The Great Escape

[Lisbeth]

A very pretty lion lady

"What a big mouth you have!"

The sable has a pair of very big horns

Lovely shots

[PJL]

Great sightings for the day so far, Peej!

And what beautiful sable! Congrats on losing your virginity!

That herd is still hanging around there.

That Sable herd was very cool to see... good to hear they're still in the area

A very pretty lion lady

"What a big mouth you have!"

The sable has a pair of very big horns

Lovely shots

Thanks Lis

[PJL]

Wednesday July 14th contd

As we went up past Nkumbi we managed to spot a very well hidden Klipspringer



Closer to Tshokwane we found a secretary bird - I think it might be the only one we’ve seen in Kruger so far



Just past Kumana Dam there was a bit of a traffic jam as apparently a leopard had been cruising around. We waited a short while, but inevitably the sighting was probably over a good while back so we continued north. Not much further along we found a tawny finishing some leftover meat. What we didn’t know at the time was that it was the remains of a cheetah kill - they must have still been in the area somewhere



Once at Satara we took a trip around the campsite to try find a good spot. There was nothing by the fence line, but we found a spacious site not far away



For an afternoon drive, we planned to try out the Sweni road, but there was talk of lions just along the H7 close to camp so we went that way first. A few cars gave away the area, but there was nothing to see… until the flat lions got up for a moment… another mating couple

[Lisbeth]

Nice set up

You missed the umpteenth leopard

You were not short of lions either

[Mel]

What a wonderful sable sighting

That lioness from the previous instalment looks rather spooked. She's got some amazing eyes though.

Artsy shot of the croc and then again with the klipspringer. Very

[Richprins]

Love the Klpispringer shot, Peej!

And all the others!

Remarkably sorted camping setup as always...the Dimwits must take note!

[PJL]

Nice set up

You missed the umpteenth leopard

You were not short of lions either

Yes Lis, that leopard got away unfortunately

What a wonderful sable sighting

That lioness from the previous instalment looks rather spooked. She's got some amazing eyes though.

Artsy shot of the croc and then again with the klipspringer. Very

Thanks Mel, yes the lioness does have amazing eyes - probably because it was pretty much dark so her pupils were wide open

Love the Klpispringer shot, Peej!

And all the others!

Remarkably sorted camping setup as always...the Dimwits must take note!

Thanks RP

[PJL]

Wednesday July 14th contd

Once the lions had flopped down again we continued our drive down the H1-3. We went as far as Kumana dam without really seeing anything then went back up north before heading along the S126. We saw a lone hyena wandering along in the distance but the drive had been very quiet. We managed to find some general game along the S126 including elephant, zebra, wildebeest and waterbuck.











We then had a bit of birding luck with a tawny and a very close up pearl-spotted owlet







We’ve never found the S36 to be particularly productive and it was the same today, with the only interest a very dark giraffe



Heading back along the H7 towards Nsemani dam we saw some ostrich and elephant, before some hippo diving competitions at the dam itself











It was getting rather dark by the time we got back to the lion area closer to camp - mainly due to the cold overcast weather. The couple from earlier weren’t visible, but a couple more males were on the other side of the road. We sat for a bit watching one of them who was most awake









Looking back on the photos it appears that we had a very productive afternoon drive, but I know at the time it had felt extremely quiet. The big herds of herbivores seemed to be missing, perhaps due to the extensive areas that had been burned along our route. Anyway, with some takeaway pizza and a good rest we would look forward to the next day.

[Richprins]

It is always like that, Peej! When you look back at the pics you realise you didn't see "nothing".

Love the ostrich especially! And quite a nice ellie!

Was the lion roaring?

Lovely crisp zebra pics, and very lucky with the pearly!

[Lisbeth]

To me it looks as if the lion is snoring It could also be the beginning of a yawn

Beautiful pearlie

Here the pics are all together, but if you imagine the length of the road and place a photo here and there, they aren't that many sightings

Nice to see hippos moving