Photo of the Day
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| More grazing rhinos! |
29th October Morning Drive
(Peter, Marka, Herold
and Johannes)
3 x rhinos
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Vyeboom Dam
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Vielmetter
Access
4 x elephant bulls – Vielmetter, Double Highway
7 x buffalo bulls – Motswari, Trough Rd
29th October Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Peter, Herold
and Marka)
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Jaydee, Jaydee Access
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Java, Back of Java
5 x elephant bulls – Peru, Sohebele Dam
2 x elephant bulls – Argyle, Argyle Dam
1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Sweetwater
Southern Access
2 x buffalo bulls – Vielmetter, Elephant dam
4 x buffalo bulls – Vielmetter, Sweetwater Pan
2 x buffalo bulls – Vielmetter, Piva Rd
2 x buffalo bulls – Vielmetter, Lower River Rd
2 x buffalo bulls – Vielmetter, Nyosi Crossing
30th October Morning Drive
(Chad, Peter, Herold
and Marka)
2 x rhino
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Giraffe Kill Rd
1 x elephant bull – Peru, Illegal Crossing
30th October Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Johannes,
Herold and Marka)
2 x rhinos
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Elephant Dam Rd
4 x elephant bulls – Argyle, Buffalo Pan Access
1 x elephant bull – Vielmetter, 2nd Sharalui
1 x elephant bull – Karans, Western Cutline
Daily Synopsis
I returned to drive on Monday afternoon after hearing about
how the guys had been struggling for cats the last few days, and sadly, my
first two days back on drive seemed to be a continuation of this trend!
I know that cats are not the be all and end all of a safari,
but as it is what most guest wish to see, it is a bit frustrating when they are
not playing along....like now!
Fortunately, we have actually been pretty lucky with a load
of other sightings, and our diversity of viewing has been very good!
The first afternoon started with me taking it easy in the
north, and we ticked off impala, kudu, waterbuck, warthog, steenbuck, duiker,
bushbuck, nyala and zebra as we bumbled about; luckily my guests had seen good
game on the way in – one couple saw Xindzuti male leopard resting next to the
road, the other group saw buffalo, elephant and rhinos!
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| Impala, waterbuck, kudu, warthogs and zebras |
We made our way back at Argyle Dam and had a lovely
sundowner with hippos for company, and they were very active which was a
treat. On the way home we saw two
elephants a scrub hare, but in general it was a touch quiet.
The next morning I decided to take a chance and head east in
the hope that some sign of lions could be found to follow up on; we saw a blind
snake (which I had never seen before!), as well as several groups of zebras on
Kudu Pan Clearing, and a lone wildebeest trying to be a zebra!
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| Zebra and lone wildebeest |
Making our way south along the Kruger boundary was
exceptionally quiet, and as we moved back to the central areas, things didn’t
really pick up! Only once back near Java
did we improve, and enjoyed a large herd of zebra, wildebeest and giraffes
together.
A bit further down the road we got to see two rhinos
resting, but it was in a slightly thick area, so not ideal for photos.
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| Giraffe, wildebeest and rhinos |
After a cup of coffee, we headed back to the lodge, seeing
kudu and impala as we went, as well as a relaxed Sharpe’s Grysbok, and a brief
sighting of an African wild cat in the day, so both of those were a treat!
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| Sharpe's Grysbok! |
The afternoon saw several stations following up on Umfana
male, that Giyani and his Java guests got to see late in the morning, but
sadly, despite their best efforts, he remained elusive in the afternoon.
Moving southwards during the course of the drive, we did
alright; crocodile, hippos, impala, kudu, waterbuck, warthogs, and steenbuck
and duiker. But signs for big cats were
just not forthcoming...
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| Hippos and a tree squirrel |
Eventually we got to see a lone elephant bull, and spent
quite a bit of time with him as he fed on the riverbank of the Nhlaralumi, and
we all had bets on whether or not he was going to slip down the side of the
bank...luckily for him, I lost the bet!
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| Elephant bull |
Moving on from him, we got to see those two rhinos again,
and they were in a much better area, so we managed to get a few photos as they
fed around.
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| Rhinos |
Before closing for a drink, we did come across a small herd
of elephants, and as always, the babies kept us entertained with their antics.
The drive home was a quiet one again, and all we saw was a
civet...it had spots and looked like a cat, but not quite what we had on the
list!
As always, one cant lose faith, and we have to just go out
there again tomorrow and hope that some animals return...