Early in the week we headed out of camp along Main Mac to follow up on the large herd of Buffalo. As we approached Cheetah Flats we noticed the Kashane male lying up inside the tree line. He was intently focused on a few Buffalo. He attempted to stalk a few but soon lost interest when a large male wondered his way. After that he went to lie up on a termite mound.
The herd size was approximately 300 and we still noticed a large number of newly born calves.
Not far from the buffalo and male leopard, we found Makamisa resting in the long grass just off Jackal Alley. Interestingly he also started stalking the Buffalo, probably hoping for a small calf to wonder away from the herd. He too, however, lost interest when another large bull wondered towards him after picking up his scent. He slowly moved away from the herd, and again lay down in the grass.
The Mapogo coalition has been prevalent this week. Two of the coalition members were found on Simbi Road doing what lions do best... sleep! Three of the Ximungwe lionesses were with the males and after a drink from the temporary pans the pride moved north.
Later in the week the three males were found again further north near Hanging Tree, once again sleeping.
The herds of Burchels Zebra and Blue Wildebeest have been seen grazing on the open clearings at Nkombe Dam a few times this week. Interestingly the pregnant female still has not given birth, and we wait in antipation!
This month we have had unusually high rainfall with 185 mm falling this week! Sunsets have therefore been relatively scarce! After one particularly fantastic African sunset we continued into the night, and were treated to some of our nocturnal species. Some of these include Fiery-necked nightjars, Bronze-winged Coursers, Spotted-Eagles Owl and a Bibron’s Gecko.
An extremely large male Hippo was found wondering down Main Mac towards Cheetah Flats Pan. We followed him as he headed down the road, and watched as he dropped into the water to rest for the day. Later that afternoon a large herd of buffalo arrived at the pan.
An old male buffalo was soaking in Nkombe Dam. it was an extremely hot day. The cool water was essential for the buffalo to cool down. The terrapins were removing all the unwanted ticks from his body.
Once again, we have had fantastic leopard viewing! Metsi and her two cubs had an impala carcass just off Simbi road and this gave us some great opportunities for photographs.
We also had a rare sighting of the Ravenscourt female this week. She is predominantly from the east, and apparently has three young cubs at the moment. Hopefully we will see these sometime in the future!
The Xinzele male and the Hippo Dam female were also seen this week. She is quite a skittish female, but she seemed interested in mating with Xinzele, and so did not run off. Interestingly, she has a few nasty wounds on her hind legs, but we are unsure of what caused it. The good news, is that these animals have an amazing ability to heal and she is not showing too much discomfort. She is also keeping it very clean, and we expect her to make a full recovery.
The two younger cubs from the Ximungwe pride seem to be doing very well. They were found again in the Mabrak drainage line, west of Pump house Pan.
The elephant viewing has continued this week, with breeding herds being seeing frequently, and a number of bulls scattered around. I was fortunate enough to get this great photo of a bull drinking at Fig dam.
General game viewing has also been good, with good sightings of rhino, giraffe and vervet monkeys being seen regularly.
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