AW Pilanesberg Meet 23-29 September 2013

[iNdlovu]

Well done guys, looks like you all had a good time.

[iNdlovu]

I see the mods are at it again .... well one of them at least, you know who you are

Didn't you like the pic of yourself Tshuks . I suppose it's one of the perks of being a mod. You can delete any unflattering pics of yourself

[Bush Brat]

Hi all!
I am going to backtrack a bit and post my pics from the first day!

Our cheetahs.





Found this Francolin while we were watching them.



The lions looked like they were lying on the beach!





Some elands.

[Flutterby]

Come on Flasher, keep up!!

[Flutterby]

So, we got back to our campsite at about 11pm after the braai looking forward to a good night’s sleep. We had a double mattress and a single mattress. Big Dave was on the single and Flasher & I were on the double. When we got into the tent we could feel our mattress was slightly soft, so we blew it up till it was nice and firm and got into bed. While we’d been getting ready for bed, we heard lots of noise outside and saw that about 20 people had just arrived and were setting up camp...at 11 at night!!! They pumped up mattresses with an electric pump, talked at the top of their voices and then started a fire!!

We eventually fell asleep despite the noise and then woke at about 1.30 lying on the ground...our mattress was flat!! We gave up trying to get comfortable and made for the car. Flasher slept on the back seat and I tried to sleep in the front seat. The next door neighbours carried on with their party till about 4am and I eventually got up at 5am feeling exhausted!! What a night. iLlama and Big Dave got up at the same time and we made coffee, then I went for a shower which made me feel a bit better. We got to the gate at 6am where we saw Fire Starter and Maid Marion in their BluTuna!! But, we couldn’t find our entry permit anywhere and they refused to check the system to see we had already paid the day before!! We went back to camp but couldn’t find it there either and then eventually found it in the cubbyhole, where we had first checked but it had got caught right at the top so we couldn’t see it. We eventually made it into the park at 6.30....Flasher was not happy!!

Our first sighting was a jackal. But as usual I couldn’t get a decent pic!



Then a pair of very cute steenbokkies...



...a hungry warthog...



...and lots of wildebeest and an ellie. We have never seen so many warties and wildies...not even in Kruger!!

There were lots of JJ’s on Tshwene Drive looking for a lion that had crossed the road but we couldn’t find anything. A park official then told us about 2 lions on Tlou Drive so we headed in that direction and soon found the traffic jam, and iLlama and EfJay!



There were two males lions who looked like they’d had a night as bad as ours! One was awake, but the other was fast asleep.



They looked like they could do with a good meal.



They then both went back to sleep.



We decided they weren’t going to move anytime soon and carried on...bad decision, as iLlama, Cuddles and Snuggles saw them hunting!!

[steamtrainfan]

Yipppeeeee - this travel tale has got into gear again after a short break thanks to Flasher and Ice Baby.

Brilliant photos F and IB.

Cheetah, eland and two sets of lions - not a bad start.

Just gotta love the cats lie'n on the beach.

Where are everybody elses photos - there were 18 of us there?????????

I have sorted through all Joans photos and we only have 117 of the nearly 700 to share with you. I told you that once I am on a roll I get carried away.

There were some really nice photos but were out of focus - springbok and tiny baby, steenbokkie jumping over a bush and others.

It seems as if our Sigma 500mm lens does not like subjects that are more then 500m away.

[Flutterby]

Let's see some of your 117 pics!!

[nan]

the joy of the camping... flat mattress

[Richprins]

Great stuff!

How can people pitch up at 11pm?

I have no sympathy for campers!

[Amoli]

Ahh, caught in the act Ice Ice Baby - you looked quite pleased with matters....



My share of the Lions....

I knew I was going to wait around for some time (it took 2.5 hours), - I wanted to see some action.

At some time I realised these were two males. We will call one SLEEPY and the other HAPPY..



Happy stood up and gave us some poses for pics...



Later he returned to Sleepy, but the flies were bugging him, so he went to a tree a few metres away.






Sleepy heard the wildebeest coming and lifted his head with a speed



He kept a low profile behind the bushes and moved into a spot where he could pounce on the unsuspected animal.





In the meantime Happy moved around to the other side to be a back-up for the attack



It happened so fast. I had the camera clicking almost all the time, yet this is all I have of the attack - dust and sand all over.
There was a riverine and they attacked from the top of bank... so we did not witness the actual attack. It was exciting anyways.