Africa Wild

Mel wrote:Why would you move such an old lady as Aardlam to a new place
And jog my memory please: Matt and Kalahari? I can't remember where they were from and how old they are.

I know - moving Aardlam seems wrong given that she was one of the original introductions from KTP
Matt & Kalahari used to be in the main game area in Addo quite a few years ago before being moved up to the Kuzuko contractual area. Since the introduction of Sylvester & co they were moved back to an area called Kleinvlakte which borders the park - you see the fence when driving up the northern side of Gorah loop. My understanding is that they are now back across in the Darlington section which is next door to Kuzuko.

Another recent day trip turned into a decent day for the smaller creatures. Something about the weather brought out a number of giant african land snails



On Vukani loop we came across a young yellow mongoose by its den







We took a trip down to Arizona in the hope of finding cats, but they were hiding away again. On the hillside there was a large herd of eland



Arizona dam itself has benefitted from some recent rains so there's finally a little bit of water in it which had brought along a contingent of terrapins





Also near Arizona there was an ostrich cruising through the long grass



As we travelled into the northern side of the park I had to slam on brakes to avoid this fantastic eastern cape dwarf chameleon who had decided to cross the road





There were a number of tortoise sightings during the day including this one - an angulate tortoise



Heading to the main camp this kudu posed nicely



We called in at the bird hide again at the main camp. There's loads of activity at the moment with red bishops and weavers busy building their nests





There was also a surprise visitor - a bushbuck ram came strolling past





Heading south on our way back we didn't see too much, but this kudu was looking very regal



I think someone posted in the news section a while back about how the park was aiming to introduce 'elephant-proof' structures around some waterholes. The aim is two-fold.... firstly to stop elephants hogging all the water at some places, and secondly to mimic drought conditions which should result in a slower birth rate. The structure has been put up at Peasland waterhole - it's basically a high-level electric fence, with the poles also electrified to stop the ellies knocking them over. Time will tell if it works or not I suppose

Lovely shots, all of them, Peej!


Is that farmland around Arizona there...a bit confusing?

Interesting the elephant experiment there!!

That elephant obstructing structure looks awful! Especially in a place like Peasland where you otherwise would get a fantastic scenic view

An a positive note though: Like seeing Arizona so green and I adore that mongoose and the chameleon

(It's not moulding and turning bad is it )

PJL wrote:

Mel wrote:Why would you move such an old lady as Aardlam to a new place
And jog my memory please: Matt and Kalahari? I can't remember where they were from and how old they are.

I know - moving Aardlam seems wrong given that she was one of the original introductions from KTP
Matt & Kalahari used to be in the main game area in Addo quite a few years ago before being moved up to the Kuzuko contractual area. Since the introduction of Sylvester & co they were moved back to an area called Kleinvlakte which borders the park - you see the fence when driving up the northern side of Gorah loop. My understanding is that they are now back across in the Darlington section which is next door to Kuzuko.

Exactly to what you said about Aardlam and
I know remember the story about Matt and Kalahari again.

Thanks

Richprins wrote:Is that farmland around Arizona there...a bit confusing?

Yes it was farmland. As the park has expanded it bought a number of neighbouring farms, so the agricultural landscape is quite obvious in some places

Awesome shots again, PJL,

the landscape ones are great and my favourites are the cute mongoose and the chameleon - What a successful drive

wow, nice to see a Chameleon

Not a photo from this year but I’m still rather excited that it has been selected in the monthly pangolin photo competition... you’re welcome to vote for any of the selected photos here http://www.pangolinphoto.com/imagegallery

Well done

There are some great pics there.......apart from yours