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Three reserves in South Africa - December 2016


deano

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We had heavy rain while we were there @@Hads and you could almost see the change happening in the bush; we also got to see the lightning that comes with it and actually stopped to watch it on one game drive. I have to say that we were both shocked when we flew in over Satara; It looked like a desert. Grant, our guide at Kinds Camp, was the assistant manager and took special interest in rainfall in the area so I will add those in the next couple of updates so that we can compare notes. Thanks for reading and commenting.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 6 Kings Camp Timbavati:

 

I slept well last night as is to be expected after a great day in the bush finished off with a beef dinner and Amarula which we introduced to a Spanish couple on their first real safari (Kings Camp had sat all guests at one big table which turned out to be good fun). No need for an alarm call today - go away bird and woodland kingfisher started just before dawn. Our vehicle mates had requested a search for zebra and lion today and with that in mind we set off albeit Grant is really the only guy with the faintest idea of where we were going.

 

We were not able to find any lions but we did have some really nice sightings of kudu and giraffe youngsters play necking as well as watching some bird life and a nice encounter with some elephants who came close to see what we were doing in their garden.

 

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Another hot day and tough to move about for the animals in the heat so after our drinks stop we headed back to camp and enjoyed a fairly quiet drive except for a lone spotted hyena running across the road. Tough to make out in this image but it was covered in blood.

 

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Back at camp and after breakfast and a shower I plonked myself on the elevated viewing deck where I spent a very enjoyable afternoon watching and listening to life around camp. I was being waited on by the able staff who were fetching me tea, coke with ice, cake, fruit and anything else and I was hard pushed to leave to go our on the afternoon game drive. If you are a birder then that is a great spot to hang out.

 

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Plenty of bush buck in camp as well and no doubt the main reason for regular leopard hunts although we were not that lucky on our stay (a good reason to return I think).

 

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Probably the hottest day we have experienced so far on our travels in Africa and sunscreen and hats were definitely required. We headed towards water holes today as Grant suspected that the creatures of the bush would head down for a drink before sunset.

 

We found a marabou stork going about his business at the first spot.

 

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And on the way to the next were told off by a young elephant for daring to be in his neighborhood. How dare we! He did run back to mum though for a cuddle but he will get his day no doubt to prove how big and strong he is.

 

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Our next waterhole yielded a spotted hyena taking a bath. And then at the next waterhole there were two more doing the same thing.They looked like they had made a sensible choice and apart from the briefest of glances in our direction they paid us no mind.

 

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Next, Grant told us that lions had been seen in the far West and because our mates wanted to view them we all agreed we should head that way. It wasn't the best sighting - two lionesses lazing about before it got dark - but good enough for a few pictures.

 

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It was a very nice place and after viewing them and hoping for them to get mobile we eventually left the lions and turned back towards camp and ran into a family of General Game and spent a lovely time watching them do their thing.

 

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As you can see in these pictures, the sky had turned grey now and we could definitely see rain in the distance and before long we were headed back to camp facing a massive storm. I am not sure that some of our vehicle mates were as enthusiastic as we were about watching the storm for a while but once Grant assured them that he had radioed the camp and figured that the storm was just South of our location and that we would not get (too) wet they were okay with it although it would be safe to say that it was not their preferred way to spend time when in Africa!. We watched for a few minutes before Mrs deano thought an iPhone panorama with lightning in it would be fun to try. So, in a poncho and sat in the highest part of a vehicle while sticking my hand up towards the sky with a small piece of metal pointed at an electrical storm, iPhone panorama we did. They are not spectacular images but they should give you the general idea. If I had been in the vehicle by myself I would have got our the tripod and done a long exposure on my Nikon. I put my faith in the very poor conductivity of rubber tires.

 

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We made it back just before the storm came closest to Kings Camp so I set up the GoPro on the patio for a time lapse while I joined our fellow guests inside for Springbok Shank for dinner washed down with Jamesons. The storm was epic and dropped a lot of water to the South of us (40mm+ according to reports).

 

GoPro video is mainly of the storm but it was pretty epic to witness.

 

 

More to follow.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

Edited by deano
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Awesome stuff @@deano , great shots of the Woodland kingfishers.

Interesting to see the poor health of the Buff's, with the drought and little decent grazing the predators are having a field day I think.

Edited by Hads
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The birds made it easy @@Hads - I just had to sit there and wait. The buffs were looking a lot worse than most other animals and we were told of rangers witnessing lions in particular taking down buffalo and eating only the cheeks and in one case leaving a minutes old buffalo kill of their own to go and steal a fresh impala kill from a leopard and finish off that and leave their own. Nature is incredible eh?

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Oh Good, Madikwe, a spot I am very interested in. How did you choose the music for the videos? Jackal and giraffe carcass, not a common pairing. The mud on the rhino in #2 completed its look. Your luck with the canines was exceptional, even a domestic. Brown hyenas used to be sort of a "Madikwe special" that did require some luck. It appears they may be much more elusive now. Young hyenas are such a treat. They look like such cuddly chaps. Even without the Amarula bottle, your ele viewing on foot was quite exciting and very close.

 

3 nts at Madikwe was it?

 

Great job with the night photography and how nice the leopard was such a lovely subject!

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Thank you @Atravelynn; Madikwe is now on our list of great game viewing within an hour of Joburg which makes it very likely that we will return and combine it with a trip a bit further afield (probably another country).

 

Music is always tricky and I could spend hours trying to find the "perfect song" but my approach is much less time consuming and less "art" and more "science" - I start by making a long video of all the clips that will be used for the daily video - rule of thumb is that the final and edited video is typically half of the length of all the clips so if the clips are say 6 minutes then final product will be about 3 minutes - then I sort our music library in iTunes by duration and start clicking on songs I like in the 3 minute range - then play them and see what the beat is like to see how suitable it is for "snap to beats" function which is basically an automatic way of making the video change at prominent beats in the song - a beat every 5 seconds or so works best for the stuff I come up with; Our iTunes library is not huge and one day I keep meaning to add all of our CDs...now that would make song choice a lot more time consuming!

 

Madikwe was fantastic and we really enjoyed the whole feel of the place but wild dogs were a definite plus. It was indeed 3 nights and I could easily have spent longer there as we barely got to see most of the reserve. Cheetahs for example move a lot and the prospect of walking in the high mountains to find twenty thousand year old bones from early inhabitants really interests us. For a "closed" reserve it really has a lot more to offer and just recently their leopard sightings have started to become better and more frequent.

 

Working on the next installment now and I do find trip reports a great way to re-live the whole experience.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 7 Kings Camp Timbavati:

 

A bit grey and drizzly first thing and our German friends, Thomas and Karina, opted for a lie-in as they had a road transfer at 9.45AM so it was just us four on drive with Grant and Jules. We had the ponchos on from the start although it never got anywhere close to being "abandon the drive weather" (my wife's threshold for that would be a hurricane...mine would be whatever comes after that unless I could completely waterproof my camera in which case scuba gear would then be worn until such time as the guide called it!).

 

It was predictably quiet this morning with animals seemingly looking to take shelter as it was quite cool as well as wet. We did see al lot of steenboks today and also managed to find a nest of one of the few breeding pairs of white headed vultures in South Africa. A rare treat that and with a bigger lens and a bit more time there were some nice photos to be had there but our vehicle mates were keen to see as much as possible as this was their last drive of the trip.

 

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We stopped for drinks - hot chocolate and Amarula of course - and then headed back and saw wild dog tracks and also heard tales of a male leopard that had been seen earlier in the day but it was not to be and so we returned for breakfast after the quiet start to the day. At least the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to get out.

 

A large breakfast for yours truly followed by a nap and then a freshen up before the afternoon game drive. But before that I wanted to spend some more time on that viewing deck and tried my hand again with the bird life as well as a more easy target - a leopard tortoise who ambled though camp while I was setting up. He was definitely easier to photograph than the kingfisher who was diving into the pool to cool off!

 

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We had said goodbye to our German friends after breakfast who were on their way to Sabi Sands where we would be tomorrow and also our Guatemalan friends who were on their way home. There were new guests in camp but we were lucky to have an empty vehicle and so when Grant asked if we minded taking a long drive East all the way to the KNP boundary we were happily said yes.

 

It had turned into a fantastic afternoon of weather and it was nice to see animals getting back to their business and first up was this giraffe who watched us intently.

 

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And some birds - I cannot imagine a drive there where you did not see a woodland kingfisher....I guarantee that you will heat them on every drive in summer!

 

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And a LBR as well; Grant called this the "Brittney Spears Bird" - nice to look at but can't sing. Harsh but fair.....to both parties I think.

 

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Our trip East then brought us to one of my favourite sightings of the trip; a large bull elephant just doing his thing in the middle of Africa. He also had a couple of young mates with him one of which had a slight Albino colouring. Grant had seen a young elephant recently that was even more pink than this chap and we spent a long time viewing the big fellow and his slightly pink mate and talking about what effect it must have on them. This guy was clearly doing okay so the young Albino ele was likely to do okay for itself and with the help of the herd it would probably be fine.

 

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We left the elephants and drove further East and through a property recently acquired by Kings Camp. It looked green and lush and full of promise and once the guides have got to know it there will be some wonderful game drives to be had there. It just felt untouched somehow.

 

As we got closer to KNP we came across two vehicles form a neighbouring property who had just seen two male lions. They had a buffalo kill in the area and male lions were high on my list of "would be great to see" animals but Grant knew these two and suggested that they did not like too much vehicle pressure and so we gave them 5 minutes to return but then left not having seen them.

 

We did see a big kudu just before our sundowner and I was happy enough to watch him and take a few pictures in the golden light.

 

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Before long we were at the KNP boundary and after spotting a few of the old metal posts where the fence once stood we parked up literally in the middle of the road and enjoyed a very scenic and peaceful sundowner. It was a lovely spot and very different from the normal places in that this was just a dirt road with thick green bush in all directions as far as the eye could see. Okay; so the road ran right down the edge of two of the greatest natural areas in the world and I was drinking Jamesons but it truly was a great place to be.

 

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A family of warthogs just before their bedtime was the last thing we saw before we got back to Kings Camp for our second Boma BBQ of the trip and this one was just as good as the Madikwe version. Great food and great company in a great place and we found out that our host was entered into the Comrades Marathon which is of great interest to me and I enjoyed our chat about his training methods in the bush.

 

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So, our last night in Timbavati was a little quiet but we were tremendously happy with our visit there.

 

GoPro/iPhone video of the day to finish off.

 

 

More to follow.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

 

 

 

 

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Towlersonsafari

enjoying the trip report @@deano and the sighting of the minotaur on Day 5 was very unusual This may be sacrilege to you but you do know that Talisker is the king of Whiskies! its explosive and peppery in the mouth but then with a looong smooth sweet finish!

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Your Minotaur reference had me thinking for a minute @@Towlersonsafari but I got it eventually! You are entitled to your opinion regarding Whiskey but if it doesn't have an "e" in it (and I am a Yorkshire Man so perhaps that should be an "eeh" by gum) it just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. It would not stop me drinking it though and I believe that a sundowner in Africa can make practically anything taste good...with the exception of Watneys Red Barrel and/or Gin and Tonic. I have no idea how the latter became the sundowner of choice for so many!

 

Thanks for commenting.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 8 Kings Camp Timbavait and transfer to Leopard Hills, Sabi Sands:

 

Cold and drizzly this morning and reports of 20mm+ of rain on our property and over 40mm+ further North and that would restrict off road driving even for confirmed Big 5 sightings but we were still happy that we were here doing what we love. We went in search of lions again today and had the vehicle to ourselves again so we got to stop and spend as long as we wanted at the few sightings that we did have.

 

First up another steenbok and a very relaxed male impala and then a young giraffe with mum enjoying the cool weather and no doubt the new growth that had sprouted thanks to the recent rains in the area.

 

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And a scrub hare trying to hide but not doing a very good job. Love those ears.

 

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Our quest for lions was sort of successful as we found the two lionesses from the other night not far from where we left them and with a fresh (last night) buffalo kill stashed nearby. They had eaten a lot and were doing what lions do best which as we all know is pretty much nothing 16 to 20 hours of the day but they are still one of the coolest creatures in the bush in my book and we stayed for a while because we could.

 

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On our travels today we were able to stop and observe more birds and today we saw a lot of vultures; between Grant and myself we tried hard to get a good picture of one in flight which meant careful observation and planning from both of us (stop, watch, wait while vulture "has a bowel movement", get ready, press shutter, follow grey bird against grey sky). It was very overcast and I tried a few times with different vultures and different metering modes before I got a half decent sequence that I could do something with in post processing. The image below is a processed jpeg version and I will faff about with the RAW file one day to see how it comes out but I am happy with it as I wanted to get some of the grey sky and still be able to see the detail in the wings; I think Safaritalk might turn me into a twitcher yet (a long way to go before I get to xelas, Tdgraves and michael-ibk etc. but it will be great fun trying).

 

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On our way back to camp for the final time, we passed a vehicle that had just seen a male leopard with an impala kill. We had no such luck but our final sighting was to be a clan of spotted hyena who were whooping it up and playing in the standing water on the road in front of us. Maybe they had stolen the kill and that explained their excitement? Whatever it was we were glad we had seen them and enjoyed their antics.

 

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That was to be our last sighting at Kings Camp and I was very satisfied with that and everything else in between. We had one last breakfast before our road transfer to Leopard Hills which will follow in part 2.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 8 part 2 Leopard Hills, Sabi Sands:

 

We had heard a lot about this Leopard Hills place and were quite excited; more so because without exception, all of the guides and staff at Kings Camp and Madikwe before that had told us that it would be a great place to view game and in particular leopards. So, we left Kings Camp by car for a 2 hour transfer via another Seasons in Africa property - Elephant Whispers - where we had a an elephant experience that was part of the booking. Having visited Kynsna Elephant Park twice before (which we enjoyed immensely both times) this is not something we would have booked but I have to say we both really enjoyed it and learned a great deal about the real king of the jungle. It was rounded off by a private lunch on the deck where the elephants came up and interacted with us. I didn't take many pictures (the staff did and missed focus a lot of the time) but I did take some video and that is included in the usual daily clip for those that care to watch these things.

 

The transfer on its own was like a mini adventure with personal stories and perspective from Chris our driver who was a very informative and friendly chap and a qualified guide in his own right.

 

It had stayed grey and wet today but the excitement still ramped up a notch when we drove the bumpy road to Sabi Sands via Newington Gate and then the park gate itself and the signboard with all the lodges posted on it. It was a short trek to Leopard Hills and we managed to see some game on the way in (WR in particular) before reaching Leopard Hills. We were shown to our room where we had time to unpack before the afternoon game drive. The room and view was spectacular to say the least and we were starting to see why everyone raved about this place.

 

At afternoon tea (I was very impressed) we met Cameron our guide and also our tracker (sorry - he went on leave next day and I did not write down his name) and said hello again to Thomas and Karina; it was just the four of us and off we went. Cameron informed us that he was a fan of leopards which is fine by us and that he would always like to try and find them if given the chance. There was a lot of chatter on the game drive radio and the guides use that to assist each other in deciding who wants to try for what and today we would be looking for a female leopard who had a duiker kill in a tree close to camp.

 

But first we went exploring and after the obligatory impala sighting we stumbled across this fellow eyeing us up. A great start to any safari.

 

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He was followed by a nice male warthog and then we got to see Sabi Sands buffs, who also looked to be in less then tip top condition and then a duiker (this one alive).

 

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Cameron then headed to the spot where the leopard kill could clearly be seen in a tree on an open area that was full to bursting with impala. They were everywhere and I have to say that I was quite surprised that our tracker thought the leopard was still here. After viewing the kill we drove around the bush for a minute or two before the tracker pointed at a thick bush and said "there!". We all looked at where he was pointing and said "what? where?". This went on for a few seconds until we eventually spotted about 4'' of white leopard tail just sticking through the lowest part of the bush. I didn't even photograph it as there was just nothing to see. Amazing spot by the tracker. As we drove up she was quite well hidden but I did get a couple of pics that are some of my favorites from the trip.

 

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After a few minutes we were lucky that she decided to move out of her hiding place and venture out into the open. This exposed her to the impalas who wasted no time in barking their alarm call to alert all and sundry to her presence. My first picture was very very overexposed bit I think I rescued it (jpeg again...will mess with RAW file later) but I did a B&W conversion as well just for the fun of it.

 

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The guides knew this leopard to be a new mother but had yet to have a good sighting of the cubs or the den. So, we were asked if we wanted to follow - at a respectful distance of course - to see if we could find either. Did we ever.

 

She headed off towards a large rocky hill upon which Ulusaba Lodge is situated but not before she paraded in front of us and stopped for a bit of cleaning before heading off again.

 

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We would lose sight of her in the trees but at one point she popped out and this was the last half decent picture I got of her.

 

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After that she disappeared into the bush and part from one fleeting glimpse of her right at the top of the hill after I found her through my binoculars (it was fun trying to direct everyone on our vehicle plus the one next to us as to where she was "...see that tree at the very top? No not the tall one the one next to that with a rock at the bottom of it. Well just come down from that then go left to the really green tree and she is just there..." - everyone did spot her though so my 'really green tree' reference obviously worked). No sign of the den or the cubs but a very, very nice sighting all the same.

 

We had a sundowner to celebrate and I believe that I may have had more than one Jamesons in my excitement. We were back at camp quite early so we had time to finish unpacking and for Mrs deano to have a long soak in the tub. I always use the outdoor showers simply because I can but either way we were suitably refreshed for dinner which was outstanding and after a long but brilliant day we turned in around 10PM. We were really looking forward to tomorrow.....

 

GoPro and iPhone video of the day.

 

 

More to follow.

 

And by the way....have I mentioned that I love Africa?

 

kind regards

 

deano.

 

 

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I've been following along quietly till now. GORGEOUS leopard shots. I love her profile in the foliage. Adding South Africa to my list now, thanks to your report!

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@@amybatt - gorgeous should describe any leopard but thank you. I'm still amazed that the tracker saw her under all that bush.

 

We've had 5 trips to SA since 2009 and even non safari lovers should go...there is so much other stuff to do and see.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 9 Leopard Hills:

 

I was up early today as I wanted to be out on the deck to take in the view and it was worth it as I heard a leopard sawing just before 5. I informed Cameron and he thought it might be male who patrolled a certain route so that was our plan for the first part of the morning. No sign of the third couple on the vehicle and when Cameron called their room again they advised that they were not joining so it was just the "old hands" (us and our German friends Thomas and Karina).

 

We tried the leopard's usual territory and found tracks from another male but no luck with our boy but that didn't matter as our efforts yielded these fellows (and ladies) as a start to the day.

 

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A nice start to the morning game drive and one that brought a chance for some long exposure photography had I brought along a filter (which I hadn't)....how you ask? I could have maybe have slowed down this moving water in the image and got a nice dreamy smooth appearance but had to settle for this rather choppy effect instead.

 

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The day was overcast and drizzly again but we didn't care as we had just had a lovely sighting and then heard over the radio that wild dogs had been seen chasing and killing an impala. We were in the line up of vehicles that were going to see them and soon off towards the area where they were hunting. This was a large pack hunting in thick bush and they needed to kill often to feed all the mouths so we were lucky to see a few of the pack as they ran past our location.

 

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Cameron informed us that some of the pack were finishing off another impala kill and by the time we caught up to them they were almost through. It is a shame that the bush was so thick as I was able to see dogs with impala limbs in their mouth and at one point I saw a dog with the impala head in its jaws but there always seemed to be a bush between me and the dogs and we were having to re-position a lot so photography was sometime a bit of a lottery. Still, hands down one of the most exciting sightings we have had and certainly our favourite wild dog sighting.

 

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Occasionally, a dog would come into view allowing for a cleaner image; like this fellow who I think might have been feeding?

 

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And this guy who we identified as the Alpha male.

 

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At one point part of the pack closed in on two young waterbucks - a favourite animal of mine - and I wondered how I might feel should they hunt, catch and kill something that big right in front of us but the waterbuck ran towards a nearby waterhole and the dogs sort of realized that they were better off with impala sized prey and soon left them alone. We did get to see the interaction though which was made all the better by a crocodile who immediately took to the water and towards the waterbuck while the dogs were sounding their warnings at it ( sort of bark and growl all in one). Have I mentioned that I love Africa?

 

The dogs then re-grouped and we tried to keep up with them in the thick bush.

 

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We stayed with them for a while and actually left the sighting after they split up but bumped into a few members of the pack as they checked out a nearby pan.

 

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A lot of dog pics I know but you can never have too many so please allow two more that are just crops from my favourite images from the sequence. Both jpegs and I will take more time with the RAW files and see if they are worth printing.

 

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We finally left and went in search of a suitable spot for drinks. We were watched by some dwarf mongoose and a large giraffe with a sore knee and the scars and marks of a bull that looked like he seen a few things in his time.

 

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Our final sighting of the morning was a scrub hare enjoying the greenery of Sabi Sands; and I can't blame him as it looked good enough to eat. Hopefully he kept out of the way of the dogs who likely thought that he looked good enough to eat.

 

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Part 2 to follow.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Great luck with the dogs @@deano! Dogs and leopards make my day :)

 

Please forgive my ignorance, but might I just ask why the buffs are still in such a bad state when the bush looks so green and there seems to be grazing aplenty? Is it that the bush only just started to turn green and they haven't bounced back from the incredible (long lasting) drought?

 

The skinny and weak animals are a sad sight.

 

But the dogs and leopard(s) are certainly not!

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Wonderful rhino sightings! Is that that common at Sabi Sands? And dogs too? Already worth getting up for the early game ride!

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I've been with you to Madikwe and Kings Camp in Timbavati. Two great choices so far. There's no way you could have a single sad thought with all this presented to you. I'm glad you explained it was the chewy biltong. The hyenas in the mud look like very much at home. Loved your 360 degrees of leopard, especially the upside down shot. Even the dogs came out. Sabi Sands is next. Thanks for explaining the artistry of your musical selections.

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Dogs and leopards do require great luck @@martywilddog and thankfully we had more than our fair share of all 3 on this trip (great luck, dogs and leopards).

 

As for the buffs, that drought was the worst in anywhere from 60 to 100 years depending on which guide you listened to but either way pretty bad. From what I saw/heard, there would have been some grass around after the less than average rains last year but clearly just not enough for an extended period to carry them through to this season's rains. Buffs eat mostly grass whereas other animals can browse on trees and bush and supplement their diet when grass is this on the ground. For example, the impalas we saw all looked to be none the worse for the drought.

 

The main rains are typically January to March but there was some good rain to break the drought as early as October and the grass doesn't take long to renew itself but for large animals like buffs it will take them a couple of months to get back into condition again after several months of poor grazing. The pictures I included will be of animals that were probably on the brink of starvation a few weeks ago but now have a fighting chance given that some half decent targeting has been available for the last few weeks. All animals seem to have way more resilience than us mere humans.

 

So, no ignorance on your part and yes - I think they just need a while to play catch up and if anybody from Safaritalk posts a trip report for January from these areas it will be good to compare pictures.

 

Nature is in charge though and I agree it is not happy watching animals struggle.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Thanks @@amybatt - I think luck always plays a part in any sighting no matter where you are. The dogs for example are highly mobile and even if they are in your area your chances of catching up with them are slim. One of the good things about Sabi Sands in my opinion is that is is game rich and there are a lot of lodges with shared traversing and the guides are all in contact with each other all the time so any sightings get called in and shared out. That is not our usual and preferred way of spending time in the bush but for seeing a lot of the "high profile" animals then Sabi Sands must be hard to beat.

 

@@Atravelynn - stay with us please as we journey through Sabi Sands and Leopard Hills. A truly amazing place. Madikwe and Timbavati were brilliant and without Sabi Sands added on I was more than happy with the trip but Sabi Sands was just over the top in every way.

 

Working on next installment now.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

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Day 9 Leopard Hills part 2:

 

Another solid full english breakfast today and then a nap over lunch. We never had lunch on any of the double game drive days in any of the lodges this trip in an effort to keep off the excess pounds that seem to come with these type of safaris. I am sure that lunch was amazing in all 3 lodges but I was saving myself for afternoon tea.

 

It had brightened up a bit by the time I woke up from my nap and I spent some time on the elevated deck admiring the view and trying to identify bird calls (you lot are turning me into a birder). It is one of my favourite things to do in the bush even though I can probably only get about half a dozen it is still interesting to just count the different ones.

 

And plenty of other stuff to see with distant impalas and elephants and nyala and lizards closer to home.

 

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We had new vehicle mates this afternoon - another honeymoon couple and safari newbies from the USA - Dave and Moira.

 

Their first significant sighting (after impalas of course) was a heavily pregnant giraffe. With Mrs deans 30 years as an EMT Paramedic and Moira 3/4 of the way through her residency at a large US hospital they both wanted desperately to see a birth. Our new tracker, Seppo, figured that this one was ready to drop her cargo any minute now (sorry ladies....thats how he said it) so we stayed for a while and then left her in peace. We did get to see the unborn calf moving inside that large belly though and that was pretty cool I have to say.

 

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Our next sighting was a peaceful bull elephant. He was just doing his thing and let us watch him as he broke off bits of branch and processed them.

 

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We then got a call over the radio and Dave and Moira enjoyed some newbie luck that we were very happy to share. We found this chap laid just off the road and if you hadn't known he was there you might well have driven over him. My note tells me that this is the boy they call Dayone. He is an imposing leopard even laid down.

 

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The rest of the drive was relatively quiet but with dogs in the morning and the leopard tonight we had been treated well. We did get to see some more very relaxed impala who must have known that the leopard seemed content to lay down and then a nice mixed bunch of zebra and wildebeest on one of the airstrips. They had youngsters with them and it was good to watch them learning how to be what they were supposed to be.

 

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We went off in search of a sundowner spot although catching the sunset tonight would require the perfect spot plus perfect positioning for about 1 minute as it was a bit grey but our driving to find the right spot did take us past a hyena just getting active for the night and a nice male kudu who had found his resting spot for the night.

 

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We found our sundowner spot in the dry Sand River and clambered around on some large boulders before it got too dark.

 

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To end an already fabulous day it was another Boma BBQ - our third of this trip - and it was amazing. A touch of real luxury in the bush and they had Jamesons too!

 

GoPro/iPhone video as usual.

 

 

kind regards

 

deano.

 

 

 

 

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Day 10 Leopard Hills:

 

Our last full day and I was hoping for a half decent sunrise for a GoPro time lapse and I was up early. It was a gorgeous start seeing the sun come up and gradually illuminate the rocky hillside leading down from our deck to the vast wilderness that is Sabi Sands. One third of our gang had decided to lie in today so it was just four of us and after the usual tea/coffee and a bit of something to eat under the ever hopeful gaze of the resident vervet monkeys we were off to see what the day would bring.

 

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We requested a determined effort to try and find the giraffe female from yesterday as the ladies wanted to make sure she was okay. We didn't find her but did find these guys and enjoyed another fantastic sighting with the peace and quiet that comes from watching them.

 

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One of the animals high on my wish list was a male lion and we had heard of a coalition of 4 that were around one of the fringes of the traverse area. After stopping to watch a troop of vervet monkeys messing about like only they can we drove to the river and even though it was a distant sighting there was one of the lions. He was enjoying the shade on the other side of the river so this long distance cropped effort is all I could manage.

 

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This was one of the Majingalane males. We had been very lucky to see all 4 of them on a trip to mama Mala in 2013 and I have inserted a pic from that trip just for good measure.

 

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We stayed a while in the hope that his mates would join him but they were feeding on a buffalo kill elsewhere and as it was getting warm now it was unlikely that they would move.

 

We went off is search of a coffee stop and after watching some impalas and more vervet monkeys we landed at a nice little river and hopped out for hot chocolate and Amarula and a leg stretch (I have said before that leg stretch = pee!).

 

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The ladies requested another try for the giraffe and we headed back towards camp and thought we saw her feeding at the edge of a large open area. Cameron suggested a short walk and so we agreed. We were unsuccessful as we spooked some kudu who spooked the giraffe and she ran off into the bush. So, a relatively quiet morning but the sun was out and the bush looked fantastic - all shades of green against a blue sky scattered with fluffy white clouds and we had a nice breakfast to look forward to.

 

Back at Leopard Hills we headed for the main deck and Mrs deano got a picture of me surveying the bush and then we snapped away at the vervet monkeys who were back in force now and with a cute decoy.

 

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Why the cute decoy? Well, as soon as the toast came out the mum with baby scampered down out of here tree and in one motion grabbed the toast and jumped up into another tree all while carrying her "cute decoy". We couldn't stop her as we were all away from the table taking photographs of the "cute decoy"! Brilliant tactics and I wonder how much toast (and anything else) the Toast Gang had stolen.

 

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After breakfast we returned to the vast room that is suite 1 at Leopard Hills and rested our eyes and showered before meeting for afternoon tea. By skipping lunch we found that we could have a few hours of nothing but relaxing on the deck enjoying the view and the sounds...sort of like a mini game drive but without the driving and we loved it.

 

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Our German friends decided to miss the afternoon drive - Karina was not feeling well and we had noticed her struggling with a cold - but it was nice of Thomas to come and sit with us at afternoon tea to explain and also confirm that Madikwe Hills had contacted him to inform on the injured WR from our stay there (as I think I told you - bullet removed and she was now in their boma).

 

A beautiful afternoon for a game drive and we stopped to look at anything and everything - buffalo, birds, trees, the view while all the time hoping to see a new giraffe baby. It was not to be though and Cameron took us on a meander along the river bed scanning shady trees and hiding places for a male leopard who he told us liked to hang out here when it was warm. If he was there we could not see him but it was good to try and we did get to enjoy a nice sighting of 2 bateleur and we spent some time watching them as their colouration was very nice and we hadn't seen any this close (all our previous sightings of them they had been in flight high up).

 

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Part 2 to follow.

 

 

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Great WKF photo @@deano

Edited by Hads
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Day 10 Leopard Hills part 2:

 

As we neared the leopard sighting we stopped to watch a nice family of nyala going about their business in the thick bush next to a dry river bed before we actually arrived at the sighting of a young female leopard high in a tree.

 

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As it turned out, she had a kill up there with her but the tree was thick with leaves and the visual was poor although we could see her moving about. All of a sudden she dropped her kill and we could see that it was a young nyala - maybe even from the family we were just watching nearby.

 

She then climbed down the tree to reclaim her kill and we were in a good position to watch her and then follow her as she headed off into very think bush.

 

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We lost sight of her but thanks to some persistence from Cameron and Sippo we found her again resting on an old fallen tree in the shady river bed.

 

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She still had what was left of her kill at this stage but it seemed to us that she was growing tired of it and she eventually left it and disappeared into thick bush - in fact, thick bush does not adequately describe it - thick jungle more like. We had enjoyed a great sighting but Cameron was not done and wanted to follow her. There was a brief discussion between him and Sippo and then he pointed the Land Rover at the near vertical 3 ft high river bank and revved the engine. It took him two goes but he somehow made it up what we all thought was impossible and then proceeded to maneuver the vehicle through all types of jungle. It was worth every bump and jolt as our next view of the leopard was this...

 

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Thank you Cameron - that was the best bit of bush bashing we have had! We were all happy beyond words and the leopard posed nicely for us while draped over the bough of a tree. Leopard in Tree equals lots of pics;

 

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She decided to change position and dropped down out of the tree;

 

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(I have a picture of a leopard in Zambia that is very similar to this....I hope I can start a collection now as we travel through Africa).

 

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She came to rest on a sandy "beach" next to the dry river bed and it seemed like a great excuse to take more pictures but also to sometimes sit and just enjoy the whole experience as well.

 

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Eventually, it was time to leave and we drove off very happy with our day and our time at Leopard Hills. Before our final sundowner we stopped to watch some hippos and their bird neighbours and a vulture with an odd growth on its neck.

 

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We found a sundowner spot and chatted about our day and how great it had been. I wished I had brought my tripod to get a nice wide angle of the scene but an iPhone can be nearly as good and with the colors boosted a bit (okay boosted a lot) the sunsets can be really quite nicely captured.

 

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Back at camp we were out on the deck for dinner but high winds forced us in side as a storm blew by. No worries, we set up inside and enjoyed a great meal with great company in a great place.

 

GoPro/iPhone video to finish.

 

 

Kind regards

 

deano.

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Great couple of days with some fantastic sightings!

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It would have been thrilling to watch the "cargo drop." That one wild dog sure was fascinated by you. Wonderful time with the leopard. It would not surprise me if the vervets did indeed have a calculated plan with their decoy.

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