A return to the Cape - November 2023

[Towlersonsafari]

this is a wonderful  trip!

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful!

 

But your Red-eyed Pigeon is in fact Speckled.

[xelas]

1 hour ago, Peter Connan said:

But your Red-eyed Pigeon is in fact Speckled.

Peter, who knows, maybe tomorrtow it will be renamed to Red-eyed . In the meantime, correction has been done.

[Soukous]

17 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Beautiful!

 

But your Red-eyed Pigeon is in fact Speckled.

 

We already told him that when he posted in his BY 2023. He's determined to rename it.

Edited February 5 by Soukous

[xelas]

11 hours ago, Soukous said:

 

We already told him that when he posted in his BY 2023. He's determined to rename it.

If ABA can do it ....

Edited February 5 by xelas

[xelas]

Work in progress ...

Edited February 5 by xelas

[Peter Connan]

On 2/4/2024 at 6:12 PM, xelas said:

Peter, who knows, maybe tomorrtow it will be renamed to Red-eyed . In the meantime, correction has been done.

I guess anything is possible, but what would they then call the real Red-eyed Dove?

Edited February 8 by Peter Connan

[xelas]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:36 AM, Peter Connan said:

I guess anything is possible, but what would they then call the real Red-eyed Dove?

They could coexist, the "Re-eyed Pigeon" and the Red-eyed Dove, together with Red-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Puffback and my favourite, Red-eyed Bulbul . By looking at Red-eyed birds it surprised me how few are actually named Red-eyed, vs how many have red eyes. But then, the Speckled Pigeon does not have red eyes at all .

Edited February 8 by Peter Connan

[xelas]

AMAKHALA GAME RESERVE

 

 

Martin has not only chosen this place, he has also posted a comprehensive report about Amakhala here; I will not add much info about the place so please read it before continuing with mine.

 

 

 

Edited February 8 by xelas

[xelas]

There are 400 kms between Wilderness and Amakhala Game Reserve, and we have started our driving early after the breakfast. The weather has changed, it was heavily clouded and if I remember well, it even rained for a while.

 

 

 

The sun beats the clouds somewhere around Port Elizabeth, and we have arrived in perfect weather.

 

 

 

Our accommodation was Woodbury Tented Lodge. I found it to be a fine place to stay at. We have been allocated a spacious tent with excellent bed and nice wooden patio. Not too far from the main area, nice views, and not too hot during the midday. It cooled down noticeably during the night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lodge has two pools; one smaller, tucked away in the green bushes and one bigger on a deck next to the main lounge / house. The main deck is where we have had our lunches and this oner also offers great views, and was used for some birding. A small waterhole was not visited much by local animals, yet it was also not void of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

The title of this segment of the trip could easily be "Eat, be driven, sleep" : we have had 2 game drives each about 3 hours in duration, with 3 meals in between. First game drive started at 6 AM, followed by a breakfast and a midday siesta. Second game drive started at 4 PM after the lunch. On return we were offered a hot tea, coffee and a fire. Dinner was served inside. The lunch was a lighter affair while the dinner was more robust. All food, breakfast included, was delicious. To quench the thirst one can use the open bar (drinks, also alcoholic, were all included in the price of the accommodation).

 

 

Lunch with a view

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midday siesta options

 

 

 

 

After the game drive, to warm up

 

 

 

 

Dinner communal style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8 by xelas

[xelas]

The main game area in Amakhala is a grassy plateau surrounded by hills. There is a (dry at that time) river bed at one side, and a wooded gully on the other side. Mostly grass with a few trees thus the wildlife sighting of larger mammals was very good. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

Driver is also naturalist guide; we have had the same guide and vehicle for all our game drives. Vehicles are usual Toyota Landcruiser with 3 rows of benches. And the front co-driver seat, which was very much in demand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

I can say that all 6 drives have been very good, with a nice mix of views, mammals and birds. Each drive Greg took us to a different spot for a coffee/tea break and those moments we have enjoyed almost as much as the driving part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

Game drives in Amakhala are organised in such a way that the guests will encounter at least one member of the Big 5 per drive, and that there will not be more than two vehicles at any sighting. It is a good thing for whoever wants to have its Big 5 sighting guaranteed, but it does take away a lot of thrill that self-driving and self-guiding in national parks like Etosha or Kruger gives to its visitors. Myself, I still prefer the later. 

 

On our first game drive the target animal was a White rhino. And we did not need to drive very far to find it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove a short loop to find other residents of the grassy plains: buffalo, hartebeest, zebra, bontebok and waterbuck. Many of them have offsprings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our return to the lodge we have passed by the rhinos again.

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

The second day of our stay at Woodbury started early, after a strong rain during the night, with a beautiful rainbow. The target animal of this morning was cheetah. Finding any predator cat in the wild is much tougher work than finding a rhino, or an elephant herd. But even in the private reserve, with big cats having the tracking devices attached, it is not always a guarantee sighting. They could decide that the best bush to lay under is away from the vehicle tracks, and game vehicles are not allowed to leave those tracks for a closer approach. This morning we were lucky as the bush with the cheetah family was relatively close to the tracks. 

 

 

 

 

At first we have counted 2 heads, then 3, 4 ... and eventually we had a good sight of all 5 cats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12 by xelas

[xelas]

This first session lasted for about 45 minutes. We then move away, to let another vehicle with guests his time with these lovely cats. Giraffes are as good of a sighting, and we have also spotted oryx and eland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12 by xelas

[xelas]

We did return to that bush, now the family has moved to the other side of it, and the mother gave us some nice poses, like a supermodel she is !

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Beautiful photos of the Cheetah @xelasand of the Giraffe 

[pedro maia]

Nice trip so far Alex, South Africa is a beautiful country and that´s a part I still haven´t visited, looking forward for the rest.

[Kitsafari]

gorgeous cheetah family!

 

spotted oryx?? 

[xelas]

9 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

spotted oryx?? 

 Another of my english inventions ; spotted as in seen, find, observed.

[xelas]

Observing spotted cats was awesome, but we were there also for birding. A few "local" birds from the morning drive:

 

 

Cape Starling

 

Ludwig's Bustard

 

Southern Anteater-Chat

 

 

Birding within the camp grounds was not that good, the bushes were too dense and there were only a few flowering plants available. Luckily one was close to our tent.

 

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

 

 

 

Edited February 14 by xelas

[xelas]

There was no "primary target" found during the afternoon drive, thus we have covered more of the territory, and had more time for birding. A mix of wildlife photos from Amakhala Game Reserve:

 

 

Warthog

 

 

Springbok

 

Familiar Chat

 

Impala

 

Kudu

 

 

Klaas's Cuckoo

 

Vervet monkey

 

A Mouse pretending to be a bird

 

Fork-tailed Drongo

 

Common Quail

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14 by xelas

[ElenaH]

What a nice trip!

Excellent itinerary and accommodation and beautiful sightings!

And how many birds! Very nice pictures! I liked the bird-pictures very much!