Saturday 31 December 2011

30th December: Welcome Back To Planet Earth!

Pic of the Day.
Morning Drive.

( Grant, Chad, Petros, Godfrey & Shadrack.)

Elephant ( Kambaku's) / Motswari – Motswari Southern Access.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Hide Dam.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Nkhoro Rd.
Buffalo ( Breeding Herd) / Peru – Voeldam.
Leopard ( Mhakipi's Madoda) / Peru – Giraffe Kill Rd.

Afternoon Drive.

( Grant, Chad, Petros & Shadrack.)

Elephant ( Kambaku's) / Motswari – Motswari Reception Rd.
Elephant ( Kambaku) / Vielmieter – Sweetwater Pan.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Enkombi Pan.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / Vielmieter – Martin's Rd.
Elephant ( Breeding Herd) / JayDee – Argyle Rd.
Rhino ( 2 x Males)

Daily Synopsis.

With our group checking out early Jacky and I went out more on a little bumble to enjoy being out in the bush first thing in the morning rather than looking for anything specific. With the weather playing along beautifully, clear blue skies and a cool breeze, we slowly made our way around the North taking in whatever came our way. In the short time that we were out we had ourselves a busy morning with us finding Elephant, Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Waterbuck and Impala, I guess the secret is not going out there to find anything as it will come find you! We heard that the Jacaranda Pride with the White Timbavati Female were still in the area obviously still sleeping off their indigestion. Lets hope they are still around in the afternoon when we receive a whole car full of new guests.








With us closing down early the rest of the gang had themselves mixed fortune out there with Shadrack finding the Giraffe, Zebra and Leopard that he needed. Petros also got to see the young male Leopard and complete his wish list. For Chad it was another frustrating experience with this young male, as once again he slipped off into the riverbed and out of sight on approach leaving Chad still needing one of our spotted little friends. Not to worry Chad, Kuhanya is long overdue a visit and I'm sure in the next day or two she will be around, maybe even this afternoon!

Well I guess the good thing about seeing very little on drive is that the blog is kept short and sweet. Our drive was a bit of a crash landing after the high we have been on the last couple of days. With all new guests in the afternoon we decided to spend it in the North around Argyle and Sohobele Dams looking at general game, we were then going to head towards the Jacaranda Pride and the White Timbavati Female as things cooled off. 







This plan unfortunately went out the window at a very early stage when a station checked on the Lions to find they were not there. As they decided not to follow up and with nobody but ourselves and Shadrack interested in them we had to accelerate our arrival to the area so we could give ourselves time to track. Passing all the general game on the way promising to return after finding the Lions we arrived in the area thinking they could not be far. With Jacky, Shadrack, Tiyani and Petro on foot and myself driving around the area checking the roads for tracks it should have been only a matter of time. Unfortunately it was a very difficult area to track and the trackers lost the tracks on multiple occasions and had to spend considerable time trying to relocate. This ate into our precious time and with the clock winding down to sunset we had not progressed very far. Eventually Shadrack cut his losses and headed South following Chad and Petros who had headed to the South West corner for Rhino. They seemed to have a more successful afternoon finding an assortment of large game. Jacky and I stuck in the area, I guess we are a little more stubborn, and would not let this simple tracking exercise defeat us. I drove the area flat, multiple times, while Jacky worked off his Christmas belly and walked the equivalent of a marathon. We eventually called it a night and admitted defeat after we lost all light and were once again in danger of the kitchens wrath!

Guess we better get started early tomorrow as there is a lot to be seen!

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