Remember remember to do some work in September .

[RogerFraser]

Traveling down the H7 it was now mid day and baking hot .We were stopped by two excited men who explained they had seen a Leopard down in the shade .After seeking for a while we found it laying very still in the shade . We waited quite a while and apart from the occasional tail flick it did not move so all we got was a number of bum shots .We eventually managed to hand over the sighting to a French sounding Lady with a big 500mm lens and carried on to camp .



A bit further along the h7 we stumbled onto a crime scene there was some dodgy characters



Half a dead body


And lots of witnesses standing around the body


We could not see the culprits directly but the rest of the cast was not approaching the dead body so they were obviously still around the area .We waited a while then decided to go check in and come back later .The scene provided some interesting times over our stay more of it later .

Further along we found another dead body .While it was on the side of the road it seemed to have some cuts on its side so not sure if it was a car or natural ending .


We went to Orpen and checked in and unpacked the car .After a brief rest we left for a late afternoon quick drive ...

[RogerFraser]

After the break we left with the idea to try get back to the site of the kill and back to camp .

It was starting to cool off when we left camp but we did not make it to the kill before the timer was running low . Turning back towards camp we first got the sun setting



and then getting dimmer


some nocturnal animals were coming out with this Jackal getting a excited welcome by its mate .


The light was getting low and photography quite difficult .As we were approaching camp about 200m from the gate SO says stop something is coming down from the ridge .Its a a Doggie .And sure as eggs a single Wild dog was chasing an Impala . It managed to catch it and started to eat quickly





the camera was battling to focus .Suddenly the dog alerted and looked up and just as quickly a Hyena ran it and grabbed the Impala carcass and ran off .



I managed to get a short video while SO tried to take the photos

Wow we were so amped by the sighting we were totally focused on it .Oh well time to go to camp we looked up ahead and saw more dogs all over the place .Literally running past camp gate while people stood at the gate and watched .


We had driven closer to camp and then the rest of the pack arrived with the new puppies and there was dogs running all over .They had obviously had a good hunt and there was many pieces of Impala being eaten and fought over .


This dog reminded us of one of our GSD's and we nicknamed it dobby




After spending about 10 mins it was getting dark

they finally moved into the bushes out of sight and we drove the 20m into camp .Arriving at our unit we met our neighbors who had been in camp all the time and had not seen or heard a thing of the dogs running around

[Pumbaa]

What lovely way to end the day with with such a wild dog sighting, Roger

and even so close to camp Love also the jackals and for sure the leopard

[Flutterby]

Great trip so far, Roger! Lovely leopard sighting and incredible wild dog sightings and pics!!

[Richprins]

What an array of predator sightings, Rog!

That leopard has a strange pose!

What is a GSD?

I like the pups in the headlights!

[Lisbeth]

Not only was it getting dark, but there were also branches and twigs all over the pace. Quite a miracle that you managed to get pics of anything The headlights o the cars helped a bit at the end....even if I prefer the pics without cars

[Mel]

Oh, wow, what a great sighting right at the gate

Otherwise a very productive drive to with leo, hyena, vultures, snake

[RogerFraser]

What lovely way to end the day with with such a wild dog sighting, Roger

and even so close to camp Love also the jackals and for sure the leopard

we have had a allot of luck very close to Orpen camp lately .

Great trip so far, Roger! Lovely leopard sighting and incredible wild dog sightings and pics!!

Flutterby the pics did not come out as well as they should have due to settings and light but will work on my low light skills for next time

What an array of predator sightings, Rog!

That leopard has a strange pose!

What is a GSD?

I like the pups in the headlights!

GSD = German Shepherd Dog like we have .

Not only was it getting dark, but there were also branches and twigs all over the pace. Quite a miracle that you managed to get pics of anything The headlights o the cars helped a bit at the end....even if I prefer the pics without cars

The cars helped us a bit and you can get an idea of how dark it was already .

Oh, wow, what a great sighting right at the gate

Otherwise a very productive drive to with leo, hyena, vultures, snake

it started with a Leopard and cub and finished with Wild dog puppies we were very that evening

[RogerFraser]

Out at camp gate opening our first sighting was an Ellie having breakfast :



Some Hyenas were just chilling


We came across a mini traffic jam of two vehicles and found what they were watching through the shrubs in the river bed :


It soon realized that it was not alone and left the riverbed to the opposite side :


We then came across these cutie's playing :






We carried on to visit the scene of the crime again ...

[Lisbeth]

The hyena cubs are very cute