9th February – One Brave Leopard!

Photo of the Day

Argyle Jnr's boy stands up against two hyenas!

Morning Drive

(Chad, Peter, Shaddy and Grant)

2 x lions (Ximpoko and Mabande males) – Jaydee, Jaydee Camp

1 x leopard (Argle Jnr’s boy) – Argyle, Leadwood Bush Braai

1 x leopard (Argyle Jnr female) – Argyle, Leadwood Airstrip

4 x rhinos

1 x rhino

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Piva Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Karans, KNP Corner

1 x elephant bull – Peru, Argyle Rd

1 x elephant bull – Java, Airstrip

1 x elephant bull – Argyle, Buffalo Pan

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Western Sharalumi

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Argyle, Buffalo Pan Access

1 x buffalo bull – Karans, Western Cutline

Afternoon Drive

(Chad, Peter and Shaddy)

2 x lions (Ximpoko and Mabande males) – Jaydee, Madala Crossing

1 x breeding herd of buffalo – Vielmetter, Elephant Dam

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Motswari, Sean’s Clearing

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Jaydee, Makulu Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Karans, Western Cutline

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Peru, Argyle Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Piva Rd

1 x breeding herd of elephants – Vielmetter, Dizzy Drive

Daily Synopsis

Today turned out to be one of those days when things just worked out better than planned; and it started with me taking a chance that Argyle Jnr and her kids would still be around the area where they had the kill yesterday, and I made my way straight to the area passing the usual impalas and waterbucks on the way.

Nearing the area, we heard that her boy was indeed still around, and was at Leadwood Bush Braai...well, not so mat “at” as “on” the braai (barbeque!)...After enjoying more impalas, I made my way straight to this area, knowing what a strange sight this would be, and sure enough, there he was just chilling on the cool slab of concrete, making for a memorable scene!

Nearing the area, we heard that her boy was indeed still around, and was at Leadwood Bush Braai...well, not so mat “at” as “on” the braai (barbeque!)...After enjoying more impalas, I made my way straight to this area, knowing what a strange sight this would be, and sure enough, there he was just chilling on the cool slab of concrete, making for a memorable scene!

Little did I know that this was just the start of things.  After posing and then having his attention caught by some distant giraffes, the crunching of bones behind the bushes was too tempting for him to ignore, so he climbed down and ambled over to see what was going on...we already knew it could only be hyenas!  Soon enough, two hyenas chased him off and came up the bank and walked around the bush braai sniffing where he had been, while the leopard was below sniffing where the hyenas had been...until the hyenas came back...

The leopard climbed up a small rock, so small that it barely offered any protection against the hyenas, and suddenly, the leopard was in a very precarious position, and we all sat holding our breaths wondering how this was going to end...it got more interesting when the second hyena arrived!

But rather than running away, the leopard held his ground and showed a confidence that seemed to stop the hyenas, and intensifying his snarls as they circled the rock on which he was still perched.

At one point, he had a hyena either side of him, and while snarling at one, the other took this chance to get a bit closer and stood sniffing the leopards tail, but on feeling this, the leopard whipped it away before the hyena could nip at it!

Eventually the hyenas started losing interest and gave him a bit more space, but the leopard didn’t run off just yet; we left to give Pete a space, and after a while the leopard did move off and get up a tree where he was safer, but I was wholly impressed with his temperament and the fact that he didn’t back down!  The fact that the hyenas were quite young probably helped keep their confidence down, but whatever the case, it was a wonderful sighting, and definitely my best sighting of 2013 so far!

The rest of the drive was also great – leaving the leopard we enjoyed a baby croc as well as a not-so-baby elephant grazing nearby to buffalo pan.

I chose to head south to go and see a large herd of buffalos that had been hanging around down that side the last few days and had a quiet trip down south, but it was worth it.  On the way, we got to see four rhinos grazing just off the road, but as it was wet and the grass was long, it wasn't the best ever visual, but still good to see; while with them, we could also hear elephants nearby, and after a few minutes they came and crossed the road in front of us before disappearing north.

A little down the road, we managed to find some of the buffalo, but based on how large this herd was supposed to be, we struggled to find the bulk of it, eventually giving up and settling for just a small portion that were moving towards a mudwallow to bath and drink, still resulting in another lovely sighting.

Making it through one virgin river crossing, we stopped for a cup of coffee before we made the long trip back, deciding to leave the lions for the afternoon drive.

The Ximpoko and Mabande male lions had arrived in the area of the giraffe carcass, but on the western side, so my plan was to head to the west for the afternoon and go see them later in the evening.  Peter found a lovely herd of elephants near the lodge, so we began with them, and it had my favourite old elephant cow in, and as usual, she ended up walking within 1m of us, giving the guests on the back row one of the biggest smiles I have seen!  What a wonderful experience!

Moving west, we saw impala, waterbuck and some good birds, but had no luck with the leopard that had been seen near Peru Dam in the morning...and in fact, the whole trip south along the Nhlaralumi produced nothing again, not even impalas!

The lions had now moved to the riverbed, and we had to access from the east – not a problem bar the fact we were on the west and could not cross as the river was still too wet...but I was going to try anyway!  Fortunately Pete had stopped for drinks at the very crossing I was going to be the guinea pig on.  We both knew I wasn't going to make it, but needless to say, I tried anyway.

I got about 1m in before my vehicle sank and my hand instinctively reached for the tow rope for the third time in the last few weeks!  Pete also got his tow rope out...a pity that even with both it left us about 5m short, so we tried to get Pete’s car further back, but he too almost got stuck and we had to push him out.  A third tow rope arrived but we were still a meter short, so a fourth vehicle came to give us a hand, and with the rope now long enough, we managed to pull me to the eastern side of the river proving that all is well that ends well!

After a bit of a bumble we moved towards the lions that were lying near the giraffe carcass in the riverbed, but wisely neither male fed on it!  Mabande had a bit of a limp, but had no visible signs of injury, so will see how he goes; the giraffe looked less well, and half covered in sand and water, with maggots and ill-looking flesh on the menu, I cant imagine the lions will hang around long!

We had a wonderful drink at Leopard Rock Hide before making the long trip home, navigating another crossing without getting stuck, yayness!  We didn’t see much but an owl on the way back, but considering what we did see today, we once again returned to the lodge with a bunch of happy guests...even if Julian didn’t get to see his necking giraffes!