Pic Of The Day. |
(
Grant, Shadrack, Chad, Herold & Godfrey.)
Elephant
( Kambaku's) / Motswari – Xinatsi Dam Rd.
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Peru – Western Cutline.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Hide Dam.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / Java – Terminalia Rd.
Buffalo
( Dagha Boy) / JayDee – Den Rd.
Leopard
( Makipi's Male) / Java – Terminalia Rd.
Afternoon
Drive.
(
Grant, Shadrack, Chad, Herold & Godfrey.)
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Buchner.
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Motswari – Reception Rd.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Hide Dam.
Leopard
( Argyle Jnr & 2 x Cubs) / Peru – Xintzele Rd
Leopard
( Makipi's Male) / Peru – Concrete Crossing.
Daily
Synopsis.
Having
been spoilt over the last couple of weeks with the weather this
morning was the first sign of winter with the temperature dropping to
a frosty 10C, not bad considering we are nearing the end of June. The
cooler temperature did not bode well for game-viewing as we find that
the animals only become active once things warm up, kinda like us.
Being the first one's out Jacky and I headed straight to were Argyle
Jnr and her two cubs had their kill but even before reaching the site
we started to pick up on a number of Hyena tracks, not having put the
kill up into a tree when the guys had left her could have proved
costly. We continued on to make sure our suspicions were correct and
finding where she had the kill we now found patches of hair and
shards of bone, definitely not the eating habits of a Leopard, with
the tracks to confirm we could confidently say that it had been
stolen by Hyena during the night. The tracks also told us that the
Hyena's dragged the carcass some distance and that the Leopard had
actually continued to follow them but eventually she chose to head
back South fetch her cubs and then move off to the West. Knowing that
without meat we would struggle to get a good view of her and her shy
cubs we decided instead to respond to a small herd of Elephant Bulls
that Chad had found very near camp. These were also on our ever
expanding Christmas list and it was good to get one in the bag so
early in the morning. Spending considerable time with them, as not
only were they impressive but also it was warmer to sit in the sun,
we eventually roused ourselves from hibernation wanting to head back
down to the Hyena Den and try our luck once again. While we headed
South, Herold and Chad had picked up on Lion tracks that was to keep
them busy for the majority of the morning. These tracks were found by
Shadrack on our far Eastern boundary and reports of them heading West
were called in by various stations. They then turned to the South and
zig-zagged their way down the Tsharalumi River before turning once
again to the West and walked straight out our traversing area on the
Western boundary, an incredible distance to have walked in so short a
time. It also leads me to believe it was those two males we saw the
other day as only they seem to cover such a distance regardless of
territory. More interesting than the Lion tracks that Shadrack picked
up on the Eastern Boundary was the Black Rhino tracks that he also
picked up on coming in from Kruger. These were later tracked for the
entire morning as it first headed West and then turned to the North
were the last tracks were seen over half way through our traversing
area, clearly following the example set by the Lions.
Our
trip to the Hyena Den once again proved fruitless and we set off to
Hide Dam for coffee but before reaching the dam we again picked up on
a massive herd of Elephant that must have been conservatly fifty
strong. It seems to be a pattern for Jacky and I as it has now
happened on three occasions that when we don't find the Hyena we find
Elephant at Hide Dam. With the all the Elephant approaching the dam
across the open plain kicking up the dust along the way made for an
extremely memorable sighting and the disappointment of the Hyena was
very soon a distant memory, what Hyena! We spent the rest of our
morning with them as they drank and mock fought around the dam. We
were so captivated that we actually forgot that we were meant to
return to the Hyena Den and try our luck once more but instead
followed the Elephant as they headed of to feed. The sighting was
further enhanced by the fact that while sitting with the Elephant we
could also see Giraffe, Zebra, Steenbok and Warthog, not bad for a
cool morning.
While
we slowly wound our way back to the lodge the rest of the gang picked
up on a Buffalo herd that also had a bonus sighting in store for them
in the form of the young Makipi's Male following behind the herd. Not
that he is big enough or strong enough to be any threat to the
Buffalo, YET, he does have the potential though as already for his
age he is massive. With the guys enjoying a good sighting of him it
ran them all into overtime and on this occasion everybody except us
was late back to the lodge for breakfast. True to form Godfrey was
last and was lucky to make it back for lunch let alone brunch.
On
afternoon drive we once again chose to head North to Buchner and try
our luck. Having gone three days earlier in the morning we thought we
would give the afternoon a bash and see if we could find anything at
the waterholes spread out on the property, failing that at least we
would have the best location in the Timbavati for a sundowner.
While
we made our way up North quickly so that we could give ourselves time
if we did find tracks to follow up, Chad chose to try his luck at
tracking down the Black Rhino that had been followed heading North on
morning drive. Picking up on tracks early they began the process of
trying to locate their quarry which had unfortunately turned
direction and was heading East back towards the Kruger boundary.
Having last seen Black Rhino four years ago they persevered and found
that the Rhino had actually spent a fair amount of time in our
traversing area and eventually following the tracks out into Kruger
they reckoned that had we had more time in the morning it would have
been located as it appeared that it only crossed back late afternoon.
Definitely worth a try in finding and something to look out for in
the future.
Arriving
on Buchner we wound our way around the pans but only came up with
tracks and not a lot else. Arriving on the Eastern boundary we once
again picked up on our tracks for the pride that we had tracked the
last time we were here. From the tracks it looked like they had
walked here in the morning, Murphy's Law! They stopped at one of the
pans and then continued to the South West and promptly walked back to
the exact spot that they had spent so much time at the last trip
here, there must be something about the broken dam wall that they
enjoy and we once again found were the cubs had played while the
parents rested below in the riverbed. Running out of light we
eventually had to call off our search which was a pity as we had
forgone the sunset in favour of trying to find our elusive pride. We
still made our way to the koppies as it sits high above the
surrounding bush and provides beautiful views to the horizon in all
directions. We would try our luck in bumping into the pride after
dark on our way home. Resuming after drinks we headed off to the pans
that lay along the Lions last known direction but we came up empty
handed and they once again eluded us.
While
we had ourselves a fairly quit afternoon the rest of the gang had
themselves a busy drive finding two different Leopard sightings.
After loosing her kill to Hyena's Argyle Jnr and her cubs had moved a
little to the South West where she promptly made another Impala kill.
She had positioned the kill well and the sighting did not provide the
greatest views but patience paid off for Chad and Herold who got to
see one of the cubs very well and the guys were pretty amased at how
relaxed it was with the vehicle, at one stage it apparently was
twelve metres from the vehicle and did not show any signs of stress.
As the kill was still on the ground the guys had to leave once it
became dark, you would have thought she would have learnt and hoisted
it into a tree. Lets hope that she does not lose it overnight again
as it would be nice to see them. Chad also bumped into Makipi's Male
on his way home which was a bit of a surprise as they had seen him in
the morning a lot further to the South. I think we all underestimate
how far and quickly animals can move when they want to. So for some
it was an the busy afternoon they were looking for, for others it was
the quite afternoon that they were looking for. Having not seen Lions
in the last three days tomorrows sole focus will be on finding these
elusive cats as many of our guests check out.
Due
to admin work backing up I'll be handing over the blogging duties to
Chad for the next couple of days. Thanks for the support and comments
and we'll catch up next week.
Cheers,
Grant.
thanks for some fabulous elephant action Grant ..the winter colours are a glory. Your blog is so full of surprises that sitting here through our mauritian winter I often imagine I am back in the jeep.
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