18th December – Nice in The North!

Photo of the Day

Jacaranda young male

Morning Drive

(Chad and Shaddy)

6 x lions (Jacaranda Pride – 3 males, 3 females) – Peru, Sohebele Plains

2 x leopards (Argyle Jnr’s two cubs) – Motswari, Sharalumi Access

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Motswari, Airstrip

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Sohebele Plains

Afternoon Drive

(Chad, Marka and Shaddy)

6 x lions (Jacaranda Pride – 3 males, 3 females) – Peru, Woza-Woza Cutline

4 x rhinos

2 x rhinos

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Java, Western Cutline

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Argyle, Buffalo Pan

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Elepehant Dam

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Sohebele River Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Western Cutline

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Elephant Dam

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Entrance Dam

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Double Highway

2 x elephant bulls – Argyle, Straight Rd

2 x elephant bulls – Argyle, Mangova Rd

Daily Synopsis

Not a photo-filled blog today, but that is not to say it wasn't another fantastic day at Motswari.  The morning began with Grant informing me that he had seen fresh lion tracks as well as a herd of buffalo while cycling back to the lodge in the morning, and then deciding not to go run on the airstrip because of the buffalo, we went another route only to find a leopard sleeping up a tree!  Shaddy followed up and found not one but two leopards – Argyle Jnr’s cubs – and enjoyed that, the lions that were located early on near Sohebele Dam, a herd of elephants and the buffalo herd. 

I was just taking Fabrice, Victor and Elea for a long bushwalk this morning, and while we didn’t see much besides impala, waterbuck and hippos, we did enjoy getting out on foot; on the way back to camp, we popped in to see the two leopards that were still around and actually had a wonderful sighting of them; the little girl wasn't so quick to run away today, and the little boy was up and down and appleleaf tree making for a wonderful sighting...if only I had taken my camera!

I got some new guests in the afternoon, and covered only 17km in the drive, 6 of which were zig-zagging in the north looking for the two leopards with no luck!  We did however find a couple of buffalo bulls before finding a large herd of elephants that put on a great show and had them right up at the vehicle, and as always, nothing quite comes close to sitting in the middle of a breeding herd of elephants!

Moving on from there we enjoyed waterbuck and impalas before trying the lions at sunset, but sadly, they were in no mood to even move and we left them all very static – amazing how relaxed they have gotten in only a few days back in the area!

After drinks we headed back to camp, not seeing much besides another herd of elephants, but for a first drive, it was great!

Shaddy pushed west and achieved his goal of finding rhino, but he did it in style and found four!  Marka went south and saw rhino, loads of elephants and a couple of herds of buffalo, as well as the lions – not bad for guests here for only one drive!