Photo of the Day
Argyle Jnr's little girl |
Morning Drive
(Chad and Grant)
2 x leopards (Argyle Jnrs cubs with an impala kill) –
Argyle, Leadwood Bush Braai
1 x leopard (Rockgfig Jnr female) – Vielmetter, Dizzy Drive
1 x elephant cow – Vielmetter, Vielmetter-Alberts Cutline
Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Grant and
Shaddy)
2 x lions (Ximpoko and Mabande males) – Kings, Ridge Rd
2 x lions (Makifizolo males) – Peru, Snare Rd
1 x leopard (Makepisi male) – Peru, Snare Rd
1 x leopard (Argyle Jnr’s boy with impala kill) – Argyle,
Leadwood Bush Braai
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Java, Palm Crossing
1 x elephant bull – Vielmetter, Dizzy Drive
1 x elephant bull – Vielmetter, Vielmetter-Alberts Cutline
1 x elephant bull – Buchner
1 x elephant bull – Vielmetter, Sweetwater Pan
1 x buffalo bull – Vielmetter, Sweetwater Pan
1 x buffalo bull - Buchner
Daily Synopsis
Heading out, I was in desperate need of a leopard, but on
hearing that the 12mm of rain we received last night was nothing compared to
what the rest of the reserve got (most the south and west got around 50mm), and
that this rain had caused all the rivers to start flowing again and closed off road
driving across most of the reserve, I sort of resigned myself to the fact that
this was unlikely to happen.
I made my way south, mostly wanting to go check up on the
giraffe kill, but as it was in the Nhlaralumi River which was now flowing bank
to bank, I wasn't sure what to expect?
The trip down was a bit quiet, but arriving where we saw all the animals
last night, we did find a large group of giraffes on Java airstrip and spent
time with them.
Moving along, we braved Steep Machaton Crossing and crossed
easily before pausing at Leopard Rock Hide for a wonderful view over the
Nhlaralumi as the sun shone through. It was
at about this time that the game started picking up, and for a day following
the rain, the sightings established were quite impressive – sadly with off
roading not possible, most of the animals were lost – the two Ximpoko and Mabande
male lions were found following a buffalo herd, a pack of wild dogs, and a
leopard in a marula tree were found in a short space of time as I sat and
watched the water rush over the giraffe kill in the river, but only the hyenas
and vultures had stuck around to wait it out – the lioness had moved on! Of all the things we thought would take the
kill, the river was the last of them!!!
Click for a larger view |
Grant was watching a backlit leopard some 50m off the road,
and I was desperate enough to try get there, and managed to get through the
Machaton River again, but it was all in vain, as I had no sooner got through
when the leopard jumped down the tree and disappeared! Luckily in the north, three leopards were
found with a kill, and I now had to take a chance and make the long trip back
there!
It wasn't the most productive trip back north, but we saw a
lone elephant cow, impalas, a troop of baboons, a tree smoking from a lightning
strike and some zebras.
Arriving back north, we were lucky to find that the Nhlaralumi
had dropped enough to allow us to cross at Concrete Crossing and get to the
western side where the leopards had managed to get some of their kill back from
the hyenas; we arrived to a rather distant visual of Argyle Jnr’s two youngsters
– the boy was resting on a log and the girl was up a marula tree with the kill,
but she soon came down and joined her brother before moving off – it was a
distance away, but still good to see them considering the limitations! Two Mafikizolo male lions had also been found
in the north, but they too had moved off the road leaving no sighting; luckily
the sun was shining and dried up some of the areas during the day.
With some new guests for the afternoon, I was keen for an
afternoon in the north with the leopards and the lions, but on hearing all the
vehicles heading in that direction, I made my way south; it was very quiet and I
wondered if I had made the right choice, especially when the two Mafikizolo’s
were found with Makepisi male leopard in a tree 20m from them!
Luckily things worked out for me, and after only impala and
kudu, in the south we got some giraffes, a lone elephant bull and then a small
herd of elephants that we spent time with.
One more elephant was seen before the wild dogs were relocated – they were
making their way to my side of the river, but lost as they approached the
Nhlaralumi – I tried on my side, but they didn’t cross and sadly we were unable
to find any sign of them, so we stopped for a lovely drink in the Nhlaralumi
itself before carrying on.
With the Ximpoko and Mabande males nearby, we went just
after sunset, and as per their usual MO, they got active and began roaring only
metres from our Land Rover, totally making the whole trip south worth our
while!
We then had a long trip back to the lodge that didn’t produce
too much, but we were rather chuffed with another good day – lets just hope the
leopards hang around in the north until tomorrow morning!
The fifth picture from the bottom would make an exceptional picture/poster !
ReplyDeleteI noticed some giraffes are alot darker in color than others ... why is that? Do they get darker with age? And how on earth to you tell each leopard from the other?! You always know whos who! They all look alike to me, except the 1 with the blue eyes, lol! Great photos as usual Chad :)
ReplyDeleteChantelle