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| Grant's Pic Of The Day. |
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| Chad's Pic of the Day |
(
Grant, Shadrack & Marka.)
Lion
( Sohobele Male) / Vielmieter – Argyle Rd.
Lion
( Maband & Xipoko Male & Mafikizolo Female) / JayDee –
Khono Bobesi.
Lion
( Unknown Male) / Ingwelala – Argyle Rd.
Leopard
( Mbali) / Peru – Wilkens Way.
Elephant
( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Peru Cutline.
Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Shaddy, Grant
and Marka)
19 x wild dogs – Mbali, Buffal Kill Rd
1 x lion (Mabande male) – Vielmetter, Vielmetter-Alberts
Cutline
1 x leopard (Mbali female with steenbuck kill) – Peru, No
Name Rd
1 x leopard (Machaton Male) – Mbali, White Syringa
3 x rhinos
1 x breeding herd of elephant – Peru, Giraffe Kill Lookout
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Mbhandzu Rd
Daily Synopsis.
Finding
ourselves in the same boat as Herold and Marka the previous morning
we needed to find Lions on our guests last game drive. Thankfully we
were not alone and I think all the guys were on high alert for
anything that resembled a Lion, Lion track or any other sign.
Formulating a plan at morning coffee we all decided where we would
check trying to cover all the areas so as to not leave any stone
unturned. Marka was going to head North of the camp and then head to
the East as he wanted to see if the Lions were following behind the
herd of Buffalo who had visited the camp at around one in the
morning. Shaddy chose to head to the North West and check along those
boundaries before turning South. That left the Eastern boundary and
the central section which Jacky and I were left. Hoping onto the
central road we headed straight South, to be honest not one of my
favourite roads but it has it's uses and this was one of them as
anything moving East to West or vice versa we would pick up on. With
the weatherman once again being wrong we found ourselves under thick
grey clouds and the ever present threat of rain, neither of these
being good for tracking. For the next hour the radio went dead and I
actually contemplated calling one of the guys just to check it was
actually working but thought against it as I thought if they had seen
as little as we had there would be no need to actually have a radio
let alone have it on, and it truly felt like we were the only living
things out there. Reaching our Southern boundary we were about to
turn to the West when out of nowhere a message was relayed that there
was a young male Lion resting near a pan on our South Western
Boundary. The radio suddenly sprung to life resuscitated from it's
flat line as all stations from near and far responded. Luckily for us
we were one of the nearest and could make our way directly to the
sighting but as is our M.O we were distracted by tracks for another
two large male Lions and a female. Hearing that the single male Lion
was highly mobile and that there had been audio for other line very
close to where we were now we thought we would check around a little
before responding immediately. Checking the surrounding roads we did
not find any other tracks and thought we were now close but hearing
that the single Lion had now turned to the West and was heading for
our traversing boundary we decided that Jacky would go on foot to
follow up while I rushed to the other Lion before it crossed our
boundary. After a lot of confusion as to where exactly the station
with the Lion was we all lined up on the boundary road hoping to get
a glimpse as it crossed over. Meanwhile during all this mayhem and on
his way towards the pandemonium Marka bumped into a Maghaltini Male
up on our Northern boundary and had himself a great private viewing
as the big male wandered backwards and forwards clearly following a
scent trail. Back at the circus the Lion arrived to a wall of jeeps
which had him hesitate and then sit down in the thickest bush he
could find. We pulled closer to try get a better view but with all
the stations about and the pressure you could feel I felt very sorry
for the Lion and decided to pull out hoping that he would just cross.
I can honestly say it was the worst Lion sighting I have ever been at
and am actually embarrassed to have been part of. I learnt a valuable
lesson at that moment, that won't have me finding myself in that
situation ever again. We did have a long enough glimpse to be able to
identify him as a Sohobele Male which is very interesting as he could
be the one of three that has been missing their last couple of
visits. It does however put him a long way out of his normal range.
Checking in with Jacky he was still on the tracks of the other three
and they were heading in our direction. Joining up with Jack from
Tanda Tula the two of them went about tracking while we checked
around the roads in the area. With it beginning to rain we headed off
for a cup of coffee in the shelter of a nearby hangar leaving Jacky
and Jack to work their magic which would have to be even more
powerful given the conditions. Leaving my radio on during coffee, no
sooner had we brewed our beverages did we receive a message from
Jacky that they had found the Lions. Leaving everything in the hangar
we all hoped aboard and rushed off in his direction. Finding both
Jacky and Jack on the side of the road they to joined us and directed
us in the direction the Lions had run off in. Apparently they had
found the tracks on top of the rain and therefore knew they were
getting close this was confirmed when they found where they had been
running clearly trying to move off from them. They continued to
follow eventually finding them resting in amongst some bushes
watching Jacky and Jack as they approached. Jacky mentioned they were
calm with their presence on foot and it was only when they heard the
radio the guys were carrying that the bigger male decided to charge
them stopping a mere five metres away warning them to not come any
closer. Obeying their instruction Jacky and Jack then contacted us
and jumped aboard to relocate on the vehicle. We found them not
having moved off far but with the female being shy of the vehicle she
kept moving off thus pulling the larger male along with her, with a
gap between the two males we decided to follow the younger one and
therefore not put pressure on the others. He was relaxed around the
vehicle ad went about following a scent that they all seemed to be
following. While he was walking we noticed he was limping and it
looks like he has injured his left front paw as well as having open
grazes and scratches on his neck behind his mane. One can only
surmise what happened but could it be possible he ran into the
Sohobele Males and if so where are the others or is it the solitary
male that we initially thought about? Could it be his companion that
inflicted the injuries or did they have a run in with other Lions in
the region. The questions are endless as are the answers multiple and
it will only be time that will provide us with the true story. With
him coming to rest in a thicket we took our leave and headed back to
fetch our things in the hangar before heading full steam for the
lodge, yet again very late.
I'll
be handing over the blog to Chad this afternoon so hopefully he will
be able to add a chapter or two to the story. Thank you for all the
support and comments, it has been good fun and we will catch you all
again soon.
Cheers,
Grant.
Ha ha, as usual I have missed out on another cracking week
of game viewing, and between Grant and Andrea’s photos, they turned me a shade
or two greener with envy! It was thus
great to get back to work and almost straight back out onto drive, and what a
perfect set-up, lion and leopard just waiting for us!
It was also really great that the first thing my guests
asked to see was leopard and wild dog – and as I had just received word that
the dogs had been seen at Mbali Dam wall in the morning by the construction
workers, it seemed like I might just be able to accomplish both requests before
our sundowner!
Moving in the direction of Mbali and what little remained of
her kill, we began with a lovely giraffe and calf on the airstrip, and
proceeded to see some more giraffe, steenbuck and impala as we ambled along in
glorious sunlight.
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| Giraffe and calf |
Arriving at where Mbali had been left about 45 minutes
earlier, she was gone, but a glance up saw her perched up in a marula tree
feeding on the legs of the steenbuck – all that remained of her kill since
yesterday!
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| Mbali eating her steenbuck in a tree |
A hyena arrived and plopped down in the grass nearby, but
stupidly didn’t come to the tree, as if it had, it would have found a leg that
had fallen off earlier, but Mbali was lucky, and after finishing up in the
tree, jumped down and retrieved the last scrap before eating it on the ground
with the hyena paying no attention at all to her or her missed snack!
Grant had been having a wonderful afternoon, and on his
guest’s 27th drive, had little left to show them, so took what came –
for him it started out with a big herd of elephants in the Nhlaralumi riverbed,
and while watching them, they spotted the wild dogs chasing impalas on the
opposite bank of the river, but sadly struggled o relocate – so I headed into
the area to assist, but after almost an hour and only giraffe, impala and
waterbuck later, we gave up and went for a drink – as did Grant. While we were joined by a giraffe, he was
joined by three rhinos!
We got to see the rhinos after dark, and while it is against
policy to view them with them with a spotlight, the moon was bright enough that
even in the darkness we could see them well – they were rhinos I was unfamiliar
with, but very relaxed!
Heading home, we added a herd of elephants in the moonlight
to the list, while Grant added Machaton male leopard! Guess he had the magic touch this
afternoon...I hope it has something to do with being on blog duty, as I could
definitely use some of that magic tomorrow!