding.

Pic's of the Day.

Morning Drive.

( Shadrack & Chris.)

Rhino ( 2 x Males)

Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Peru – Hidden Away Pan.

Buffalo ( Breeding Herd) / DeLuca – Nyati Dam.

Afternoon Drive.

( Grant, Shadrack & Chris.)

Rhino ( 2 x Males)

Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Mbali – Woza Woza Cutline.

Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Mbali River Rd.

Elephant ( Kambaku) / Peru – Mbali River Rd.

Daily Synopsis.

So with all of my eight guests wanting to sleep in I found myself with an extremely rare morning off. This did not stop me waking from my usual four thirty start and being awake I thought what better way than to head for a run. Not that often that I get to run in the morning but I may say it is the best time of the day and as I headed out on the airstrip in the fresh crisp coolness of the morning I watched a magnificent sunrise. The horizon was a blaze of yellow with the few clouds that where present reflecting a deep plum purple colour. Not getting to drawn into the beauty of it all, I still had to keep my eye's out for the local inhabitants. On this occasion I was quite glad my run followed the same suite as our morning drives at the mo and apart from a few Impala and a lone Wildebeest it was uneventful. Well I guess that is what I saw, who knows what saw me but I did not find any tracks indicating that there was anything more exciting about.

I'll be back on drive this afternoon to bring you full details of what's up and happening out there.

Having missed out on morning drive I was keen to get back out there and see what was about. With the temperatures having risen quite high we knew we would be in for the initial quiet period followed by a hive of activity as things cooled off. Still needing Lion for my one set of guests and everything else for my new set we hoped for a busy afternoon.

Sticking with our tried and trusted for warm afternoons we checked the dams in the North before heading to the Tsharalumi River. On this occasion Xinatsi, Argyle and Sohobele Dams did not deliver much. I think this has partly to do with the fact that there is a fair amount of water still lying in all the natural pans and drainage lines from our last rains that the animals don't need to travel to the dams. As usual though the Tsharalumi Riverbed did not disappoint and delivered up a nice breeding herd of Elephant that was slowly feeding along the riverbank towards Mbali Dam. They were not alone as a large Kambaku had joined them and provided us with a nice comparison between male and female. With not much else being reported on the radio we spent a fair amount of time with them as they made their way to the waters edge. After having them feed all round the vehicle we set off on our way still wanting to follow up on the two Rhino that had been found in the morning.  

Getting into the area we received news that one of the King's trackers, who had been dropped off earlier to follow up, had in fact located them and was following behind them keeping an eye on them till our arrival. Finding them not to far from where they had been, they had visited a small mud wallow where I'm sure they had spent their afternoon as they were caked in fresh mud, if there is such a thing, when we found them. These two males have become extremely relaxed with the vehicles over the last couple of weeks and now go about feeding around the car without the slightest worry, which is great to see and a credit to the guides in habituating them to our presence. Spending the rest of our afternoon with them we left them shortly before sunset to head for sundowners at Voeldam.

With Rhino now checked off the list it is only Lion that we need to find in the morning before my guests depart, no pressure Grant, no pressure.