We Won An MZNP Game Drive

[Pumbaa]

Really incredible Lion shots, PJL,

they are all so beautiful Also love the black wildebeest and the springbok close up

[Flutterby]

Love those pics with the windmill in the background!

[Richprins]

Farm lions!

[PJL]

Thanks Lis, Pumbaa, Flutts & RP for tagging along

The honeymoon couple continued moving further away from the road which was a shame





Whilst the other male continued to refuse to look our direction



Even after getting up and checking out one of the youngsters the best he offered was a half-glance



Then some more flehmen to catch up with what had been going on earlier



The youngsters were still quite active. One found a stick for amusement







These 2 girls have a brother as well, but he's getting to the age where the bigger males boot him out for a while when they're around



Someone appeared to have forgotten to wash after supper last night





The 2 youngsters made their way over to the lioness who had been lying in the open the whole time. Just as she was getting up and stretching it was clear the young girls were in a mood to play





So after having her morning stretch rudely interrupted the lioness became the object of hunting practise for the morning











After the successful ambush the older lady decided it was best to retreat



The whole family then started moving away



Their direction of travel was between 2 roads so there were no further great views of them, but as a final treat the shy male finally gave us a parting glance

[Lisbeth]

Gorgeous lion pics Lovely to see them play

The last pose of the male is great

[Pumbaa]

Magnificent shots, PJL,

love especially the action shots - Always great when there is action between them

[Richprins]

Agreed with Pumbaa!

[Flutterby]

Love watching cats at play!!

[Ratel]

My goodness PJL, you take a great photo! These are simply superb.

In the first two shots of the '2nd' male it looks like he has had a blow dry! He belongs in a hair commercial.

[PJL]

Lis, Pumbaa, RP, Flutts & Ratel

It had been great watching all the lion interaction and despite the overcast drizzly weather the photos didn't turn out too bad. The lions were moving between 2 roads, but despite tracking around both areas they didn't seem to be coming any closer to us so we decided to venture on and see what else we might find. The kids were keen to try out a 4x4 route so we travelled down the link road towards Juriesdam loop.

On the link road we found a ground squirrel who was posing nicely for photos





The dam/pan on Ubejane was a very serene scene



The Juriesdam loop starts with a fun steep section with quite a drop-off to one side which had the kids screaming a bit
It was a lot bumpier than our last visit but we made it up the tough sections without issue

Once up the climbs you travel along a plateau where we saw quite a lot of general game including springbok, black wildebeest and this herd of blesbok



There's a ground squirrel den (in fact many) about half way round the loop. Sure enough they were out in view and even had some little ones to provide our little ones with extra entertainment



As we started the descent back down from the plateau we came across a big troop of boons, but they weren't like their city slicker Kruger counterparts and ran at the first sight of our car Not to worry - the aloe scenery made up for it



At the end of the loop I managed to grab a quick shot of a steenbok before it darted away into the bushes



We then had a phone call from friends who had stayed up having breakfast following the distant lions. They had popped over to a dam and now the 2 youngsters and the one female were heading out into the open nearer the road... so we decided to pop back up that way again. Unfortunately we missed them by a matter of minutes as they crossed the road and went over a rise. Never mind... we had already had a fantastic sighting of them

It was time to head back to camp and enjoy some chill-out time in the amazing scenery. But hang on, why is the car suddenly veering left?? PUNCTURE

Not just a puncture, but a complete flat

The kids weren't overly keen for me to be out changing it what with the lions nearby, but what can you do
A sweaty 15 minutes later the spare was in place and we trundled back to camp. I tried to repair it myself, but it seemed to be quite a big gash so any plugs weren't sealing it properly. Unfortunately all the tyre repair places in Cradock close at 1pm on a Saturday (it was now 1:05pm) and are closed Sundays and public holidays. But thankfully Michael who is one of the guys who runs the staff shuttle service kindly took it down to an 'alternative' repair place and promised to have it back to us at 6pm when he would be doing his next shuttle run