Flutts, The Brat and Mommo - OUR BEST TRIP EVER

[nan]

I love the pasture at Nsemani

indeed what an evening, Leopard and Honey Badger
and not too bad... the day too

[Pumbaa]

Thanks so much Bush Brat,

love your paradie flycatcher - It is indeed not that easy to even get a picture at all

and the giant kingfisher

[Mel]

How young must I get to get a proper honey badger sighting?

[steamtrainfan]

These are fantastic sightings. The buffalo at Nsemati Dam is a cracker.

[Bush Brat]

I love the pasture at Nsemani

indeed what an evening, Leopard and Honey Badger
and not too bad... the day too

Thanks very much nan...especially for the nomination!!

Thanks so much Bush Brat,

love your paradie flycatcher - It is indeed not that easy to even get a picture at all

and the giant kingfisher

Thanks for following Pumbaa!

How young must I get to get a proper honey badger sighting?

Your time will come Mel, and when it does it will be brilliant!

These are fantastic sightings. The buffalo at Nsemati Dam is a cracker.

Thanks stf!

1 Oct. 2010 - Orpen to Lower Sabie – Part 1

As it was the 1st, the gates were opening at 5.30, so up at 4.45 to pack everything up for our move to LS. We said goodbye to Orpen and were on our way. We saw jackal in the same place as the day before – so still too far for any pics, and also found the two hyenas in the same place again. They obviously have a den under the road. One was getting down and dirty with a rack of ribs!





Our route to LS was via Talamati on the S140, S145 then the S36, the S34, and then finally on to the H10. It was the bumpiest ride ever…a real bone rattler!!! At one point we thought the whole dashboard was going to fall off or that the airbags would pop! But despite that, we could not have chosen a better route! Found two new birds – a Red-headed weaver and a Whitecrested Helmet Shrike, and Johanna was on top form, firstly seeing a Redcrested Korhaan, and then spotting a lone sable in the distance!!! This was my first sable in the park which was really pleasing!



We saw lots of game along the S140 – kudu, impala, wildebeest, zebra – but the rattling was starting to get on everyone’s nerves. As we approached Fairfield waterhole there was one other car and we immediately spotted another sable and a herd of kudu. As we were getting ready to take pics of the sable Mommo shouted “LION CUB”!!! One cub was drinking, and then another one appeared! Where there are cubs there must be a mommy, so sadly, the sable was forgotten for the moment. -O



Then suddenly there was chaos. The kudu and sable took off, ran across the road, and the next thing a lioness appeared and was on the chase, then another one, and then a third!!! The kudu and sable soon disappeared into the bush with the three lionesses in hot pursuit.



We were all in shock as Mommo reversed, trying to find them in the thick bush. The two cubs now crossed the road, obviously going to see what was for breakfast. We thought we had seen the last of them, when one of us spotted a lioness walking back towards the waterhole. We drove forward and stopped in front of the waterhole waiting to see what happened. There were now two lionesses, and not two cubs, but four!! They slowly regrouped and all crossed the road back to the waterhole. Obviously the hunt had failed.





“Not very good at this hunting thing are they! Now what are we supposed to eat?”



Two of the lionesses and all the cubs went to drink, while the third one lay down in front of some long grass on the other side of the waterhole. She was still in hunt mode, and we noticed a family of warthogs approaching. She made a lazy attempt but the warthogs were too smart and got away easily.





The lionesses were still very alert, and obviously very hungry. We settled down to wait – there was sure to be a kill here today! Another warthog approached the waterhole, as the lionesses watched him. It was surprising that the warthog could see them but still moved forward, at a safe distance. But then, common sense prevailed, and he turned and ran.





Eventually they had all had enough to drink and moved off to the shade of some trees quite far from the waterhole. What a fantastic sighting, and for the rest of the drive we didn't even dare complain about the road!



Not long after that someone waved us down to tell us of something up ahead……

[harrys]

Just caught up here

You guys had awesome sighting BB and your photos are really great

[nan]

oups it's very hot with the Sable and Kudus... going in all ways
very interesting pictures

I won't mention the Lion's cubs
at each corners... you have cubs

[Heksie]

What an amazing trip and great sightings you had BB
Just love the leopard so close to you guys and the cheetahs there at Kumana
Then you had another leopard sommer at the camp, very lucky indeed
Great drive and amazing to have had a lifer like the paradise flycatcher
Great sighting of the sable and the lions with cubs
Enjoying this TR a lot BB

[Bushcraft]

Wow You guys were very lucky on this trip BB

[Bush Brat]

Just caught up here

You guys had awesome sighting BB and your photos are really great

Thanks for your great response harrys!

oups it's very hot with the Sable and Kudus... going in all ways
very interesting pictures

I won't mention the Lion's cubs
at each corners... you have cubs

Thanks for following nan! It was definitely a great sighting!!

What an amazing trip and great sightings you had BB
Just love the leopard so close to you guys and the cheetahs there at Kumana
Then you had another leopard sommer at the camp, very lucky indeed
Great drive and amazing to have had a lifer like the paradise flycatcher
Great sighting of the sable and the lions with cubs
Enjoying this TR a lot BB

Thanks for all your great comments Heksie! I didn't call this trip our best trip ever for nothing...and there is still more!!

Wow You guys were very lucky on this trip BB

We were BC!

1 Oct. 2010- Orpen to Lower Sabie – Part 2

Okay…so we left the lions and not long after that someone waved us down to tell us there were …..WILD DOGS…. about 5kms past Hamilton’s Camp!! Of course that got the adrenaline going again – but we tried to keep calm as they might have moved on by the time we got there. We saw a couple of rhinos dozing under a tree, but not much else. Eventually we got to the area where we were told they were, and started scanning the bush. But just around the corner the traffic jam told us they were still there! Luckily it wasn’t a very big jam – only about 5 cars – as the doggies were not very easy to see. They were quite far into some dense bush, and not easy to photograph. From our position we could see about 4 or 5 of them lying in the shade, and occasionally one of them would get up and then flop down again. We managed to move forward and saw one a bit closer to the road.



We didn’t stay long as there was not much to see and we were melting in the heat. But we were ecstatic that we had seen them – a first for Rex and Johanna and for us, wild dogs on 3 successive trips!!

At Lugmag Dam we watched a large herd of zebbies going down to drink, some taking a leisurely stroll and others in a bit more of a hurry.





We got onto the S33, and at Vutomi Dam got to watch a giraffe preparing to drink. There were also a couple of buffs enjoying the water – it was so hot that we so wanted to get in their with them, but apparently it was a non-human dam only!!??



At last we got back onto the tar – no more rattles!! At Mazithi Dam there were lots of impies, wildebeest and 3 ellies coming down to drink. One of them looked to have some very impressive horns and a whole in his left ear.



I noticed afterward that I managed to get the one on the left in mid-poop!!



Oooh….I’ve got an itch!!



We moved on, and after a quick pit-stop at Tshokwane, got onto the H10 for the final push to Lower Sabie. We were all feeling hot and drained and were looking forward to a nice, cool swim. Apart from some Rainbow Rock Skinks at Muntshe lookout point we didn’t see much else.

We checked into our family cottage and after unpacking, headed straight for the pool.