Photo of the Day
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| Ximpoko male lion |
Morning Drive
(Chad, Grant, Shaddy,
Marka, Johannes and Andrea)
2 x lions (Ximpoko and Mabande males) – Vielmetter, Back 9’s
West
1 x leopard (Shongile female) – De Luca, Drongo Drive
5 x rhinos
1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Entrance Dam
3 x buffalo bulls – Motswari, Wedge Boundary Rd
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Giraffe Kill Rd
Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Grant, Marka
and Johannes)
2 x lions (Ximpoko and Mabande males) – Vielmetter, Back 9’s
West
2 x leopards (Argyle Jnr’s cubs) – Argyle, Buffalo Pan
1 x leopard (Xindzuti male) – Argyle, Klipdrift Crossing
5 x rhinos
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Buffalo Pan
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Piva Bamba Rd
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Jack’s Camp
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Motswari, Sharalumi Access
1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Bluewaxbill Rd
1 x buffalo bull – Vielmetter, Western Sharalumi
Daily Synopsis
My guests had asked to see some more lions following a
lionless day yesterday, so I thought I would check the east to see if the
Jacaranda or Sohebele lions might have returned, but I was only entering into
the area when we were informed that lions had been calling near Back Nine’s on
Vielmetter, so I changed my plans and headed further south, checking only some
of the east along the way, but it didn’t produce much besides impalas and
steenbuck.
Emerging from the east, we came across a group of giraffes
and zebras together – interestingly it was where the Timbavati Pride had their
zebra kill stolen by hyenas last week and one zebra was walking around sniffing
the site of the kill – I wonder how much of what had unfolded there the zebra
could gather or even remembered?
Moving to the area where the lions had been heard roaring,
we drove about and found no track at all on any of the roads we checked, and as
I was about to give up, we came across a few tracks before they too left the
road to the east. Knowing that we hadn’t
seen any tracks emerging from the area, Petros and I were confident that the
lions were close, and so he jumped off on foot and began tracking. Much to the guests concern, I carried on with
the drive, and stopped a few hundred metres away to watch a duiker; it was then
that Petros called me, and I knew he had already found the lions, so we turned
around and two minutes later we pulled up to find Ximpoko and Mabande resting
(just for a change!). Both were awake,
and pleasingly, while Mabande had seen Petros, he didn’t run away, a clear sign
that they are getting more used to us and the area. We spent time with them, but knowing that we
had some new guests coming in the afternoon, I explained that we would return
later and we left the lions to sleep in peace.
At the spot we saw our duiker, it had now been replaced by a
couple of hundred buffalo drinking at Entrance Dam, so we enjoyed them before
leaving them heading to the north, and sadly not in the direction of the lions,
so we parted company and went for coffee at a crossing on the Machaton River
where there was a small pool of water. Ray, one of my guests, pointed out ripples in
the water and joked about a crocodile, but as it was so tiny, I knew that there
was nothing in the water, so we set up coffee and began pouring when I heard
the words “hippo?”, and looked around to see a hippos head popping out of the
water about 20m away! Luckily he was
chilled and didn’t mind our intrusion, so I got to spend time photographing him
from the water’s edge.
We resumed with the drive and made a quick return to the north
to where Andrea had earlier found Shongile leopardess resting up the most
perfect marula tree! Sadly, she climbed
down and moved through the least perfect mopane woodland when we were with her,
but we persisted and followed her for some time before she got into an area
that was too much, even for us! Typical
of all of our leopards to come out now!
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| Shongile female |
Leopards weren’t on the agenda for the afternoon, and my two
new guests had asked for lions and elephants, so after arriving a touch late,
they joined up with us and we continued having spent the first part of the
drive with hippos and a crocodile.
The north is presently much greener than the south, so all
of the elephants are making good use of this and as a result, the north is full
of elephants, and we came across a lovely herd along the Nhlaralumi Riverbed
and spent some quality time with them as they fed alongside the Land Rover.
Carrying on south to get to the area of the lions, we saw
impalas, waterbuck, kudus and steenbuck again, as well as giraffe and some good
birds. Arriving south, we managed to
find a lone buffalo bull, and not too long after that, we got to see a crash of
5 rhinos feeding on the green grass along a riverbed.
Closing for drinks nearby, we could still see some of the rhinos
in the riverbed below our rocky outcrop and we watched as the sunset on another
fantastic day in the bush...but it wasn't over yet!
The line up for the lions had been a bit of a mess all
afternoon, but eventually it died down and I got to go in as the last
station. As I was approaching the guide
in the sighting broadcast their roaring over the radio, so I stopped and
watched in delight as the new guests realised what was waiting just ahead of
us! As we pulled in, they got up and
came walking within a metre of the Land Rover – what an experience!!!
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| Ximpoko and Madande male lions |
Then as we got in front of them again, they began roaring
once more, but this time Mabande did it as he walked past the Landy, and to
have a lion roaring literally 3m from you is an experience not to be
forgotten! They went to rest again
before we had to leave them and head back to the lodge, once again being
late...but for roaring lions, I didn’t mind!
(apologies for the sore neck watching this, but i dont know how to rotate the video!!! Thanks Daniela for the video!)
If you missed yesterday’s blog, here is the link for some lovely
leopard photos:
The lions roaring ....... how I miss this ...Thank you
ReplyDeleteThank you for the video! I loved it.
ReplyDelete