Pic's Of The Day. |
Morning
Drive.
(
Grant, Herold, Andrea & Robin.)
Elephant
( Kambaku's) / DeLuca – Deluca/ Luttig Cutline.
Afternoon
Drive.
(
Grant, Andrea, Robin, Marka & Godfrey.)
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Motswari – Xinatsi Dam Rd West.
Elephant
( Kambaku) / DeLuca – DrongDrive.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Giraffe Kill Rd.
Wilddog
( 19 x Pack) / Java – Peter Pan Access.
Cheetah
( 1 x Female & 2 x Sub Adults) / JayDee – JayDee River Rd.
Rhino
( 1 x Male, 3 x Female & Calf)
Daily
Synopsis.
While
sitting at morning coffee before drive John recounted how he had
heard Lions roaring the entire night North of the camp. He mentioned
that they were slowly moving from the East to the West. With all of
us very keen for Lion we formulated routes that would cover the area
but shortly before actually setting out on drive we heard the roaring
for ourselves. It sounded as if they had turned around and were now
headed back to the East. Quickly changing our plans we headed in the
direction of their calls. This happened to be in exactly the same
area that Herold and I had spent our entire afternoon drive the day
before looking for Leopard. I hate to think what our guests think
about their guides and trackers orientation skills.
As we
checked the identical route as we had driven the night before, Andrea
joined us to help while Herold also put his guests through the same
thing again. Needing these Lions we scoured the area with a fine
tooth comb looking for any sign or track of them, but with a herd of
Impala and Wildebeest sitting unperturbed on the Ingwelala airstrip
it looked unlikely that we would find them and they more than likely
were still on our Northern neighbours farm. This did not deter us
from continuing to check all the areas we could to the North East but
as suspected we all came up empty handed. Well almost Andrea did find
herself some Elephant Bulls and Goodman and I had found tracks for a
male and female Leopard, more than likely the one's that we had been
looking for the night before. Guess we should have stayed out a
little later.
With
no where else to check we all went our separate ways. Herold
continued to the North East up to Buchner where he hoped to get lucky
with the Timbavati Pride or the Maghlatini Males. He was taking a big
chance but the reward would be well worth it and it nearly did pay
off as he and Difference found fresh tracks from the morning for the
two females and their cubs. Unfortunately they tracked them following
a Buffalo herd which had crossed into Kruger and out of our
traversing area, better luck next time chaps! Andrea turned her
attention to the Tsharalumi River and headed off to where we had
Makipi's the night before hoping to find another kind of cat. Goodman
and I headed to the North West hoping it may have been different
Lions calling that side, one can only hope. While approaching Vyeboom
Dam we received a message from Robin that he had fresh tracks for
three Lions further to the South, more than likely the Mafikizolo
Pride. Hearing that he had help in the area and being some distance
from us with a very limited amount of time we chose not to head in
their direction but carried on up in the North fulling our drive with
lots of general game and birds of prey which included, Waterbuck,
Giraffe, Steenbok, Kudu, Bateleur, Brown Snake Eagle, Juvenile Dark
Chanting Goshawk and a beautiful Marshall Eagle.
As
would be Murphy's Law, shortly before closing down at camp for brunch
a report came in that the Mafikizolo Pride had been found. With
absolutely no time available and miles from the area both Andrea and
myself could not respond but Robin was nearby and he headed in their
direction. Herold being on his last drive before leave and with his
guests not having seen Lion he had no option but to go, even if it
did cost him his life at the hands of the kitchen staff. Closing down
we hoped that the Lions would still be around in the afternoon. It
was only much later that we learnt that neither Robin or Herold got
to see the Lions as they had moved off into a very thick area and
disappeared. It's going to be back to the drawing board for this
afternoon.
With
Chad leaving the reserve this morning the afternoon drive held a lot
of promise. Only joking mate but you did mention to me before leaving
though that all the animals would return on your departure and you
were not far wrong.
We
once again tried for the herd of Buffalo to the North East of
Motswari and for the forth time headed straight back to the same
area. I thought it best to mention to my guests exactly why we were
returning so as they may not think that I had lost the plot
completely. As with all our previous trips we had little success in
what we went there for but we did find a very chilled Elephant Bull
that put on a show for us while he went about trying to get at a
particular type of herb. Sitting with him some time we finally
decided that we should go as we still wanted to try follow up on
Makipi's and his brother around Mbali and this would all so put us in
a good position to respond to the Mafikizolo Pride if it was
relocated.
On
our way South we were about to cut through Java to Mbali to start our
Leopard search when we received a message that a pack of Wilddogs had
been located not far away. We were aware that some of the guys were
tracking them but did not think that they would locate on them that
quickly. Once again being lucky enough to be close to the area we put
our plans on hold and responded to the dogs, after all it's not
everyday you get to see this endangered species. Making our way into
the sighting we found them lying all over the place and it was
difficult to find a spot to approach from as they seemed to be
everywhere. A final count had them at nineteen, which is a very
impressive pack especially when you get to see them get mobile and
start running in their distinctive line as we did soon after joining
the sighting. As you can imagine the sighting attracted a fair amount
of attention so we did not stay long so as to give everyone a chance
to get to see them before the sun set, as we do not view them after
dark and with the spotlight.
Karma
must have been at play in what happened next, as no sooner had we
made space for the next station and was heading back to continue with
our original plan a message came across the air that three Cheetah
had been found less than five minutes away. Being perfectly
positioned and with everyone else still trying to get to the Wilddog
we could make our way straight to the sighting. On our way there I
mentioned to Goodman that we were on our way to see Cheetah, I wish I
could have taken a picture of the disbelief and amasement written all
over his face. This was soon replaced by excitement and I'm sure I
looked pretty much the same at hearing the news. It is not often that
you get to see both of these endangered animals let alone in the same
afternoon within fifteen minutes of one another. Finding them sitting
on the sand in the middle of the Tsharalumi made for a great picture
but I was not quick enough as they got up and ran off to the opposite
bank. Making our way around they were lost in a drainage line before
we could get back in to see them properly. With the light failing
fast we rushed around the area trying to relocate and our
perseverance paid off with us finding them to the West of where they
had been slowly walking on the road towards us. Killing the engine we
sat quietly hoping they would move into a clearing not far from us,
we never expected them to walk right up to the front of the vehicle,
hesitate and then head back slowly to the riverbed in the East. It
easily rates as one of my best Cheetah sightings ever, certainly the
best in the Timbavati.
With
the adrenaline hitting an all time high it was time for sundowners
settle the nerves and give us time to appreciate the incredible
afternoon we had just had.
Who
knows what we'll see tomorrow, we wait in anticipation.
Thanks Grant what a great end to the day!
ReplyDeleteSue and John