Fri 7 - It's been a while

Southern Foam Nest Frog (Chiromantis xerampelina)

Morning Drive - no drive

Afternoon Drive
(Herold & Andrea)

Rhino (1 male)

Elephant (Breeding Herd) / Vielmeter – Entrance Dam Road

Lion (2 Ximpoko males & 1 female) / Jaydee – 1^st Shlaralumi Crossing

Hello everyone, it has certainly been a while since I was last on blog duty!  And it certainly has been a busy few months as Chad has kept you all up to date with. It is always a little nerve-wracking to come back on drive after leave, but once back behind the wheel and camera nearby one starts to relax again.

With guests here only for one night, the pressure was on and knowing the Ximpoko lion were down on Jaydee with a buffalo kill, I slowly meandered south. Things started out a little slowly with only a little bit of general game. We had about 76 ml of rain two days ago and the results are showing. The grass that had begun to dry up, has burst back in full green, the mudwallows overflowing, the mopane worms still out in full force and the foam nest frogs are busy whipping up their nests over the endless pools of muddy water.

One of the southern stations called in a male rhino, and with this animal being on the request list, I responded. En route there we found a breeding herd of ellies with a large bull traipsing behind. They were already mobile and we just caught them before they headed down  steep embankment and disappeared down the drainage line.

We eventually got to the rhino, who barely raised his head he was so involved with the new green grass. So we patiently watched him as he mowed away, and only once he had pushed into rather thick bush did we move on for a drinks stop with a spectacular sunset.

With not much time left, we headed to see what the lion were up to. By this time is was becoming dark and while we got there in time to watch them feeding, rolling in the sand and rubbing up against a Date Nut Palm, this is unfortunately the only photo that really came out - and only because she decided to sit still and strike a pose for me.

Well, I know tonight's  blog is short and sweet, but I hope this next week is filled with good sightings and great photo opportunities for me to share with you.

Andrea