10 September - Manic Monday

Photo of the Day

Morning Drive

(Shadrack, Herold & Andrea)

Rhino (1 skittish male)

Elephant (Breeding Herd) / Peru - Lion Pan Link

Elephant (2 Kambaku) / Peru - Mangwa Clearing

Lion (2 Xipoko Males) / Vielmeter - Phiva Road

Leopard (Nthombi & Cub) / Vielmeter - Western Shlaralumi

Afternoon Drive

(Shadrack, Herold & Andrea)

Rhino (x1 male, x1 female)

Rhino (Mother & calf with male)

Leopard (Nthombi) / Vielmeter - 2nd Shlaralumi Crossing

Leopard (1 Male) / Peru - Mangwa Clearing

Leopard (1 female) / Peru - Tawny Eagle Road

Elephant (Breeding Herd) / Peru - Illegal Crossing

Elephant (4 Kambaku) / Jaydee - Jaydee Airstrip

Lion (2 Xipoko) / Vielmeter - Phiva Road

Buffalo (2 Daghaboys) / Peru - Giraffe KIll

My plan to head down to the Hyena Den was an utter disaster as there were no hyena out this morning except for one adult who was already sauntering off into the bush and we managed a brief glimpse of her tail! Giyani soon called in a male rhino nearby and so we tried to position ourselves for that however, he was incredibly nervous and while we had a good view of him crossing the road, he soon bolted off into thick bush tail curled. Not a great start to the morning. It soon picked up though when we found male lion tracks, and leopard tracks were called in as well in a similar area. This meant that we were all in quite a concentrated area and no surprises the lion were found quite quickly. Unfortunately the leopard tracks disappeared into thick bush so we set off to see the two male lion. My guests had a wonderful sighting of the two males lying up under a tree - unfortunately for me my head was in a bush so the pics are understandable I hope! 

We were already running a little late and so murphy's law that not long after leaving the two lion, we found Nthombi leopard and her cub. They were making their way north along the riverbed and eventually the cub crossed and took rest in the shade while Nthombi carried on. As the youngster lay down, he disturbed a genet who scuttled off in a right panic! By this stage we were very late, so headed quickly back up north.

The afternoon started off with a beautiful bateluer eagle drinking at Umfene Crossing. We had such a lucky morning in terms of cats, that I wanted to find a relatively relaxed rhino for my guests. We headed past Argyle Dam to find the smaller crocodile resting up on the sand bank, but other than a few warthog the afternoon was rather quiet for me. Other guys had followed up on the leopard from the morning and it was a busy sighting so I stayed well clear. Instead I headed Lily Pan way to look for rhino. 

We soon found tracks which headed back the way we came, and after a second trip up the same road, we found 2 rhino lying down in the grass. They stood up and kept fairly hidden behind some trees but with a backlit sky, they were quite beautiful. A small herd of bull elephants was relatively close and we spent some time with them, watching them feed.

Drakensberg at sunset

 After a very relaxed drinks stop and magnificent sunset, we ambled back up north to camp. Herold and Shadrack both found leopard on their routes home - I had clearly used up all my luck this morning. It was incredibly windy by this time and the leopards were out on the hunt.