Madikwe and Entabeni Game Reserves, Drakensberg, Golden Gate Highlands NP and Kingdom of Lesotho - September/October 2015

[FlyTraveler]

@@FlyTraveler - great to see that you have started your Madikwe TR again! Not least of all because of your excellent photography - along with everyone else I think that your landscape shots are fantastic.

 

It's interesting to contrast our experiences. In a few months the vegetation had totally changed and the cheetah brothers were gone but still we both saw the coalitions of male lions and the huge lioness in similar areas.

 

I think your observations about the Red Hartebeest are also interesting - we only saw them once across all our drives and yet you seem to have seen them regularly indicating that potentially they are more numerous in the North West of the park.

 

We also saw Giraffe most days indicating, as you suggest, that they are more common in the South.

 

Thanks for the good words @IamSA84! I would have to go again through my photos, but most if not all of the Red hartebeest we have seen at the waterholes in front of the lodge (now I remember having at least one sighting during a night safari while on a game drive).

 

Perhaps the ideal location would be some lodge / camp located centrally so both the southern and the northern parts of the reserve would be within a reach during the length of a game drive. In my opinion Mosetlha Bush Camp is such a location, but keeping in mind that I was with my six years old (at the time) daughter, we needed a bit more comfort (at least a private toilet in the room / tent). Tau for us was the best balance between comfort and budget.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

 

I will post several more photos of zebras, can't help it, I just love the patterns:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took several photos of the waterhole itself, but had to shooting against the sun and the results weren't great. Still, we can recognize the drinking Wildebeest and Zebras:

 

 

Edited April 10, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[Marks]

A lonely Gnu and Zebra, not a sighting to write home about if one is in Masai Mara or Serengeti during the migration, but here we stop for photos:

 

Funny how certain sightings can take on more interest in different locations; guess it's all about context! Of course, the images themselves are wonderful. I've always enjoyed your golden hour shots in particular.

 

The north of Madikwe seems to be a very pretty setting with attractive blue hills.

[Atravelynn]

Lovely collection of stripes going every which way your previous post.

 

"Perhaps the ideal location would be some lodge / camp located centrally so both the southern and the northern parts of the reserve would be within a reach during the length of a game drive. In my opinion Mosetlha Bush Camp is such a location," That is helpful and the location comment could extend to other properties too.

[deano]

@@FlyTraveler - thank you for getting back to this report. As @@Tom Kellie and @ImSA84 (and others) have said your landscape shots are fantastic. Madikwe looks amazing - sort of harsh and barren but beautiful at the same time in the end of dry season. Great video of the elephants at the waterhole with the little ones playing in the mud.

 

I have been interested to read about the packs of wild dogs there recently and it does seem that there was a loss of a few packs (rabies?) and now down to just one so lets hope they bounce back.

 

Looking forward to more.

 

kind regards

 

deano.

[FlyTraveler]

Thanks for the good words @@Marks, @@Atravelynn and @@deano! In general Madikwe exceeded my expectations, I didn't expect much from a malaria-free fenced reserve, but it was "the real thing" or very close.

[Atravelynn]

Brown hyena is "the real thing."

[Big_Dog]

What tough looking male lions. Great shots, that side view of one where you can see the full mane is just fantastic!

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

After hanging around the waterhole for a while we decided to move on. This female Greater kudu presented herself and we stopped to take a few shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this time Murray received a message on the radio that the four Cheetah brothers coalition has arrived at the waterhole for a drink. He turned back the Land Cruiser, but there were already a few vehicles there, so we needed to join the queue. Time was passing and no vehicle was leaving the fantastic (I would imagine) sighting. When Murray got the call that he could move in, the Cheetahs have already "become mobile". Murray applied the strategy that he had used on the previous day when he followed the three male lions coalition - guessing the path of the Cheetahs, going ahead, stopping and waiting for them to come and pass by, then the same thing again and again. I would say that Murray was very good with that - the Cheetahs always appeared where he was waiting for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That sighting was a lot more interesting than the one on the previous day when the Cheetah brothers were just resting. It is worth mentioning that they have covered quite a long distance just overnight from southern to the northern part of the reserve.

 

Murray continued following the Cheetahs, I will show more photos of them on the next post.

 

[FlyTraveler]

Brown hyena is "the real thing."

 

Yes, we had two sightings of Brown hyena (not dining as on the @ImSA84 photos, but still...). By "the real thing" I meant a real (malarial) safari reserve / park.

Edited April 10, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

What tough looking male lions. Great shots, that side view of one where you can see the full mane is just fantastic!

 

Indeed, those were my favorite lions from the entire trip. The guide said that they had Etosha genes - tough Kalahari-type motherf.....rs.

Edited April 10, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

I am continuing with more images from the "mobile" cheetahs sighting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we can see four of them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Atravelynn]

Your guide did a good job of anticipating the cheetahs' movements and you did a good job photographing them!

 

I also detect a new avatar!

[xelas]

It must be very exciting when the big cats are approaching you. @@FlyTraveler !

[FlyTraveler]

It must be very exciting when the big cats are approaching you. @@FlyTraveler !

 

Yes, it's very nice to see them coming towards you and then passing by very close to the vehicle (2-3 meters), but you must have experienced this on your safaris.

[TonyQ]

@@FlyTraveler

Great that you have picked this up again - always a pleasure to follow your reports!

Beautiful shots of the male lions and of course the cheetahs - excellent

I also love seeing the landscapes - which look very harsh but with their own beauty

[FlyTraveler]

Hi everyone, I've been quite busy lately, but will make another attempt to resume this trip report after a seven months long break without setting any deadline for finishing it, I'll just write whenever I have time.

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

As far, as I can see my last post from April shows the four Cheetah brothers sighting on the third day of our stay at Tau Game Lodge. As @Travelynn noted above, our guide Murray did a great job following the Cheetahs and anticipating where they will show up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Southern giraffes were curiously watching the Cheetahs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

This was the last time when the Cheetah brothers passed by us before they decided to settle down under a tree:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was already time for going back to the lodge (sorry for the kind of silly music I have chosen for this video clip from the royalty-free pieces that Youtube offers):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=9I_he10uzWo

Edited November 12, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - Tau Lodge (between game drives).

 

By this time we were so used to great wildlife sightings from the restaurant of the lodge during breakfast, that we started taking them for granted, just as a normal part of the landscape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=49&v=Kn-ox8KneRU

 

 

Later on during lunch the staff of the lodge greeted a young Australian boy for his birthday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=YLL9kaFfiX8

 

 

The swimming pool of Tau Game Lodge:

 

 

 

My daughter (six years old at the time) playing with the birthday boy at the pool:

 

 

Our chalet (#11):

 

 

Once we returned to the chalet after hanging around the pool, we had no choice, but to go out on the veranda to observe the big breeding herd of Elephants coming for a drink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The side of the chalet, facing the waterholes:

 

 

The view from inside:

 

 

And a couple of photos of yours truly, my daughter hardly could hold the DSLR, but managed to take good shots:

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - Tau Lodge (between game drives).

 

Now we are turning towards the other waterhole, just to the right of our chalet (we had a great view towards both waterholes):

 

 

 

 

More herds of Elephants and Wildebeest were approaching the waterholes:

 

 

 

 

Group of Ellies presented some wonderful photo opportunities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - Tau Lodge (between game drives).

 

After observing and photographing the Ellies from the deck of our chalet, I went to the main building of the lodge to take some more interior and exterior shots. While on the restaurant terrace, I saw this high flying African fish eagle. The reason I am publishing this photo is that this was the only shot of Fish eagle that I have taken during our safari in Madikwe Game Reserve:

 

 

 

Red-billed teals (Anas erythrorhyncha - @@michael-ibk, thank you for ID-ing) flying in front of an Elephant and a wildebeest.

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow-billed ducks in the waterhole in front of the restaurant:

 

 

 

 

 

 

African red-eyed bulbul (thanks for ID-in @@michael-ibk):

 

 

 

The restaurant of Tau Game Lodge:

 

 

 

 

The pool ones again:

 

 

Edited November 12, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - Tau Lodge (between game drives).

 

Some more interior and exterior photos of the lodge.

 

The young Miss FlyTraveler in the lobby:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The front of the lodge:

 

 

 

 

 

The curio shop:

 

 

 

 

 

Moving to the second floor - the bar:

 

 

 

 

The computer room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the photos, this is a quite large commercial lodge. It felt OK, though since only a very few chalets were occupied during our one week stay and the place looked almost empty with staff member outnumbering the guests. The day we left a big team building group was scheduled to arrive, so we considered ourselves really lucky.

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

@@FlyTraveler

 

That is one proud father on those photos! Are you nervous about when young mrs.FlyTraveler will take over the photographic duties?! It looks like she has an eye of a photographer.

[FlyTraveler]

@@FlyTraveler

 

That is one proud father on those photos! Are you nervous about when young mrs.FlyTraveler will take over the photographic duties?! It looks like she has an eye of a photographer.

 

Thanks, Alex! If my daughter gets interested in photography some day, I would be very happy to provide advice and support (some old camera of mine)

[xelas]

Giving older gear to daughter is also my way ... how to get the new ones !