12.12.12

Nthombi's cub

Morning Drive

(Marka & Andrea)

Rhino (1 male)

Leopard (Argyle Jnr) / Peru – Lover’s Leap

Afternoon Drive

(Marka & Andrea)

Lion (2 Ximpoko males & 2 females) / Vielmeter – Lower River Road

Leopard (Nthombi’s boy) / Vielmeter – Sweet Water Northern Access

The rain continued sporadically through the night and was still falling softly as we woke. Our guests were a little skeptical of a morning walk so we decided to head out on drive and if it cleared a bit, we would get out and do a bit of a walk. The visibility was quite low and the drizzle continued and things were quiet! A rhino was the spotted and with the ground very saturated and of course as a different experience, I decided to take the guests in on foot. The wind was in our favour, the rain had finally let up and we were able to have a good view of the rhino without disturbing him. I the started towards Sohebele Dam where I planned to walk with the guests to Argyle Dam but just then a leopard was spotted, so we changed routes. Unfortunately it was Argyle Jnr and she did not want to be viewed and despite Johannes’s attempts to relocate her, there was no luck. Instead we headed to our airstrip where we found a herd of wildebeest, zebra and a lone giraffe. We walked to Argyle Dam from there, finding mainly mopane worms!

 

The rain cleared a little through the day, but typically the moment drive started so did the rain! It wasn’t too bad though – the bush was looking fresh and green and now all we had to do was find some animals in it! The first was very quiet. The lions were still down on Vielmeter and so I slowly made my way there. En route, Nthombi’s cub was found and we weren’t too far so instead of going to the lion first, we shot off to the leopard who was happily sitting in a marula tree. With such a grey sky (and my lens) photography was difficult, but I did quite enjoy the blurred images of the leopard descending the tree – they almost look like a painting. He was in a playful mood and kept running about chasing hornbills – he really is one beautiful cat.

The lions were still static so we visited them afterwards and watched as the one male kept trying his luck with the female, who was clearly not interested. With no one else responding, we sat with them until we ran out of time.

 It is funny how the bush goes sometimes that you will see nothing for the first part of drive and then it all pops out at once – it certainly keeps us on our toes!