Africa Wild

Sylvester is really quite lean in comparison to Fielies. It will be interesting to see how long Sylvester is dominant for - I think Fielies would win a fight already but he just doesn't realize it yet

Lovely pics again PJL!

Awesome lion shots, PJL,

and they do look very well fed

I was kind of keen to see more of the lions, but Sylvester was hiding high up on a hillside, and the girls hadn't been seen by other vehicles that morning. We hadn't yet been to the buffalo enclosure so that was our next stop. I'm not sure where the buffalo came from, but they aren't used to predators in the slightest which is why they are in a separate enclosure. If they were free-roaming they would be taken out in a matter of days once the lion are released - they currently share a border fence and the buffalo quite happily wander up to the lion to say hello

While waiting for the buffalo to move into a clearing, there were plenty of guineafowl around



As well as monkeys playing... this one attempting a beverage on the move



The buffalo started moving out, and this chap is really very friendly. He was orphaned when young and hand-raised, then raised by a Jersey cow So he wandered right up to us for a scratch on the head





There were a number of youngsters around which is good to see



Finally the main bull came out and he's quite an impressive chap. I believe he was bought for about R2.1m which again is a good reason not to have them mixing with lions

friendly and with a nice pair of horns

Those aren't Kruger-type buffs, Peej...look like old EC stock from maybe Addo or that other old private reserve near Grahamstown whose name I forget...

PJL wrote:Sylvester is really quite lean in comparison to Fielies. It will be interesting to see how long Sylvester is dominant for - I think Fielies would win a fight already but he just doesn't realize it yet

Interesting! Hope we'll find out if...

PJL wrote:Finally the main bull came out and he's quite an impressive chap. I believe he was bought for about R2.1m which again is a good reason not to have them mixing with lions

Ja, quite an expensive meal

about the buff who lets his head get scratched... And I see, your girl didn't hesitate

Very cute capture of the vervet baby too

How nice to scratch a buff!

Rounding off the drive and our trip as a whole I asked if we could try find the girls. All the other vehicles had been looking for them that morning without success, but I knew we had lion magnets in our vehicle so we would naturally find them

Well, sure enough we didn't even need to go into the enclosure to see them... as we were driving along they popped out into a clearing and we were able to get a few shots before heading back to pack




If only that fence wasn't there behind her
Ah... that's better








It had been great fun to visit such a posh place. The service was second to none, the meals were great and the surroundings breathtaking. I'm being a bit picky, but in my opinion the guiding could have been a few notches better... or have a guide and a spotter

The game viewing also felt a bit staged - going from one enclosure to another etc. That should change once the lions are released hopefully.

A bit more recently (still plenty to catch up on here ), we took a day trip through the main section of Addo with family friends. Our friends had the impression that we have impossibly good luck on our visits to the park, so they wanted to follow us which definitely put the pressure on a bit

It was good to be back in the main area of the park, but it was obvious that things had changed since my last visit which was quite a while ago. The larger herds which were often seen in the open plains areas had completely disappeared - presumably this is due to the drought we are experiencing, and they have ventured further into the bush in search of better grazing.

One downside was that it was a public holiday which I had somehow forgotten about, so even though we arrived well before 7, we weren't able to get in until much later due to the queues

Our first sighting along the southern access road was a steppe buzzard.



At Peasland waterhole there was a very cute young zebra with its family



The crossroads was a mass of elephants with youngsters providing some great entertainment whilst yellow-billed kites were cruising around above







Up near Hapoor we hit some luck with the cats, but they were asleep already and difficult to see through the bush. It was getting a bit crazy with vehicles, so I only managed just the one shot of Norman snoozing away



When the crowds of cars are out and there are sleeping lions then it's best to steer clear and wait for the action instead. So we decided we would pop back later in the day, and in the meantime enjoy the elephants surrounding Hapoor



It was a very good decision as we were then treated to an excellent sighting...