Photo of the Day
 |
| Umfana male leoaprd watching a nearby rhino and calf |
Morning Drive
(Chad, Grant, Herold
and Shadrack)
1 x leopard (Umfana male) – Vielmetter, Dizzy Drive
2 x rhino (female and female calf)
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Rudi’s Rd
2 x buffalo bulls – Motswari, Wedge River Rd
Afternoon Drive
(Chad, Grant, Giyani, Herold
and Shadrack)
1 x leopard (Nthombi’s cub) – Vielmetter, Lower River Rd
1 x leopard (Umfana male) – Vielmetter, Crossing Below
Entrance Dam
2 x rhino (female and female calf)
2 x rhino (male and female)
7 x buffalo bulls – Peru, Lily Pan Rd
1 x breeding herd of elephants – Argyle, Argyle Dam
Daily Synopsis
There is something in the water, clearly! It is the only way to explain why both Herold
and Grant seem to have found the magic touch!
This morning, Grant carried on right where Herold left off yesterday and
found the first breeding herd of elephants in a few days, and then followed it
up with a rhino and calf, as well as Umfana male leopard stalking the same
wildebeest and impalas from last night, thus rounding off a great drive for
him! In fact, the whole of the
Vielmetter property was pumping in the morning with three different rhino
sightings, two leopard sightings and elephants...definitely made me wish I had
gone south!
Instead though, I went east...oops! It was rather quiet on a rather chilly morning,
but we ticked off some kudus and steenbuck, but not even an impala! Grant had found the elephants in the north,
so I angled in his direction and carried on; we did find some nice tawny
eagles, impalas and a nice male giraffe.
 |
| Impala lily, kudu cow and male giraffe |
Following the 140-plus elephant sightings last month, it
seems amazing that we have struggled to find these grey giants the last few
days! But arriving to join Shaddy with
Grant’s herd, we got to appreciate why we miss them so much, as elephants are
always wonderful to view! The herd was
small, but had a good number of babies and provided for an enjoyable sighting
while some of the guides tried tracking down Argyle Jnr leopardess and her cubs
in the area. They did find them on foot,
but sadly the sight of the trackers sent them running and when they were
relocated late in the morning, it was in an inaccessible thicket, so we had to
pass.
 |
| Breeding herd of elephant |
 |
| Giraffe and waterbucks on the way back to camp |
The afternoon saw me wisely moving towards Vielmetter –
surely at least some of the animals would show up again; and indeed they
did. Heading south was very quiet expect
for a few impalas and steenbuck, but arriving on Java we ticked off warthogs
and dwarf mongooses, and a little further south added baboons, monkeys and
banded mongooses to the list.
 |
| Baboon |
The rhino and her calf were in the same area and we managed
to view them in the late afternoon light as they fed about in a nice open area.
 |
| Rhino and calf |
As I had predicted in the morning, Umfana male leopard ended
up at Entrance Dam, and we got to watch as he climbed his favourite tree in the
Machaton River just below the dam!
While watching him, the rhino and her calf arrived at the
dam to drink, and you could see the leopard spying on them from his elevated
position. He was however quite sleepy,
so we left him to it and went for a sundowner.
 |
| Umfana male resting up his favourite tree whilse keeping a lookout |
The Ximpoko male lions had once more lived up to their name
and their tracks had criss-crossed the area in the morning, and no one was able
to find anything more than a track for the umpteenth time the last few weeks!
Grant got to see Nthombi’s boy, and while having drinks, he
was also joined by two rhinos that also popped in for a drink, once more
proving that he did have the magic today!
I wonder whose turn it will be tomorrow???
 |
| Moon rise |
Will keep a keen eye out for the next Houdini. Thanks for the drive, Chad.
ReplyDelete