Addo Outings 2017

[Flutterby]

What a stunning caracal sighting! Valli is a handsome fella!

[PJL]

As planned, the next morning we ventured towards Mbotyi loop - a bit later than the previous day as we wanted enough light to at least be able to see something

It was still rather dark, and there didn't seem to be any sign of lion around. However we stumbled across this baby eland



I've never seen an eland so young before - they must keep the little ones extremely well hidden most of the time



Ngulube was quiet, but as we arrived at Lismore waterhole the 4 hyena were there



Some elephants and buffalo were waiting in the wings, but the hyena didn't seem bothered and took their time before casually walking right past the buffalo and then past the herd











We scoured the fire base and arizona for the lions. As we were travelling along a high section S spotted movement on another hillside a few km away - it was 2 lionesses coming out into a clearing and moving in the direction of a road so we made a beeline for them. Another vehicle was parked on the hill and had been fortunate to see the lionesses, and even Josie had crossed the road a bit earlier. The girls were now apparently lying down just a few metres from the road but totally out of sight - except suddenly they sprung up into action and charged off away from us. They must have been hunting, and it all happened so quickly there wasn't time to react for any photos. Despite hunting up and down that road we didn't manage to find them again. Check-out time was fast approaching and we had to get back to the 'real world', but it had been a great break with some very nice sightings along the way

[PJL]

I'm going to continue, as I wasn't away from the park for long... D and I managed to squeeze a quick visit in on Saturday. We were on limited time, so after getting in the gates we went directly up the southern access road towards Wayne's valley in the hope that the lionesses might be in that area still. Sure enough there were a few cars around at the hill to the north of Wayne's valley and apparently they had been seen moving through the bush. Based on their line of travel we got into a spot where we thought they might appear but after a while of waiting they didn't appear. Other vehicles drove on, but we decided to scout around a bit more and just as we were turning the car around Josie and Duffy popped out onto the road



Shortly followed by Dawn



The three girls moved off the road and cruised in the open for a while before disappearing again into the bush



We noted their line of travel and hoped that they might pop out again down at the bottom of the hill a while later. Before heading down the hill, we sat chatting for a while to a friend who was also in the park, then Josie appeared yet again... the lions seemed to be travelling in all sorts of directions



A sad fact about Josie is that her eyesight is very poor. One of the ways in which she seems to cope is by 'sweeping' her paws in front of her as she walks which the photo above shows... but it doesn't work all the time and we saw her collide with a few bushes and she very nearly walked into my car door at one point. I'm not sure who had more of a fright





After the car door incident she walked downhill along the road for a while and then again wandered off into the bushes. Some people had seen the lions walking back up the hill whilst others had seen them walking down, so it was anyones guess as to where they would pop out again next. We were excited to see them, but disappointed that the cubs weren't with them... it was going to be a waiting game to see if/when/where they might reappear (and hopefully with the little ones!!!)...

[nan]

cute little Eland never seen
like too the Hyenas
and the Lioness

[Lisbeth]

Sounds like an enjoyable weekend, and with a caracal..........

Did D tell you, that he has to be with you, if you want to see lions?

[PJL]

Did D tell you, that he has to be with you, if you want to see lions?

Apparently if we want to see them close then yes... at least one of the kids has to be with us

[PJL]

The closest water to where we had seen the lions was Marion Baree, and so we drove slowly that way and waited there a while to see whether they might come and drink. The only visitor to the water was a jackal, and fairly soon we were wondering if maybe the lions had gone back the other way again

Driving back to where we had seen them earlier in the morning we stopped briefly to check one of the fire breaks 'just in case'
It was a very long way away as you can see from this pic - we were checking the orange 'path' near the top of the hill



Looking through binoculars a little bit of movement caught my attention, but on closer inspection it was a secretary bird. But then suddenly a herd of buffalo came storming out the bush followed by at least one lioness

It was an incredible sight to see the buffalo come thundering down the hill creating a cloud of dust behind them



The buffalo just kept on running, but once the dust cleared we could see that the girls had managed to catch a young one and despite its attempts to get away their kill was successful



Josie didn't hang around for long, but instead wandered back into the bushes so we figured she must be on her way to fetch the cubs and take them to the kill

Dawn and Duffy dragged the buffalo until it was pretty much out of sight in the bushes, so we now had some decisions to make - either we wait at the kill and hope to get a brief distant view of Josie (and hopefully some cubs) when she returned, or there was the possibility she might have to cross the road if the cubs had been left on the other side, so we could drive along the road in the hope of seeing her. We waited for a while and then decided she was taking too long and figured the road option was a good one... it was indeed



We weren't with her for long before she went off into the bushes. Now we were waiting with some real anticipation

[Flutterby]

Lovely eland baby! And another nice hyena sighting!

I saw the lion pics and story on FB already, but happy to see them again!

[Lisbeth]

Must have been quite a show to see the buffaloes storming down the hill

Are we going to see some cubs? I hope so

[PJL]

I saw the lion pics and story on FB already, but happy to see them again!

Are we going to see some cubs? I hope so

Absolutely!