17th August – Why Do We Complain About Wind???

Photo of the Day

Nthombi's boy after eating a good meal

Morning Drive

(Chad, Marka, Herold, Shadrack and Grant)

2 x lions (Ximpoko males) – Vielmetter, Western Cutline

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Peru, Hippo Rocky Rd

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Argyle, Horizon Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Jaydee Access

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Jaydee, Tchwala Rd

Afternoon Drive

(Chad, Marka, Herold, Shadrack and Grant)

2 x lions (Ximpoko males) – Vielmetter, Western Cutline

2 x leopards (Nthombi and cub) – Vielmetter, Double Highway

1 x leopard (Mbali female) – Peru, Peru Entrance Rd

1 x leopard (unidentified male) – Jaydee, Makulu Dam

2 x rhino (female and calf)

1 x rhino (semi-relaxed bull)

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Motswari, Airstrip

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Peru, Klipgat Crossing

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Back 9’s West

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Giraffe Kill Rd

5 x cane rats – Vielmetter, Elephant Dam

Daily Synopsis

Well, the weatherman was right – the cold front hit us and the temperatures did drop, and the wind did blow...but, just as I had hoped, it had very little effect on the animals; at least not the big ones anyway!

Okay, to be fair, it was a bit quiet out there, but it all depended on what one was after – looking at the sightings list for the day, you can see that there was definitely no shortage of Big 5 sightings – or indeed leopards – Shaddy saw four leopards in the afternoon!

My morning started once again heading past Argyle Dam, but only a fish eagle really caught our attention as the wind seemed to keep the smaller animals at bay.

Fish eagle take-off

A few impalas showed themselves, but for the first hour and a half, that was about it!  We tried looking for the buffalo herd, but they seemed to have slipped through the only little section of road Petros and I didn’t check, and sure enough were only found once we had moved out the area!

Impalas

The first proper sighting for us was a small herd of elephants with an entertaining calf that we enjoyed watching for a while.

Small elephant herd

After a warming cup of coffee, Nthombi and her cub were found having managed to salvage some of the kill which the hyena stole last night; but as the line up was quite big (and the fact that I was planning to go that side to see the Ximpoko male lions that Giyani found in the morning in that area), I passed on it and moved to the west to see the buffalos that had evaded us earlier!

They were resting, a bit strange on a cool morning, but slowly got up and moved back east from where they had come, meaning that they missed out on a morning drink this morning.

Breeding herd of buffalo

The game then picked up and we saw a couple of herds of zebras, waterbuck, impala, dwarf mongooses and Grant found another herd of buffalo a kilometre or two west of the camp.

Zebras

In the afternoon, the wind hadn’t stopped as we moved south via a few eastern and central points that produced very little in the way of general game – even the hyenas were tucked away deep inside their den!

The two Ximpoko male lions kept us occupied for a short while, but as per usual, they didn’t do much but sleep!

Ximpoko male lions

A nice journey of giraffes nearby were a bit more lively, but we left them too and headed towards the area of Nthombi and her cub, passing a small herd of elephants on the route.  Herold and Shaddy had much more eventful afternoon sticking to the river courses – between them they notched up two different rhino sightings, a herd of buffalo, a herd of elephants and Shaddy even had a leopard on his sundowner stop (and then found Mbali leopardess on his way home!).

Journey of giraffes and a parade of elephants

I opted just for two leopards (like I had a choice!), and enjoyed a lovely sighting of Nthombi and her boy moving away from their kill for some reason?  The light wasn't on our side, but seeing two leopards together is always a treat as they occasionally ambushed one another before separating as it got dark.

wind