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| Pic Of The Day. |
Morning Drive
(Shadrack, Herold & Andrea)
Elephant (2 Kambaku) / Peru – Timbavati/Umbabat Cutline
Rhino (2)
Afternoon
Drive.
(
Grant, Shadrack & Herold.)
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Argyle – Vyeboom Dam.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Hippo Rocky Rd.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Tchwala Rd.
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Java – Java/ Mbali Rd.
Leopard
( Umfana Male) / Java – Back Of Java Link.
Daily
Synopsis.
My guests were leaving early this morning, so I only had two
hours. This certainly limited my route options. John had heard leopard calling
on the airstrip last night, so we checked there first and came across a hyena,
which bolted off into the thicker vegetation. We tried to follow for a bit, but
she soon disappeared. Male leopard tracks headed north and so we began to track
them instead until they wandered off onto Ingwelala! We did come cross two
giraffe though which was another animal on the list of ‘want to sees’. We then
headed to do one last check around Giraffe Kill where one of the Simbavati guys
had seen fresh leopard tracks. 2 bull elephant were feeding along the way. With
little time, we rushed around the area but unfortunately the leopard eluded us
and we had to turn home in time for early guest pick up.
Grant is taking over from this afternoon as I move off drive
and Grant starts. Thanks again for reading and following, it has been a
pleasure!
Well
hello there folks, long time no speak. Yes it's me Grant, back on
drive, well at least for the next three days or so. Although I was
only off drive yesterday afternoon and this morning I missed it and
was keen to get out there and see if my lucky form of late would
continue. No sooner had we headed out on drive than we received a
message there was a breeding herd of Elephant North of Vyeboom Dam
very close to our boundary with Ingwelala. Hearing they were static
feeding both myself and Herold took a chance that they would still be
around in the fifteen minutes it would take us to get there. As is
usual this would be the time that you would run into a number of
things to distract you and fifteen minutes would turn into thirty.
The culprits on this occasion were warthogs and waterbuck for us, and
for Herold a number of birds. We did however catch a break as the
herd changed direction and started to feed South, more into our
traversing area. We arrived to find some of them still in the
riverbed feeding on the lush vegetation while others chose to roll
around in the sand and playfully chase one another around. At first
we could only view them from above as there was no way into the
riverbed but as they slowly drifted South we were able to get in
amongst them. With them totally ignoring us and going about their
business Herold and I stayed there and watched this very special
sighting. They eventually made their way out the riverbed right
beside our vehicle as if we were never there and started to feed on
the trees that were pressed up on our vehicle. We could have
literally reached out and put our hand in their mouth. It was
incredible how relaxed they were especially as there were a number of
young in amongst them yet mom's totally ignored us while young were
intrigued with us. I could have easily spent my entire afternoon with
them but after an hour it was time to move on in search of other
exciting creatures.
Planning
a trip to the West on roads lest travelled I received a message from
Shadrack who had headed South for the afternoon, he informed me that
he had found Umfana Ingwe, Ntombi's youngster, down on Java. Talk
about throwing a spanner in my relaxed afternoon in the North.
Knowing how the guys had struggled with Leopard over the last four
days, I thought it best to head in their direction and see if we
could get a glimpse of him before it got dark. Remembering what
happened the last time when we had made our way South and he had been
lost shortly before we got into the sighting did not instil me with
any confidence especially as he was in a very tricky area along the
Machaton River. The guys did very well to keep him though and even
better when they had to relocate him when he crossed a drainage line
only a Leopard could. Our timing on this occasion was spot on as we
arrived he moved into the open and proceeded to keep to the open area
sniffing the occasional tree. The sighting was perfect, well near
perfect, as we had lost the sun and with that any chance of a decent
picture. Sometimes I think this is a blessing in disguise as you then
enjoy the sighting for what it is and are not looking at a very small
part of the picture through the camera's lens. Spending a fair amount
of time with him we eventually left him with Herold as he went into
hunt mode. It's interesting to see how far this young male is
starting to push to the North East venturing into territory unknown.
Once
again missing sundown and twilight come to think of it now, we
stopped in an open clearing and enjoyed our drinks under a carpet of
stars, not a bad alternative. The only excitement returning to camp
was finding a Chameleon which are becoming harder to come by these
days with the temperature starting to drop.
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