Done and Dusted

[Moggiedog]

Thanks Pumbaa - As for the lions - always seem to take way too many pics in situations like this

RP No porta pottie needed - we had wee-jons I promise we had nothing to do with the jackal being wet

Nan - agreed - seeing them up and about is always good. the mom was tiny compared to him - but when they were apart she was not that small - he was just big

Lisbeth - it was nice to meet the family - especially after the close encounter with the children the night before

[Moggiedog]

Typical male - he turned his back on her and started to sulk.


Perhaps he realized he was setting a bad example for his offspring, he moved closer to her and pretended to be totally nonchalant


Deciding he needed to save face, when she dropped off to sleep, he pretended indifference to the proceedings by yawning widely. He didn't fool us for a second.



We had been so busy watching Big Daddy and Big Momma, we hadn't given much thought to the Herman and Peewee. Now that my concentration was broken, it felt as if I had two holes being bored through me. It gave me a strange feeling. Looking around I could see Herman, was again, imitating dad by giving a big yawn - so it wasn't him giving me the creepy feeling.
The feeling persisted so I looked closer than I had been looking. There was PeeWee stalking me! Now I know it is downright stupid - but our windows were open and I couldn't close mine as the engine was off. I looked at PeeWee and she looked at me. She was less than 10 feet from the car.



then her expression changed to a look of puzzlement - almost as if she was thinking "Now What?"


The feeling of eyes burning into me was still very strong. I looked to the left of me and there was Herman given me the hairy eyeball.


Deciding discretion was the better part of valor Jax closed the windows up halfway.The one other car that had been watching the family decided it was time for them to leave. We knew they were staying at Twee Rivieren and the shadows were very long so they would have to drive at the max speed limit and not stop if they wanted to be through the gates before closing time.

I noticed that Herman was no longer watching me and PeeWee had done a vanishing act. Something else had caught Herman's attention.


Wondering what had distracted him, we turned around and who should be standing in the middle of the road - PeeWee - she had chased the other car and was looking back as if to say "Mom Dad - did you see me chase that noisy box away"


We decided to leave the family in peace and head back for camp. As we drove off we saw PeeWee and Herman chasing us. We had a good laugh at the two of them. PeeWee was going to be a very bad influence on her brother.

We got home without incident and we were soon settled down round the fire.
As the sun disappeared over the horizon she shared her beauty before vanishing for the night.


Once again Mr Fox came for his visit and he was not as timid as he had been but trotted across in front of us to see if we had perhaps left something for him for supper. He was out of luck, so back he went to his bush and carried off whatever it was that he found so appetizing . Even though we had checked again - we still had no idea what he was picking up and taking home with him.

That night was uneventful with no unexpected visitors so we managed to have an unbroken sleep.
A new day and our last day - who knew what to expect.

[Alf]

I wonder what his reaction will be when he catch the car

[Lisbeth]

Wonderful interaction between the lions, between the cubs and between the cubs and you. A lovely family and great shots. PeeWee looks so sweet and they are all very good looking, classy lions

[Flutterby]

Big Daddy is huge and Peewee and Herman are beautiful! Lovely pics.

[Moggiedog]

Alf - that would have been interesting if the car had stop and PeeWee was on top of it. She may have bitten off more than she could chew

Flutterby - Big Daddy was the smaller of the two males. I often wonder how he had a family and his big (I presume brother) was on the peripheral of the small pride

Lisbeth it was very special - especially as there was no traffic jam, no people cutting each other off to have a look or blocking anyone's view.

[Moggiedog]

We mooched around the camp, enjoying a leisurely breakfast. One thing about the unfenced camps - even if they are full - you have peace and quiet as they are small without hordes of people. The birds were fluttering around us snatching up any crumbs that were dropped. One cheeky bugger helped himself to a rasher of bacon out of the frying pan. It didn't take long for war to break out over that rasher of bacon.
It was a late start but we were in no particular hurry. As we headed out of the camp we had a fleeting view of either Mr Fox or another fox. He/she was soon hidden from sight. We took a very slow drive up to the waterhole.
Today we were on a mission. We were out to find an Africa Wildcat. We discussed were we would be if we were such a cat.
We sat and watched the birds at a waterhole on the off chance there was a hungry kitty around - but they were far too relaxed for a predator to be in the area.


There was not much else happening so we carried on on our mission to find the elusive cat.
We passed a big herd of springbok with a couple of gnu pretending to be rocks and rocks pretending to be anything else but rocks. We got the giggles (again) as we would stop and peer at the rock, grass or something else - then we would realize this was not the first time we were trying to identify an animal that was not an animal in the same place as we had done before. Amazing how quickly one forgets the preceding days!

We arrived at the picnic sight and chatted to one of the drives of a game viewing vehicle. They had seen nothing of interest on their trip up from Twee Rivieren. This is always a problem when you have a group of tourists from far away lands - they want the cats.

We were amused by this little family.


At first they were extremely wary - but eventually the smallest one of the group got a burst of courage and came running across our feet. He grabbed a piece of bread we had dropped and was gone in a flash, with the rest of the family chasing him. They reminded me of a group of men who were answering the call of nature.



Eventually the birds and the squirrels decided that we were were no fun to be around as we did not feed them. So off they scampered and flew across the road to try their luck with other invaders of their territory.

Lunch done and dusted it was time to head for Twee Rivieren. We wanted to fill up with fuel and make contact with out families - We had a long drive the following day and wanted to make tracks as early as possible.

We still had time to stop and have a look see if anything attracted our attention. This group certainly had us entertained at a waterhole.
There were a lot of gemsbok and ostrich around and they appeared to be chasing each other. The ostriches were arguing among themselves - what their gripe was on such a beautiful day was anyone's guess.





One lone jackal had no interest in the commotion going on around him. He was thirsty and he was going to drink. Once he had drunk his fill, he braved flying hooves and very large chicken legs as made his daring escape without coming to any harm.


The wildebeest was being a typical wildebeest - doing nothing and the springbok was unconcerned at the goings on of the gemsbok and ostriches. There was a few moments of calm that we had a dust free view.


Not that it lasted very long before another argument broke out between the angry birds.

[Lisbeth]

Birds at the waterhole and blood thirsty humans watching

One squirrel is escaping the meditation group or is it a group of males , who are answering the call of nature ?

Great "Four in one" picture

And stupid big thigh birds quarreling ....... they cannot even fly

Now, go and and find an African Wild cat, I love them

[H. erectus]

Some seriously good encounter here with wildlife!!!!

[nan]

the splendor of males

nice interaction at the waterhole