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Each time we set out on a game drive, Kosie would set a target of a species we wanted to see. During brunch the day before, two friends of mine who happened to be at the lodge at the same time, had spent quality time with a cheetah and her cub. They were on foot and got fairly close to the cheetah as their guide had spent time with the cat. So of course we narrated that to Kosie, who then had to take us to find the cheetahs! Poor guides, but such challenges pay off when we find the animals.

 

we started from another waterhole. we sat in the vehicle while Kosie and Ben searched along the waterhole and around the area for fresh signs of the cats. they came back rather disappointed but heard on the radio that another guide with the gentleman guest had found fresh tracks in the next block. we caught up with them and all the guides and trackers were on the ground trying to figure out where the cheetahs went. the mum cheetah seemed intent on losing us as their tracks went up and down the roads. The cheetah mum had had two cubs but very recently had lost one cub. Kosie thought she might be searching for the lost cub. which made me feel rather sad, and that had meant that the mum and cub had not eaten and were very lean. 

 

Finally, they saw the freshest tracks crossing into the block where the waterhole was. so we headed back. as we neared the waterhole, i glanced towards some bushes and swore that that log looked very much like a cheetah lying prone on the ground. I hesitated but finally told Kosie and sure enough the mum cheetah was stretched out and the cub with a round belly was walking back to the mum. there was a springbok carcass by the side. The mum had just hunted! we missed the hunt and kill only by a few minutes as Kosie and Ben were just in that very area and saw no signs. But we didn't regret not seeing the kill. I'm not sure if i could bear watching it. 

 

just so lovely watching the mum grooming the cub and taking good care of the cub.

 

a perfect end to a a lovely day.

 

 

 

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too cute! That cub looks so fat she can't even stand up! Glad to see momma ate some as well. :)

 

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On 9/28/2017 at 10:04 AM, Kitsafari said:

@wilddog @Mark @SafariChick @kittykat23uk thanks for dropping by!  and I was glad too to be finally once again sharing the sightings and thrills of seeing new species with the OH.

haha Mark, our guide hid his shock pretty well and managed our expectations well too. 

 

@Alexander33 I was very glad to have a chance to get back in a different month too. based on the two visits - i've decided that July and August are the best months to catch the nocturnal species and see a lot more of them during the daylight 

 

Kittykat23uk - you don't need to strike a lottery - i reckon you saw more at marrick than we did in tswalu and that's probably only a fraction of Tswalu's costs! 

 

Nah, we did see some good sightings at Marrick ,  but obviously they don't have lions, cheetah, and I don't think they see  pangolins at all really. 

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It looks like you had a great trip. The  aardwolf is wonderful - and the Roan so beautiful. Great that your husband could come with you (or you could go with him :)). It looks like you made a good choice with your new camera - excellent results.

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@kittykat23uk you got some marvellous aardvark sightings at marrick and i wished we had more. 

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My OH had a couple of lovely frontal-view pics of the cheetahs - i couldn't get them to look at us! each time Kosie moved to give us frontal views of them, the mum would turn over, resolutely refusing to let us see her face. 

 

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Edited by Kitsafari
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I don't recall how the topic came up.  I suspect we were asking about black footed cat, and started talking about the small cats at breakfast before we set off for our drives on the second day. Kosie said black footed cats, africa wildcats, caracals and striped polecats were not easy to see.

I didn't know there were caracals in Tswalu, but my friends had a brilliant sighting of a very relaxed caracal and so we held up hope we would see them. One late evening after a hunt for dogs, we were driving through the mountains when Kosie suddenly stopped and asked if we had seen it. a caracal had dashed across the road and vanished into the thick bushes. it was too dense to crash into, so sadly we gave up the search.

I had no clue what striped polecats looked like and didn't pay much attention to it. as usual, we headed out half an hour earlier than the others. We were going to see the famous residents at Tswalu - the ever entertaining meerkats. 

Just as we had settled in with our beanies and thick fleeces, Kosie shouted striped polecat. my head swung to my right and saw a flash of a skunk-looking animal which white stripes on its body and a flash of a white tail before it dived into the bushes and disappeared. Imagine my surprise when I googled and found out - the polecat is  also known as zorilla! so now we have bragging rights to having seen a zorilla! incredible! but no photos - it was just too fast. 

 

There are two grou ps of meerkats being studied by the researchers - the horses and the rock stars. we were on the way to meet the horses. 

On the way to the meerkats: 

 

 

 

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Edited by Kitsafari
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we had to time the visit to the meerkats to coincide with the sunlight falling on their dens. it was a bit of a cloudy day so we didn't have the beautiful golden light to bring out their golden hues and fuzzy hair. It was still no less entertaining to enjoy the tiny cousins of the weasels including time spent walking with them part way as they foraged and hunted.

 

for a spree of meerkats waking up, housecleaning, grooming, bonding, sunning, taking shut-DSC01037.thumb.JPG.db0970dd5341866400b549df610167bf.JPGeyes, moving out, checking out potential "prey", sheltering and foraging.....

 

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more meerkat mania! well, the truth is that we took dozens of photos and it'd be such a waste not to enjoy the good ones (dumped loads of bad ones too!). DSC01108.thumb.JPG.ebc44cc6caa35f334742b440a7e1e084.JPGDSC01109.thumb.JPG.cd5a68c1763bb8d1e97e605dbc6356b8.JPGDSC01113.thumb.JPG.ba4590ea84bc37b09f8a91a4b38b97ce.JPGDSC01122.thumb.JPG.2a6c623fcf58dedffc5fd2bf16c1a95b.JPGMeerkat-9.thumb.JPG.9b2f7d537b67aa79e21c38b730bf2bfc.JPGDSC01135.thumb.JPG.2d1715369161a42cc89246ac9e7331c2.JPGDSC01138.thumb.JPG.150f124a7df1db752428a00d1fb9135b.JPGDSC01144.thumb.JPG.12b70ac9146b5fccbe45f3e146a43a5b.JPGDSC01149.thumb.JPG.8e176caeff401670de48d61cf7434536.JPG

 

 

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Finally, one which I will cherish. :)

 

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and a couple of videos:

 

a collage: 

 

 

meerkats: the kills

 

 

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other wildlife seen during the morning drive: 

 

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Edited by Kitsafari
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The afternoon drive was a leisurely roundabout route to the west to see if we could find a rhino. we had time to kill as we were meeting Wendy, the pangolin researcher, for a bush dinner. She's wrapping up her research with a doctorate thess (way to go, Gal!) and it was good to meet up with her again. 

Finally we saw buffaloes - the first and only time we saw them in the reserve. There are only very few buffaloes in Tswalu which were taken in by the reserve from neighbouring farms. I can't recall the reason why the farms were giving them away. 

 

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a pan of sorts. last year the reserve had put salt licks here and that attracted a horde of grazers and browsers. This September, there were no licks but the animals sought refuge in the shade of a beautiful tree instead. 

 

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an oryx and oryx babies which looked like mini roans!! they were adorable. 

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after dinner, we followed Wendy to track her charges. she names her charges, which are tagged, by numbers as all scientists do,  but one of the favourites and more accomodating is Charlie, whom I had met last year. This time, Charlie had roamed far from his usual den but still no less unfriendly. By the time we saw him, the sun had set and it was pitch dark. the photos were taken by my OH. the magical little dragon was on the go for juicy ants and zig-zagging around, at one time fooling wendy he was heading in the direction of his favourite den. 

 

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A fascinating report @Kitsafari and I can understand why you'll always cherish that time spent with what looks to be a meerkat fanclub.

 

What wonderful sightings including mention of a caracal seen nearby I see! plus aardwolf and a zorilla! @Tom Kellie needs to be told of that I think @offshorebirder!

 

 

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This is too much  - whilst typing my #29 reply you've sneaked in a pangolin! plus more lovely sightings including baby oryx, a jackal, more eland etc plus a nice landscape

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@Caracal when I first heard @Tom Kellie's mention of a zorilla, i thought he was joking and referring to an animal so mythical you would read only in fairy tales. so imagine my surprise that there was really such a creature! and we were dumbstruck to see one in Tswalu. but i was thrilled. 

the pangolin was a precious sighting as well. i could not tire watching one again and again.

 

 

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A beautiful sunrise the next morning on our third safari day.

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even the moon was still showing its face..DSC01261.thumb.JPG.ee12fae8c8711352d703f4202686906d.JPG

 

this morning we were seeking rhinos in earnest. black rhinos. it was a bit of a drive to a waterhole where Kosie and Ben started searching for rhino tracks and found those of a black rhino and a calf that had drunk just hours before. we followed the tracks. we were soon joined by another vehicle and Ben and another tracker were dropped off into a thick block while we circled in the vehicle. narrowing the search we found the pair running off into a thick acacia bush and Kosie said we only had a few minutes before the pair was likely to lie down and sleep in the shade. all that he said came true. So with twigs and leaves in the way, we fired off the shots... only of the friendly type. 

 

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we headed off to have our brekkie in the bush at a beautiful large flat pan. with little water still remaining, waves and waves of burchell's sandgrouses flew in and out for quick seeps of water. wildebeests, oryx, a sable found their way to the pool, and despite our presence, albeit at a far distance, they seemed quite relaxed. Kosie said he would usually bring guests to the pan for the bush dinner and this was the first time he'd done for brunch. sometimes rhinos would come to the waterhole. 

 

 

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Edited by Kitsafari
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a few species that we stopped for a minute in our search in vain for the perfect photos.

 

 

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Edited by Kitsafari
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Just wow, Kit! That Meerkat sequence is so adorable, you must have been so happy among them - you certainly look it! And what a great Pangolin sighting! And I really love the Sable-Oryx photos, they look so cool together! As others have noted, you´re doing absolutely great with your new camera - super pictures!

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Peter Connan

Such wonderful sightings!

 

Such a pity ST is still banned in China. I am sure Tom would have loved reading about your Zorrilla encounter!

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A great Meerkat sequence - a lovely photo of you with a very big smile!  The Pangolin is a really special sighting as well.

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@michael-ibk @Peter Connan @offshorebirder @TonyQ thanks for following along. I was hoping to put in one more instalment but I've run out of time. I'll be heading to the airport soon and won't be able to update until over a fortnight later. 

 

meanwhile, stay happy and stay safe till I return!

 

:D

 

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Peter Connan

Happy travels!

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