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| Pic Of The Day. |
(
Grant, Andrea, Herold & Shadrack.)
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Giraffe Kill Rd.
Elephant
( Kambaku's) / Buchner – KNP Corner.
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / Java – Java Dam Access.
Leopard
( Rockfig Jnr) / Vielmieter – Back Nines.
Afternoon
Drive.
(
Grant, Andrea, Herold & Shadrack.)
Buffalo
( Breeding Herd) / Java – Java Dam.
Elephant
( Kambaku) / Peru – Flooded Crossing.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Java – Java/ Mbali Rd.
Rhino
( Female & Female Calf)
Leopard
( Rockfig Jnr) / Vielmieter – Back Nines.
Leopard
( Argyle Jnr & 2 x Cubs) / - Sohobele Dam.
Daily
Synopsis.
With
the reserve being pretty well covered Petros and myself decided to
head up to Buchner in the far North East corner and try our luck up
there in the continuing search for the King of the Jungle. It is
always a gamble as you are so far away from everyone and everything
you basically commit yourself to what you find yourself, just the way
I like it! The isolation is worth the trip alone and anything else
you find is a bonus. On two previous occasions we narrowly missed out
on a large pride of Lions, so we were hoping that this time round we
would be lucky. Approaching the area of vast vista's and sketchy
radio comm's we began to zig-zag through the property keeping our
eyes peeled for anything and everything. The first half was to be
very quit with us only finding the tracks of “ what could have
been,” but no tangible sightings if you don't include the lone
Steenbok or couple Impala hidden in Mopane shrub. Reaching the Kruger
boundary we turned South intending to stop for coffee on the koppies
but before reaching them we found ourselves a very impressive herd of
Bull Elephant hidden in amongst the Mopane on the Kruger side. From
the little we could see there was one massive tusker and it would be
worth our while waiting to see if they headed across the boundary to
a nearby pan. So heading back North we stopped for our Morning coffee
at the KNP corner which offered us not only great views of the
surrounding area but it also allowed us to keep an eye on the
progression of our Bull herd. Even from this far distance we could
make out our big tusker and it appeared we would be in luck as they
headed very slowly towards the cutline. Shortly before wrapping up
coffee our majestic mammals crossed the boundary and accelerated
their pace towards the water.
Packing
quickly we headed off in their direction and caught up with them
around the pan. We were not to be disappointed as the tusks on one
particular individual were huge. Initially they shied from the
vehicle and we had to manoeuvre a couple times to get into a position
they were comfortable with our presence, you would have thought it
would have been the other way round. Sitting with them in a clearing
of thick riverine bush we got ourselves a great view and when they
moved off into the really thick stuff we moved around back to the pan
knowing the eventually would come to the water. Sitting at the pan it
was a further fifteen minutes before the emerged from the opposite
side of the wall and begun feeding on the trees alongside the pan.
When one eventually made it's way to the water it seemed to trigger
all of them into action and they all found themselves a spot around
the pan to drink. The massive tusker chose not to join and we think
he continued down the drainage line while the others provided us with
a terrific sighting. Finished drinking they slowly returned to
feeding in the direction of the “ Big Boy.”
We
took this as our opportunity to head off and start our trip back to
the lodge. As we entered into radio range it sounded like the rest of
the Motswari gang had themselves as good morning with them first
finding a large breeding herd of Elephant and then located on Rockfig
Jnr who made a guest appearance from the South. Shadrack was lucky
enough to be with her when she killed a Steenbok which should keep
her in the area until at least this afternoon, we may even get a view
of her cub. Something to look forward to on this afternoons drive.
Receiving
two new guests for one night the pressure was on to try and find them
as much as possible in their two drives to try offset the
disappointment of having lost a day due to flight delays. Having a
good foundation from this morning we set off directly South in the
direction of the Buffalo Herd. We thought we could then swing by the
Hyena Den and finally onto Rockfig Jnr and should time allow try fit
in the Elephant as well, so plan formulated time to put it into
action. Heading straight South we received news that the Buffalo were
still resting in the same spot as they had been left in late morning
but as we got closer we received word that they had now stood and
turned to the West making their way towards Java Dam for their
afternoon drink. Instead of catching the back of the herd and then
having to bush-bash we decided to head straight for the dam and get
ourselves into a good position knowing that it would not be long
before they arrive. All set up we could hear the approaching herd and
see a cloud of dust not far off. It was not long before the first
trail blazers broke from the surrounding bush they seemed to hesitate
on getting into the clearing and were a little wary of our presence
but with the pressure of five hundred others behind them wanting
water they were pushed on towards the dam. It was an amasing sighting
as hundreds and hundreds of Buffalo came streaming out the bush
across the clearing and then around and into the water all jostling
for the best position. Eventually the dam was a sea of Buffalo and
you could no longer see the water. We must have sat there a half hour
and by the time we left they were still spilling out the bush as if
there was no end. Being so many the area could not handle the
capacity and so when the Buffalo had their fill of water they had to
move off to the East to make room for the others.
Knowing
we were on a tight schedule we had to make a move as already we had
overstayed our time. Pushing onto the Hyena Den we were once again
going to spend a little more time than allocated but then how can you
not when you have all three youngsters out and mom sitting by keeping
an eye. As she was present on this occasion the youngsters were their
curious selves and it was not long before they were alongside the
vehicle sniffing and then chewing what they could on the side of the
vehicle. The older two's antics even intrigued their younger relation
who also approached the vehicle but then would run back to mom at the
smallest disturbance. It's courage is growing day by day though and
I'm sure in the next few weeks it's going to be a handful. Like the
Buffalo we were pushed from the sighting, which was a good thing as
otherwise we would still be there, as others were keen to respond.
Not
being far from Rockfig Jnr we headed in her direction but on entering
the sighting we found that not only was she lying up in a pretty
inaccessible riverbed but she had chosen her position well in the
centre of a Common Spike Thorn thicket so all you could see was her
lying on her back. Sitting with her a while we hoped that she would
get active as it was now getting late but apart from swishing away a
couple of flies she remained in her well hidden spot showing no other
signs or intentions of moving.
A little disappointed we pulled out the sighting to make room for another station as it was a one vehicle sighting. No sooner had we left we received news that she was up and dragging her Steenbok carcass up a tree, quickly checking that nobody else was responding to her, we made our way back. By the time we once again made our way into the tricky riverbed she had placed her carcass up in the fork of an Apple Tree and as we came to a stop she made her way back down the tree and promptly walked off out the riverbed. This was turning out to be a definite Murphy's Law moment, all the signs were there, getting ourselves once again out the riverbed we began to follow her but this was very short lived as she turned and made her way along a impenetrable drainage line that there was not following her through. Lucky for us we knew where she was heading and we quickly drove around to Hide Dam to wait for her to pop up for her drink. We approached the dam just in time to find her walking up the wall and to the waters edge where she crouched in typical Leopard fashion and began drinking. We sat with her a while enjoying the sighting of her drinking with the last shards of the days light slowly disappearing behind her, once gone we were left in darkness and decided to head on our way for a drink of our own.
Not
having got around to everything we had planned there is a fair amount
of work left for us to do in the morning but with Herold and Shadrack
having found Elephant and Rhino on their afternoon drives we have at
least a starting point to look from in the morning. We'll be
attempting the triple so lets hope that the Elephant, Rhino &
Lion all know about our plans! I'll be leaving you in the more than
capable hands of Andrea for the next couple of days until I return to
drive on Friday, until then, ciao!
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