Awesome Mashatu

[pedro maia]

That cheetah sighting was a bit gooey

Next time I´ll put a warning about pictures with graphic content .

[pedro maia]

We left the cheetah because there were lots of flies, they didn´t but were quite annoying, and following our drive we saw some more peaceful animals:









Ok, this guy may not be peaceful but he didn´t even bother to open his eyes .

Once again he was resting aside from his pride,where the cubs were trying to suckle without success, maybe their teeth were already big enough to hurt mom





We stayed for a good while with the pride, one can´t just get enough of watching the cubs, they are absolutely cute, and it was the last time we saw them:















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnkxgcyVqEo&t=13s

[pedro maia]

And, to finsh a perfect "cat" afternoon, we saw two female leopards, probably sisters, on top of mashatu trees:









When we arrived at camp, our ranger and the one of the couples that shared our vehicule all came to our room to check on the impala carcass, with the torchlights we could see that it was still there.

My plan was to check it from time to time, I went to have a much needed shower but when I checked again the carcass was gone, me and my wife we checked the area with the torchlight, not a very strong one, but the only thing we saw was a pair of eyes a little further away, so the mistery of which animal took the carcass was theme for a very pleasant dinner by the boma, with the guides, the other guests and a good SA wine .

[Lisbeth]

Beautiful light on the zebras and the gnu

You are right! You never get tired of watching cat cubs, be they lions, leopards, cheetahs or house cats Great pics

[Richprins]

Very lucky indeed, Pedro!

Shows you how much it helps having rangers!

Ja, leopard don't have to eat in a hurry, they just find a tree!

[Pumbaa]

Still incredible sightings and shots, Pedro maia

[pedro maia]

Thanks for following guys .

[pedro maia]

Our last morning in Mashatu was dedicated to a different activity, as it was mentioned here before, in Mashatu there are a few activities that you can choose to do, although for an extra price, one of those activities is the photo hide, those activities are concessioned to third parties, the manager of the hide is Mags Vorster, whose husband, Wim, runs the photo vehicule, another extra activity you can buy at Mashatu.

Anyway, my wife wanted to try the photo hide, where there´s a professional photographer that gives you a few tips and helps you with the camera settings if you need, which is great for total ignorants like us.

I was a bit skeptical because we would miss one game drive an would have to pay the extra price, but truth is it would be very difficult to have much better sightings than those we had during the game drives and also if it was something that was going to please my wife that was a perfect reason to do it, in know the saying, "happy wife happy life" .

The drive to the hide took around 30m, when we arrive to the hide, around 6:30, Mags was there, just like another couple, the only thing we got to know about them was that it wasn´t their first time at the hide but I don´t remember hearing the voice of any of them.

There was tea, coffee, water, some rusk, and bean bags and supports for the smartphones, Mags took care of our camera settings, gave us some ideas and tips and then it was time to see which animals would visit the hide and take pictures.

I´ll start with some birds, I´m sure there were other birds that would make birders very happy but I just chose the pictures I prefer:

[pedro maia]

With everything prepared at the hide we only needed the game to show up for a drink, and impala were the first.





After a long (and quiet) while, one very wary eland approached the waterhole.



It took what it seemed as an eternity for him to decide that the place was safe enough to have a couple of sips.





An early morning panorama of the waterhole:



Then the eland was gone and the waterhole became empty, from time to time a few impala came, had a drink, and went away again.

Wewere always expecting for something special to happen, but we only had some more impala.







And some more eland.



Time-lapse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-TZBwYD6is&index=15&list=UUybb-J7s7TYds0wFBcJsBeg

And then not even impala nor eland, at some moments not even birds, only some bees, Mags was getting anxious because she really wanted us to see special things, we were getting a bit frustrated, then it was 9:00, you think you still have at least half an hour and something special will happen, but no, only the occasional impala but by then we were not realy wanting to see impala, 9:15, frustration builds on everybody and we start to realize that the visit to the hide is going to finish with a bitter taste and finally 9:30 arrive, we can´t do anything but pack our stuff, the car is already waiting outside to take us back to camp, the quiet couple are first to get out of the hide, so does Mags and we are the last to start to climb the stairs...

[Lisbeth]

You had been spoiled rotten the other days