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| Pic Of The Day. |
(
Herold.)
Leopard
( Ntombi Female) / Vielmieter – Western Tsharalumi.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Hlaramisa Rd.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Tamboti Pan.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Hippo Rocky Rd.
Afternoon
Drive.
(
Grant, Shadrack and Marka.)
Leopard
( Machaton Male?) / Motswari – Xinatsi Dam.
Leopard
( Rockfig Jnr & Cub) / Vielmieter – Bushwillow Way.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Giraffe Kill Rd.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Madala Crossing.
Buffalo
( Dagha Boy) / Motswari – Barnes Post.
Buffalo
( Dagha Boy) / Motswari – Wisani Crossing.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Tchwala Rd.
Lion
( Mafikizolo Pride: 2 x Males & 2 x Females) / Vielmieter –
Western Tsharalumi.
Daily
Synopsis.
Joining
for afternoon drive I was keen to get out there and see what we could
find, it was going to be an added challenge as I'm flying solo at the
moment with Jacky being on his annual leave. With some of my guests
still not having arrived I knew we would be in for a special
afternoon, it's like when someone decides to skip a drive or a camera
battery goes flat, the animals all sense it and come out of hiding. I
decide to stick around the vicinity of the camp a little while just
in case they should show up. So I guess we should thank them for our
very first sighting which occurred at Xinatsi Dam less than two
kilometres from camp. As we pulled up at the dam our attention was
drawn by a Hamerkop that was sitting in the shallows, turning onto
the dam wall and coasting into a position we could see him we noticed
that he was alarm calling and almost simultaneously we spotted the
distinctive shape of a large male Leopard also by the waters edge. He
was stuck in two minds whether to continue to drink or flee to the
closest bushes, being a nervous individual he slowly skulked to a
Mopane thicket a short distance away. We slowly followed him not
wanting to unsettle him or scare him off. He was not that nervous as
he stopped in the cover of the bushes and sat down. We positioned
ourselves that we could partially see him and also sat there. After a
short while he seemed to get agitated with our presence and charged
out the bushes at us. I t was more of a warning as he pulled up short
of the vehicle and it lacked the deep growling and any commitment. No
sooner had he decided to charge he turned around and slowly walked
back to the dam wall. Keeping our distance we followed him as he made
his way over the dam wall into the thick grass beyond. We lost him as
he moved off into a thicket as we did not want to approach to close
but I'm pretty sure he simply sat down in amongst the branches and
long grass. Looking at the size of his belly and the way he was
behaving I'm sure he has a kill in the area hence him not moving off
immediately and also his semi aggressive behaviour.
Taking
our leave we headed towards Sohobele Dam were we picked up on some
very nice general game that would include, Impala, Zebra, Kudu, Hippo
and my highlight of the day, a Sharpes Grysbok. It is nocturnal
antelope that is not often seen. With the daylight hours being
limited we decided to continue our journey to the West and the
Tsharalumi River where we would follow the coarse of the river South,
always a productive drive on a warm afternoon.
Today
was to be no different as I received news that a large breeding herd
of Buffalo that numbered about five hundred individuals was found and
also a nice breeding herd of Elephant not that much further South of
that. Our afternoon was taking shape and by the sounds of things we
had plenty of things to keep us busy. Visiting the Buffalo first we
found them exiting the riverbed and slowly feeding to the West. We
can now confirm that the herd was actually that big and their
appeared to be Buffalo all over the place of every shape and size. It
was a great sighting as they were extremely relaxed and they barely
acknowledged us as we made our way through the centre of the herd
South.
Having
had our fill of Buffalo we headed off to the Elephant which we found
a short distance away. They were as relaxed as the Buffalo and went
about their feeding hardly taking any notice of us. It too was a very
big herd with many youngsters in it who all seemed in a very playful
mood. As per usual I got caught up in the sighting and spent nearly
the rest of our daylight with them. Eventually pulling ourselves away
we continued South wanting to try follow up on the Mafikizolo Pride
with their now depleted Buffalo carcass.
From
not having any Buffalo in our traversing area the last month they now
all seemed to be here as we bumped into another herd on rejoining the
Tsharalumi River. This time we spent no time with them and bypassed
them on our way to follow up on the Lions. Arriving in the area they
had been the last couple of days I plugged in the spot light as we
had lost the natural light of the sun. Making our way into the
sighting was an adventure in itself and I need another whole blog to
go into what a Land rover is capable of, needless to say we arrived
in the very rocky, thickly vegetated drainage line they had dragged
their Buffalo carcass into. Immediately we saw the older female
feeding on what scraps she could salvage from the spine and hide. The
others were on the opposite side of the drainage line, the older male
feeding on something while the other two rested off their
indigestion. Noticing that we would have a better view from another
position we committed a lot of time and effort into getting into
position. We now needed our spotlight flicking the switch and looking
towards the Lions they stood their still as silhouettes. Checking
the globe everything seemed in order and it was on checking the fuse
that we discovered the problem. Not having a spare with me we had to
pull out the sighting while we had a fragment of light to find our
long way out. Once again breaking the bounds to a Land Rovers
capabilities we found our way out and made our way for drinks.
Heading for our sundowners a sighting of Rockfig Jnr was called in
very nearby where we were. I chose to ignore it as we would not be
able to follow without the light and headed for drinks. It was while
on drinks that my guests that arrived late joined us. I thought to
myself, boy did they miss a special afternoon and now they would have
a drink with us and then get to drive all the way back to camp where
they had just come from, in the dark, fun, fun, fun! Shortly before
packing up drinks a vehicle came in our direction. At first I thought
they were on their way back to their lodge but when they pulled up
next to us they informed me that Rockfig Jnr was walking down the
road towards us. Getting everyone on the vehicle we sat and waited
for our added bonus. It was not long before she appeared and walked
straight down the road towards us and then stopped in front of the
vehicle, offering us a great view. She then became mobile again into
the bushes where we had just had drinks, we followed behind while the
other vehicle light her for us. Passing through a thicket she
reappeared on the other side with a Red Crested Korhaan in her mouth.
Killing it she lay down to pluck it but before getting the first
mouthful of feathers her kill was stolen by her cub who came bounding
out a nearby rocky outcrop. It then proceeded to take cover in a
thick Weeping Wattle offering no visual. Mom seemed quite content and
sat in her position now grooming herself. We took our leave at this
point having had an unbelievable afternoon. It only struck me while
travelling back that we had had our drinks fifty metres from the spot
that the cub must have been hiding in the whole time. I wonder if it
had ventured forth and investigated the disturbance around it's
resting spot or it kept hidden waiting for silence to descend or it's
mother to return.
Lets
see what lies behind tomorrows bushes for us.
Goosebumps!
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