Africa Wild

At least you got to see the cheetah! Nice sighting of the oxpecker!

Some great Marloth sightings and fantastic turaco and martial pics

I must admit, I would also relax at Marloth during a trip, especially with so much animal movement around the unit

I hate sightings like that cheetah deep in the bush as they just frustrate me which never ends in a peaceful result, so nowadays we just move on.

Mating monitors

At least you got a better sighting of the cheetah later

PJL wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 10:28 pm This wasn't the type of sighting that I enjoy due to the number of vehicles and lack of visibility, so my frustration levels were rising.

For a moment I thought I had stumbled into one of Bushcraft's TTs Just the "pelican" missing

Luckily you got to see the cheetah a little better later on

Did you gear up on your tele lenses? Those hippo shots look as if the beast was quite close, but I assume it's the zoom?

Brilliant photos again

Plenty birds there at Marloth

Richprins wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:34 am Ah, lovely relaxed sightings and pics again, Peej.

Very rare to see the mating monitors...they have the most disgusting giant willies!

And the Yellow Oxpecker so far south!

Yep despite a fairly quiet drive there were a couple of rarities along the way

Flutterby wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:41 am At least you got to see the cheetah! Nice sighting of the oxpecker!

We were happy to see the cheetah at all... particularly the second time when it was a bit more open. Having had good lion and leopard sightings we were keen to find cheetah and wild dog as they were both proving very elusive this trip

Bushcraft wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:58 am Some great Marloth sightings and fantastic turaco and martial pics

I must admit, I would also relax at Marloth during a trip, especially with so much animal movement around the unit

I hate sightings like that cheetah deep in the bush as they just frustrate me which never ends in a peaceful result, so nowadays we just move on.

Mating monitors

At least you got a better sighting of the cheetah later

I'm not sure I can imagine you relaxing at Marloth
Well... perhaps a morning here and there
When we were at the cheetah sighting I was thinking what a fun pelican story it would be if you had been there

Mel wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:54 am

PJL wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 10:28 pm This wasn't the type of sighting that I enjoy due to the number of vehicles and lack of visibility, so my frustration levels were rising.

For a moment I thought I had stumbled into one of Bushcraft's TTs Just the "pelican" missing

Luckily you got to see the cheetah a little better later on

Did you gear up on your tele lenses? Those hippo shots look as if the beast was quite close, but I assume it's the zoom?

Brilliant photos again

Yep I was also thinking that the cheetah "sighting" would have made for a good BC pelican story
A bit of a lens and camera upgrade over the years... Canon 7d mk2 camera with a 100-400 mk2 lens plus sometimes a 1.4x mk3 extender

Alf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:57 am Plenty birds there at Marloth

Thanks Alf. Yes quite a good variety of birds come in - particularly if there's food around

I wonder if it is the climate change that drives the yellow-billed oxpeckers down south

Also the hippos seem to be seen out of the water more often

The mating monitors is quite an unusual sighting

What stunning sightings overall, PJL,

love the warthogs, all your birdies especially the purple crested turaco and everything else plus cheetah

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 11:06 am I wonder if it is the climate change that drives the yellow-billed oxpeckers down south

Also the hippos seem to be seen out of the water more often

The mating monitors is quite an unusual sighting

Not sure about the oxpecker movements, but it was nice to see them around. I think half the time we weren't fully concentrating and there may have been other yellow billed versions that we didn't register seeing

Pumbaa wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 9:53 pm What stunning sightings overall, PJL,

love the warthogs, all your birdies especially the purple crested turaco and everything else plus cheetah

Thanks Pumbaa, there were loads of turacos coming through when food was put out for them

Thu 28th June

Today was Granny's birthday! She wanted a later start to the days activities, plus a sunset game drive later in the day so that's what we had planned. A very friendly family of kudu came to wish her happy birthday





We took a nice walk along by the river



After an early lunch (pork fillet on the braai ) we ventured into the park for a short drive along the S25 before it was time to meet for the sunset drive. We had heard that hyena had been feeding on an impala earlier in the day and by the time we got there, only one remained visible





The vultures were arriving in numbers and some arguments started between them





Before the hyena restored some order



It was a hot day, and driving along the S25 many animals were resting or seeking shade.









Apart from the regular animals there wasn't much to see until we spotted an african rock python in a tree



It was a really big snake and it took us a while to work out where its head was