Africa Wild

Richprins wrote: ↑Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:02 am What lovely sightings, Peej!

Aardwolf again!





Interesting that the animals seem quite far away much of the time, so not too many tourists?

Makes for nice scenic shots though!

Aardwolf indeed
You're correct, the park simply doesn't accommodate many tourists so the animals are a bit more skittish than other parks. Particularly the ones found up on the 4x4 trails where they encounter vehicles even less

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:51 am Wow! Not one aardwolf, but two How many are there in the park?

I am happy for you that you saw tour old friends, Normad and Roy Isn't it rare that two males stay together with one female Maybe they are just three pals When I was a kid I only played with boys (climbing trees and playing cowboys and Indians)

Is that a black rhino?

A bit of a pity that such great sightings were too far away to really enjoy just looking at them, but stil

There are 562 aardwolf in the park Lis
Actually I'm not totally sure
I think Roy has always been the dominant partner in that coalition - he's enormous when you see him next to Nomad. So perhaps Nomad is simply happy with the protection he offers and doesn't interfere too much on the lady front.
Black rhino

Flutterby wrote: ↑Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:37 am Wow, great sightings!!

Thanks Flutts

Pumbaa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:34 pm WoW and to your aardwolf sighting, PJL

plus lions as well - What incredibly exciting sightings and as always stunning shots

Thank you Pumbaa - the aardwolf are one of the best reasons to visit MZNP in winter

Mel wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:28 pm Now that was an incredibly successful day! Had you seen a cheetah on top of it,
it couldn't have gotten any better than this. Amazing! And makes me consider
even harder returning next year. It's been some time and I actually start missing
this place - and Addo

The cheetah are a real bonus if they are seen. I thought that the numbers were down to single digits due to the amount of predation, but when chatting to quite a knowledgable chap at reception it sounds like they have close on 20 in the park
I guess it's just a matter of luck whether you get to see them or not

Snow Day!!

The weather forecast had suggested that a major cold front would hit on our second day in the park. They weren't wrong! It was a fresh start to the day with the temperature only 3 degrees as we headed up onto Rooiplaat

As the morning continued the weather looked like it was going to close in, but only when we were down in the Wilgerboom valley did the storm finally hit....



After a brief rain shower, the wet stuff turned rapidly to snow!!!!
The kids were almost as excited as I was

Amazingly it was snowing right down into the valley at the level of the camp...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2ZOYUvWgY

We weren't going to let an opportunity like this slip by so we headed for the high ground over Kranskop Loop. Already the road was white in place



There's a lookout point right up at the top of Kranskop so we braved the icy cold wind to hop out the car and make some snowballs... we figured the lions wouldn't be up there in that kind of weather







Heading along the loop it continued to be quite a snowy scene in what is one of the higher areas of the park





We were even treated to a very unusual sighting of a jackal in the snow



The upper reaches of the Wilgerboom also had some snow



But as we descended the snow-line started to retreat up the mountains. However it wasn't all over... the next morning after a very cold night we were greeted by an incredible panorama including some lightly snow-capped peaks - open the pic full size if you can to enjoy the scene
TBC

How remarkable, Peej!

Never been in snow myself!

Love that big diorama pic at the end, and the snow lion signpost!

Such beautiful scenes!! I think you're in for more snow this week!

Amazing but makes for a different experience and scenery

Stunning to see all the snow at such a place

Snow in Mountain Zebra... not totally unusual but still weird to see
Wonder what that jackal thought about the white stuff decorating the sides of his path

At least you and the kids seemed to have had fun doing snowballs and stuff

Camp Wildlife

MZNP is one of the few places where I think I could quite happily wander around the camp all day. It's such a relaxing spot with incredible scenery, and once you sit still for a while there is always something to see. Unfortunately half of the nice bird sightings we had in camp were when I didn't have my camera to hand, but here are some that did manage to get snapped

Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting


Southern Boubou


Cape Robin-Chat


Chinspot Batis which refused to look at me


Bar-Throated Apalis fluffed up against the cold


Fiscal Flycatcher



And of course there were other mischievous visitors





TBC

We always love it there

Lots of lovely birds, not even very common