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| Photo of the Day |
(Grant & Andrea)
Leopard (Rockfig Jnr & Cub) / Vielmeter – Bushwillow Way
Elephant (Breeding herd) / Vielmeter – Molongo Road
Wild Dog (Pack of 18) / Tanda Thula – Machaton Dam
Afternoon Drive
(Andrea)
Elephant (Kambaku) / Motswari – Motswari airstrip
Leopard (Makepisi & Brother) / Java – Confluence
crossing
The morning started out incredibly quiet to the
point of concern. You know things are tough when tree squirrels are your only
point of conversation! It was understandable then that I was ecstatic to find a
bushbuck. Only after reviewing the photographs later however, did I notice the
tiny butterflies resting on the bushbuck’s eyelids, obviously enjoying the
moisture. Being the shy animals bushbuck are, she slowly moved off.
Continuing along, Johannes then called in
Rockfig Jnr very far away. Knowing this could be my only chance of a sighting
for the morning, I headed in Vielmeter direction. I had to hurry as she was
mobile, and we bounced along until coming to bushwillow way. As I pulled into
the sighting, her cub took fright and bolted with mother after her. It took a
while to relocate and when we finaly did, all we could see was grass. Luckily
the cub popped it’s head out for a while 5 seconds and I snapped away. The cub
has a 2:3 spot pattern and it was an honour to see it, even though it was for
so short. The little one does seem slowly getting used to vehicles so hopefully
we will be getting better views soon. Not wanting to push her too much, we
pulled out of the sighting as there was still quite a line up.
Wild Dogs were then called in on Tanda Tula
property and we had been invited on. I knew I was going to be terrible late
back to the lodge, but a pack of 18? How could I resist? The pack was on the
opposite side of Machaton Dam, and were very interested in the catfish who kept
surfacing. It was a scenic sighting as we could see the entire pack, with their
reflections in the water. The pack soon moved off and we unfortunately could
not follow in that property, and also had quite a journey back to camp. Feeling
satisfied with some good sightings, we bumped and bounced back home for a much
deserved breakfast (especially since we had sacrificed a drinks stop for the
dogs!).
The afternoon started with a bull elephant on
the airstrip. My guests had viewed him earlier as he fed and drank in front of
camp so we did not stay too long. It was a very warm afternoon, and the bush
seemed quiet with animals taking to the shade and hiding.
We headed towards confluence crossing and
surprised a male leopard drinking at a little pan. Initially we thought it was
Machaton male as he had been seen nearby the day before. However, one of my
guests suddenly exclaimed that there were two leopard! Sure enough, lying in
the grass was a second leopard. It was Makepisi and his brother who were lazily
enjoying the afternoon shade. We watched them for quite a while and also found
a dead tortoise nearby which the two brothers have a habit of catching, even
though they cannot eat much.
After a wonderful sighting we decided it was time for
sundowners so we headed down into the dry riverbed. After a great drinks stop,
with two hyenas skulking past we started off again, well at least tried to. It
was a quiet drive back, with one shy chameleon peeking its head out.
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