Chicks and a new SO on the catwalk (Oct 2013)*

[Mel]

Already on our way back 2 spotties had taken refuge underneath a tree close to Kamqua.
There must be a den somewhere there as we also had a spottie at the waterhole in March.

The fluffy youngster was extremely uncooperative and this was all I would get of it:



I swear it was smirking at my futile efforts to try to hypnotize it into lifting its head for me.



On the Veertiende loop the giraffes had moved in and most of them were lying in the shade. We counted 13 in total.

[Mel]

It was pretty late by then and we decided that we might as well stay in camp for the rest of the day. However, on a hunch we went back to where we had seen the 3 lions the day before and couldn’t believe that they were back again (they hadn’t been in the morning).



Well, two were back and the lady from yesterday had been replace by a, uhm, very active male.







Spots took videos of the whole thing:





When we arrived we were the only car and had obviously secured pole position for the mating pair. But after three rounds we were getting tired just by watching them do it and also, behind us was a car with three small children who could see nothing at all, so we decided to make space for them. And I said to Spots that I was sure, we would be rewarded for our generosity. Little did I know. Even if it took a few days…

[Mel]

Back at the camp, I finally managed a shot of nan’s friend who had been around the whole time but always running around and not sitting still for a sec.



And some fresh blossoms for Toks:

[Mel]

07-10-2013 Kalahari Tented Camp to Kieliekrankie

Moving day! Not quite as cold as the days before, but still coolish. We managed to leave the camp much closer to gate opening time than the days before – at 7.45 am.

The chicken run was in full swing:



And a Marico flycatcher chick:

[Mel]

Another Toko ( ) chick:



A pygmy falcon chick:

[Mel]

The martial chick was still glued to its nest:



And the catwalk also worked quite well:

[Mel]

It alternated with the chicken run:



A whole chick nursery:

[Mel]

And the odd one out. But we can still claim that the dunes were the catwalk.

[Mel]

Finally our first of the small kats:



Unfortunately, the little one was on his own and the family didn’t want to show.

[Mel]

Seeing that we were way too early to check in at Kielie, we decided to go further south and find us the cheetah family. It might sound odd, but it was almost a given that you would find them in those days. Just before Houmoed we got them. They were lying in the shade underneath a tree. But soon enough they got on the catwalk:

Mum

Chick 1

Chick 2

Chick 3