Niyam's African Adventure (August 2013)

[africapurohit]

I love spotted hyenas - ultimate survivors, fascinating society structures, and very intelligent. Also, one of best examples of girl-power in Africa!

[africapurohit]

After lunch, Alex suggested that we explore the area behind camp as we were unlikely to encounter any vehicles around there so that's where we headed. Many wildebeests had moved into the area so I tried to focus on the youngsters which were usually very skittish.

 

They seemed to be enjoying the bounty of the new shoots

This one was too old to be suckling

This guy could poke his own eyes out with those tusks!

We saw a large herd of about 40 eland spread amongst the wildebeest

A beautiful immature Augur Buzzard

We were ambling along at a very slow pace when Medebe received a call regarding a potential leopard sighting around the Kopjes. After thinking about it I decided to go and investigate. I knew we were likely to encounter many vehicles but it would be worthwhile if Niyam got to see his first leopard. When we got to the area, there was no sign of the leopard but we did see about 15 vehicles. After some waiting, a female leopard revealed herself at the top of a island of kopjes and trees. By now it was overcast and the lighting was poor, so our aim was for Niyam to get a sighting rather than photography.

 

This was our first sighting before she disappeared again into the kopje complex and Niyam was still struggling to see her

​Then she briefly appeared out in the open but still high up - this time Niyam managed to see her before she disappeared again

After waiting another 10 minutes she appeared again, lower down, before finally making her way to ground level and showing her displeasure at one of the vehicles. Soon she was gone so we started to make our way back to camp. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with the view of rain falling on the distant Kenyan hills. In summary, quite a good day!

 

[Game Warden]

What was it you said at the recent GTG about the standard of your photography? @@stokeygirl, @@JohnR can you recall?

[africapurohit]

I'm still a beginner when it comes to photography and processing RAW files. I do plan on doing some more courses over the next 12 months.

[twaffle]

Stunning imagery

[TonyQ]

Good leopard sighting for Niyam

Beautiful sunset

I think the hyena photos are superb - I also think they are really interesting animals

[Geoff]

I'm still a beginner when it comes to photography and processing RAW files. I do plan on doing some more courses over the next 12 months.

 

Well, you'll be revisiting a lot of images. There's some excellent material to work with. I love the 7th image in post #323. if you have data in the sky you'll be able to bring that up a few notches.

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@twaffle, @@TonyQ and @@Geoff

 

Tony, it was almost a relief to get Niyam's leopard sighting out of the way - if he hadn't seen one, his younger brother would have constantly reminded Niyam when he got home!

 

 I think you could be right about the younger coalition of cheetahs - they were in fantastic condition but didn't seem to be fully mature. I may go back to that report one day because I never did finish the Duba, Linyanti, Kwando or Kwara parts of the trip - that trip to Botswana will always remain special for us because we returned home with an extra passenger, who turned out to be Niyam!

 

Geoff, at the moment I'm using Canon's DPP software to do quick RAW conversions for the purpose of this report but I do plan to revisit many of these images and explore other software.

[africapurohit]

On Day 4 we headed for for Wogakuria Kopjes. We were enjoying a very peaceful morning enjoying time with the giraffes, when Medbe got a call about a rhino sighting. We were not far away so we went to investigate - we reached the location of the sighting quite quickly but there was no rhino to be found. Following the radio chatter, we continued the trail until we finally got a visual in the Bologonia area. This rhino was running at pace and was obviously distressed, with three vehicles in close pursuit. Mdebe was very concerned - he stopped our vehicle and radio-called for all the pursuing vehicles to leave the rhino alone! This was the right thing to do in this situation and seemed to work as the chasing pack stopped their pursuit. We saw the male black rhino continue to run on, literally parting a herd of wildebeests, before slowing down to a walk when he felt he was a safe distance from the vehicles. From where the sighting was first reported to where we got our first visual must have been about 6 km apart. It was obvious that this poor animal ran that distance whilst being chased by vehicles. Sadly, just when Mdebe thought his message had got through, one of the vehicles continued its pursuit and the rhino started running again! We later learnt that one of the Asilia vehicles was reported to the park's authorities and to the camp at which the guide was based at. The park's authorities banned off-road driving, past the Bologonia bridge, for the rest of the day.

 

Lilac-breasted Roller in the morning light

Oribi

Dark Chanting-Goshawk

Male black rhino running through a herd of wildebeests

Finally slowing to a walk, a good distance away

[africapurohit]

After breakfast, we spent some time watching vultures at a wildebeest carcass. We had a mix of White-backed, Griffon and Lappet-faced vultures - where one of the Griffon vultures seemed to be lying on a bed of bones.

 

Bed of Bones

[Kitsafari]

What a beautiful portrait of the giraffe in black and white. You can see such gentleness in her eyes. I feel for the poor rhino.

Are there generally guidelines for guides not to pursue distressed animals?

[africapurohit]

The rhino was distressed because it was being chased, which is why Mdebe told everyone to back-off and let it go. If you approach an animal and it runs away, that should be the first indicator to back-off - but to then chase it for a few kilometres is shocking behaviour by the guides involved. They all know not to do that, but some still do to try and please their guests or because of pressure from their guests.

[Atravelynn]

I'm up to those adorable Katavi lion cubs. The croc closeup at the start of this section is fantastic. Your birds, including the fish eagle lightening its load before takeoff, are marvelous. Those mongoose on the termite mound are gorgeous!

Edited November 17, 2013 by Atravelynn

[twaffle]

Good for Mdebe! Shame on those other guides.

[Game Warden]

@@africapurohit can you confirm that an Asilia vehicle was involved in the incident with the rhino?

 

We later learnt that one of the Asilia vehicles was reported to the park's authorities and to the camp at which the guide was based at. The park's authorities banned off-road driving, past the Bologonia bridge, for the rest of the day.

[Atravelynn]

Niyam had quite the adventure for his 5th birthday. Has he made any plans for his 6th?

[africapurohit]

@@Game Warden we were quite a distance away when we saw what was happening - Mdebe hit the breaks sent out his message which all of the chasing vehciles received because they all stopped. As I knew we were not going to get any closer to this rhino and it was moving away at speed, I focussed on trying to get Niyam to see it before it disappeared - so I didn't focus on the vehicles involved.

 

When we got back to camp for lunch, Alex confirmed that he had already read about incident on Facebook! Word travels fast, even out there! It was back at camp that we received confirmation that an Asilia vehicle and guide had been identified and reported to his camp and the authorities.

 

Thanks @@Atravelynn - we flew out a week after Niyam's 6th birthday. I've got an another son who turns six in 2015, so the next trip will be "his" safari followed by my third boy who turns six in 2018.

[africapurohit]

We continued our morning drive heading towards the Sand River, which is border between Tanzania and Kenya, when we saw a lioness walking towards a herd of wildebeests. But she just walked right past them, within metres, with no interest in the wildebeests. This girl was on a mission, so we tracked her course and watched her jump down into a dry river bed. We lost sight of her for a while until Lonyoki spotted her in some thick bush, accompanied by three small cubs. Visibility of the family was poor, so we continued onwards.

 

Around the Sand River the numbers of wildebeest that had gathered were awe-inspiring - we estimated close to half a million spread over a few kilometres. They were as far as the eye could see and had most likely gathered because of the heavy rain that had fallen on the Kenya side, the night before. At this time of year, the Sand River is a dry and relatively easy crossing but none were crossing? We went to investigate one of the main crossing points and found a few vehicles on the Kenya side, literally parked at the exit point of the crossing - of course they weren't going to cross if these vehicles were literally blocking their path! . The result was that we had this amazing spectacle to ourselves as the wildebeests continued to gather in phenomenal numbers (it seemed as though most of the Serengeti vehicles were camped at crossing points on the Mara River and the wildebeests outsmarted them by gathering at the Sand River). We also had another rare sighting for northern Serengeti - a herd of about 200 buffalo. Herds this large are not common around here and it was fantastic watching them mingle amongst the wildebeests. But the pathfinder of this herd was one of the biggest buffaloes I've seen, and he let us know that he was not pleased by our presence. I enjoyed this "migration" sighting far more than the crossings we had seen so far.

 

Joining the crowd

The Pathfinder stepped out of the herd and started to approach our vehicle!

​We disturbed a Woolly-necked Stork feeding on insects from a wildebeest carcass

We found a breeding herd of elephants close to camp when we were returning for lunch

Edited November 18, 2013 by africapurohit

[Atravelynn]

 

Thanks @@Atravelynn - we flew out a week after Niyam's 6th birthday. I've got an another son who turns six in 2015, so the next trip will be "his" safari followed by my third boy who turns six in 2018.

So that was his 6th birthday cake. Looks like you have My Three Sons!

[Atravelynn]

I wonder the fate of that hyena. It looks like he won't be disseminating his genes this time around. Maybe in the future if he survives. How sweet your guide apologized for the hyena's pitiful state.

[madaboutcheetah]

Love the Oribi ........ I think I've seen a few (mara perhaps?) ......... none stuck around for a photo.

 

Those shots of the migration are awesome. In particular the BW one.....

[TonyQ]

Sad to hear about he rhino

But stunning pictures of the wildebeest migration

[Zim Girl]

Love the 'joining the crowd' picture of the wildebeest walking in single file.

[africapurohit]

Thanks @@Atravelynn - I had to look up what "My Three Sons" was . I think Niyam was happy to see the hyena - with or without ears. The general consensus was that the hyena was going to survive.

Thanks @@madaboutcheetah and @@TonyQ - Oribi are found in the Mara. I feel that my photos don't do justice to what we witnessed. Imagine driving for about 4-5 km and seeing a constant mass of wildebeests blending into the horizon- a photo from the air would have been amazing. Having witnessed the migration during August/September in both the Mara (previously) and northern Serengeti, I have to say that the numbers of wildebeest present in northern Serengeti dwarfs what is found in the Mara. During our 10 days, we estimated the northern Serengeti population to be close to 1 million wildebeests. The gathering around the Sand River that morning alone was around half a million. Of course, they do move back and forth a lot when there's a bit of rain on either side.

@@Zim Girl that column actually stretched back for over a kilometre and there were other columns forming and joining from different directions.

We later found out that the wildebeests didn't cross the Sand River and just dispersed throughout the northern Serengeti again.

[Atravelynn]

You caught some fantastic migration action! I like the idea of camera wars. I see you added to your hyena photo collection with specimens that were in better condition. I'm glad the prognosis for the beat-up hyena was good.

 

My Three Sons is a very 1960 US - centric reference. Pardon!