Africa Wild

Oi, quite a nice collection of nocturnals in the previous episode! And a gorgeous sunset which is accompanied by an equally beautiful sunrise the next morning. Love that photo And what a cutie pie walking into the new day

Very nice shots of the martial as well.

I like this image cause two beautiful creation can bee seen in this image specially the black and white strips are just awesome.

Richprins wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:24 pm You really have a knack for parking with the best light for your shots, Peej!

All the night life was superb there, and thank heavens for Michelle, hope she gave the other guide

The lion cubs are to die for, plus the bird shots all!

We honestly got very lucky with the light for those lion cubs RP... the nice thing about driving that way along the S21 is that the sun is coming up behind you so it's not blinding

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:58 pm Sunrise

Cute lion cubs and the light gives a something more

Also the martial eagle is not bad

Thanks Lis

RogerFraser wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:55 pm Lovely pics of the Lion cubs in the morning light.

Thanks Roger... that light on them was magic

Mel wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:19 am Oi, quite a nice collection of nocturnals in the previous episode! And a gorgeous sunset which is accompanied by an equally beautiful sunrise the next morning. Love that photo And what a cutie pie walking into the new day

Very nice shots of the martial as well.

Thank you Mel - that sunrise pic is a firm favourite

Ethan O Connor wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:33 am I like this image cause two beautiful creation can bee seen in this image specially the black and white strips are just awesome.

Thanks for popping in here Ethan

Monday July 12th contd

We popped in at Afsaal for a pit stop and then carried on down the H3 where a leopard seemed to be sleeping on top of its meal



Although it was on a fairly open branch of the tree, it was surprisingly difficult to get a clear view through to it, so we didn’t stick around for too long.







On the S118 there were a lot of zebra



At the Mlambane bridge on the S25 there was a pied kingfisher fishing



Heading back towards Malelane gate for our shopping excursion there was a big herd of buffalo. One of them looked to have been in a bit of a fight





We popped out the park to stock up and then went in again at Crocodile Bridge gate to head back up to Lower Sabie. During the morning we had also been fortunate enough to spot some shy unicorns

More rhino!

And leopard 10!

Clever route there, back in at Croc!

Love the kingfisher too, Peej!

Who cares about a clear view, it's just a leopard...

Rhinos!

That leopard made sure nothing would pull the prey out from underneath him.

Unicorns are always nice to see

Great photo of the kingfisher as well.

Richprins wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 4:18 pm More rhino!

And leopard 10!

Clever route there, back in at Croc!

Love the kingfisher too, Peej!

It was very nice to see the rhino... they're becoming very scarce
And the route worked out well heading in at Croc Bridge

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Sat Aug 14, 2021 7:01 pm Who cares about a clear view, it's just a leopard...

Rhinos!

Just another leopard

Mel wrote: ↑Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:19 am That leopard made sure nothing would pull the prey out from underneath him.

Unicorns are always nice to see

Great photo of the kingfisher as well.

Haha yes nothing was going to get hold of his meal

Monday July 12th contd

After our longer morning excursion, we only did a short drive up to the Nwatimhiri causeway. On the way up there were some baboon antics as well as a martial eagle feasting on an unfortunate monitor







As we turned into northern side of the S79 there was a car stopped, and on asking they said there was a leopard just down near the stump of a dead leadwood. We slowly moved up and down the road scanning for it, but it was simply not visible. There were however a number of baboon on the other side of the road and a big herd of impala quite close to where the leopard had supposedly been seen. We were about to give up on the possibility of a leopard being in the area with the other animals all being so calm when the kids and I caught a glimpse of it as it moved through a clearing in full-on stalking mode.

Based on its trajectory we moved forward and stopped by the impala waiting for it to strike. We were running short on time and the impala herd all started moving across the road in front of us when we heard alarm calls further down in the riverbed… the leopard must have turned off in another direction away from us which was a shame, but still it was very cool to see it hunting.

On the way back a hyena popped onto the road, but that was it for the day





Back at camp we lit a fire and enjoyed a nice braai, but news arrived from our house-sitter that one of our cats had gone missing a few days earlier and still not come home which was very concerning… she never normally leaves the vicinity of the house. S and I decided not to tell the kids in the hope that she might arrive home overnight

Tuesday July 13th

Our plan for this morning was to take in some of the roads down near Crocodile Bridge - areas we had got to know quite well after staying in Marloth park on our last visit.

We popped down the H4-2, S28, S137, S130 and on down the H4-2 again to Croc Bridge camp. Sightings proved to be very hard work, but we had a nice steenbok sighting, squirrel, LBR and elephant









As we reached the camp and phone signal came back, the news was that our cat was still missing.

Part of us wanted to head back and see if we could find her - although such a long drive would call a premature end to the holiday. We knew we would have to tell the kids and they would be devastated, but first we decided to try phone some of the local vets back home to see if they had any casualties. No news from the vets was good… and then a phone call came through to say that our cat had arrived home safely. Phew what a relief… pets are great but can be a pain sometimes

We had a celebratory skottel for breakfast before continuing our drive