02nd December: A Nice Way To Wrap Up.

Pic of the Day.

Morning Drive.

( Grant & Herold.)

Buffalo ( Dagha Boys) / Motswari – Giraffe Pan.

Wilddog ( 13 x Pack) / Kings – Generator Crossing.

Afternoon Drive.

( Herold, Shadrack & Giyani.)

Buffalo ( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Vielmieter Access.

Lion ( 3 x Machaton Females & 7 Cubs) / Kings – Cheetah Plains.

Daily Synopsis.

Waking at a little after four to the monkeys going wild in the trees next to the riverbed there had to be something that was upsetting them. I lay there wandering if it was Kuhanya as she had been hanging around camp the last few days or perhaps the two Lions that were mating a little North of camp. It was not long before my question was answered when I heard the distinctive rasping call of Leopard. It was so clear and close that I checked out my window and could swear that it was behind the workshop walking on the alongside the drainage line. Heading to coffee John confirmed that Kuhanya had in fact walked down the drainage line and into the river where she was responding to another Leopard that was calling on the opposite bank. Heading out on drive Herold checked to the North West while I checked to the North East. We were only keeping an eye out more so for Herold but we were heading in this direction anyway because we wanted to follow up on the mating Lions from yesterday. We found nothing on our side but a very nice herd of Wildebeest on Ingwelala Airstrip which we sat with for a while as we don't see them often.

While with them we heard what we were looking for and they were not calling far away, unfortunately it did sound just North of our boundary. We headed in their direction anyway just to confirm and we were right as we found no signs of them fresh or otherwise having been in our area. Herold was also having little luck with both his set of tracks heading into Ingwelala and also out of our traversing. While we both were busy with our respective missions we received news that the Wilddog had been sighted in the South. This was typical as it was my guests last drive, they were checking out early and it was the one thing that they had not yet seen. Discussing it with them we decided to head in their direction and ignore anything along the way well almost anything as we did stop a couple of times for a few things both big and small. We also found fresh tracks for a Leopard that we kept an eye on while they walked along our road. They were clearly not that fresh when we found them as we followed them for eight kilometres before they turned off into the bush. They must have been a little fresher by the time we lost them but it's incredible how far they travel. I have a feeling it was Mbali, she is known for her long distances and I would not be surprised if someone finds her on Java this afternoon. I also think Kuhanya will be around Motswari later as well so there should be Leopard on afternoon drive. Finally getting down South and heading to Kings we received news that the Wilddog had in fact made a kill. This was good news as it should keep them in the area for a while. This kill was a little unique though as they had chased and killed an Impala on the Kings Camp fence. The Impala had become entangled but the dogs were very hesitant to feed off it and so they should be as the fence is electric and every time they tried to feed they would get a small shock. The guides were very quick to react though and removed the Impala almost immediately and placed it alongside the riverbed for them to feed on. At first they were a little sceptical and approached the carcass very carefully but once one started feeding and nothing happened they all quickly jumped in. We arrived with a little bit of the meat left and four of them were still tugging for their share while the others lay in the shade to rest, while others headed of to a nearby waterhole to quench their thirst. Having a long way to go and a chartered flight to catch we headed off home bringing to an end a near perfect trip filled with amazing sightings for my guests.

I'm not on drive this afternoon or tomorrow morning but I'll still post a sightings report with the stories to resume from tomorrow afternoon, till then Ciao!