Re: "Kyk die Leeus Oom Dewi."
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:08 pm
Backtracking a little, we left Pretoria and headed North-East with the intent of staying somewhere close to Louis Trichardt the first night. Luck was with us though and we managed to get accomodation in Punda, so headed straight to the park, arriving an hour or so before gate closing time.
A cheeky little Vervet was on the lookout for scraps around the parking area.
We settled in for the evening with a takeaway and a few beers, and sat on the stoep chatting before settling down for a good nights sleep.
Jan and I were up at 5 and got the LO's loaded into the birdmobile along with essential snacks and coffee.
Just outside the gate, the first light of day lay low on the horizon.
We passed an elephant bull who was busy feeding on a bush, saw a Swainson's Francolin dart across the road in front of us, then turned onto the Mahonie loop. A hundred meters in and I said to Jan "Stop".
I raised my bins to see a superb Dickinson's Kestrel still on it's roosting perch. The light was still very low, but I took a few record shots before the bird roused itself and flew off to look for it's morning meal. (I'm still downloading pics, so will post a photo later).
As we set off again, we rounded a bend in the track to find two cars pulled over with camera lenses pointed into the bush. We guessed that they were looking at the Lions that were noted here the previous day, so we held back and waited. Eventually the cars both turned around and passed by our vehicle, confirming that there was a mating pair of Lions deep in the bush.
Both cars moved off and we sat there alone. Eventually, both Lion and Lioness came out into the open and mated right next to our vehicle.
The male.
A cheeky little Vervet was on the lookout for scraps around the parking area.
We settled in for the evening with a takeaway and a few beers, and sat on the stoep chatting before settling down for a good nights sleep.
Jan and I were up at 5 and got the LO's loaded into the birdmobile along with essential snacks and coffee.
Just outside the gate, the first light of day lay low on the horizon.
We passed an elephant bull who was busy feeding on a bush, saw a Swainson's Francolin dart across the road in front of us, then turned onto the Mahonie loop. A hundred meters in and I said to Jan "Stop".
I raised my bins to see a superb Dickinson's Kestrel still on it's roosting perch. The light was still very low, but I took a few record shots before the bird roused itself and flew off to look for it's morning meal. (I'm still downloading pics, so will post a photo later).
As we set off again, we rounded a bend in the track to find two cars pulled over with camera lenses pointed into the bush. We guessed that they were looking at the Lions that were noted here the previous day, so we held back and waited. Eventually the cars both turned around and passed by our vehicle, confirming that there was a mating pair of Lions deep in the bush.
Both cars moved off and we sat there alone. Eventually, both Lion and Lioness came out into the open and mated right next to our vehicle.
The male.
. Ran de Dan de lion 
Great pics Dewi