Cheetah mom and cub on the hunt.

Early morning we enter from the Crocodile bridge gate. It’s a chilly morning and the mist is in the air, the river is literally steaming with the swirls of mist rising off the water and I said to myself Kruger rocks. Get through the gate and something prompted a left turn on to the river road. We usually go straight but today switched it up. Impala left and right with the warthogs grubbing for roots around them, a few elephants a little further in just swaying their massive bodies as they grazed. Classic Africa! Eyes peeled for cats we continue along past the open areas through the wooded section. This is leopard country and it is after all leopard ‘o’ clock. Mr. Spots moves around in the morning after a nightly prowl looking for a place to rest up before the sun gets high and its too warm. All at once a lithe body makes it’s way across the road about 100m ahead, followed by another one.

We suppress the shout ‘CHEETAH’ and scoot along a little quicker. Sure enough there they are, mother and cub. She was obviously hunting and climbed up on a fallen log to get a good look around. The little guy also did the same right after. There were some impala in the back in thicker bush and she moved off trying to get a little closer. The little fellow followed along behind her and we turned a corner to find them again which we did. The impala got spooked however and they took off. So you win some and you lose some everyday. We had some good photos and an exciting time and moved on ourselves as well. What a great start to a day in the bush!

Safe with Dad and Mom.

Large plains antelope are found in a whole range of colours, from sable antelope which are black to Gemsbok that are silver grey with fashionable stripes to Hartebeest which are a lovely rusty brown. The amazing thing though is that all their calves are fawn in color. A wildebeest calf looks almost like a Gemsbok calf when they are born. The reason is that the calves camouflage better against the brown earth for a time until they are a few months older and better able to escape predation.

I found this Gemsbok calf and its parents running thru the tall grass and I thought the parents were chasing a hyena ahead of them. It was only when they broke through the cover and crossed the road that I realized the truth. It was a tiny baby Gemsbok. We sat and watched mom and dad stay close to the little fella, touching noses and reassuring him that he was safe.

With long sharp pointed horns, a sturdy body weighing in at close to 600 pounds a gemsbok is no pushover and add the maternal instinct to define rage and you have a winning combination. A good 16 feet of sharp horns with angry mom and dad behind them makes any one feel totally at peace. COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

DOVES AT THE WATERHOLE - KGALAGADI

When the suns rays are at a low angle and the heat of the day is dissipating into the cool of the night, animals and birds IN THE KGALGADI come for a drink. The waterholes are busy and the unwary are in trouble. We sat by a waterhole before sundown and waited. Nothing. Well the waiting game is played best by playing it. So we stuck around, and before long we were greeted by wave upon wave of doves. They were so numerous it seemed like 100s came and went over the period of an hour or so. Lanner falcons and red necked falcons and even jackals bide their time at these waterholes trying to snag a plump dove for dinner but no such luck this time. It was how ever surreal to capture an ever-changing collage or you could call it a live mosaic of these beautiful birds as they came in to drink stayed a while and left. The setting sun gave us a hint to head home and we did albeit sadly to leave such a beautiful sight.

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

The dessert that I love. KGALAGADI

OK OK.... its not dessert..... its desert, and I love it. The Kgalagadi and its red sand dunes have a way of sneaking into your soul. Let me give you an example. 

It was the dead hours in the Kgalagadi, sun shining high in the sky, animals looking for cover from the blistering heat, and we  were driving along among the dunes. Frankly I had had it,  cuz nothiong moves at that time in that heat. A movement barely visible in the red sand on the left caught my eye and i slowed down. There is something there i said and my guests looked and said seems like a cat but bigger and has long ears.

 CARACAL! I could not believe it. My first sighting of this usually nocturnal cat. I parked by the side of the road and we all just watched this handsome cat walking through the clumps of grass and the bushes across the dunes. 

The red colouring of the fur blending so well with the sand and the background of the dunes, its not really easy to spot as you drive along. Its a medium size cat, about the size of a Dalmatian dog with rough red fur and long tufts on their ears. The ears are the ones that really stick out, tufted ears that are long and black at the back. Makes them look quite striking. They are primarily bird hunters and will take small or young antelope occasionally. But such a handsome creature we were all mesmerised by him. 

 

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

Getting up on the Table!

The huge flat topped massif in the bay was how mariners since Vasco da Gama described the entrance to Table Bay which lies as the best anchorage on the southern tip of Africa. El Cabo de Boa Esperanza, it was called by that intrepid explorer and wanderer of the oceans and it was in fact the gateway to the east: the Spice Islands, India and of course the mysterious lands of Cathay.

The Cape of Good Hope was also called by the more practical minded sailors who feared for life and limb in its stormy waters as the Cape of Storms because of the terrible winds that lashed at their wooden ships and caused them no end of grief.

We often forget the struggles of the ancient seafaring men who opened up the world and for whom going ‘home’ represented 6-10 months of sailing and so many never made it back. Sir Francis Drake left England to circumnavigate the globe with 3 ships and over 400 men with promises of plunder and riches, and came back with 1 ship and a skeleton crew having lost all others to storms and sea battles.

So Table Mountain was a very welcome sight to sailors heading to the Orient in the old days and nowadays it is a most interesting tourist attraction.

The cable car operates on days when the weather is good and it is a breathtaking view of Cape town that greets one a few seconds after it starts. The car itself is round and rotates so everyone gets a full view all around.

The top has the usual curio shops and restaurant obligatory to such places but there is also unique wildlife up there that has become quite used to people. Witness the rock hyrax or dassie as it is called. About as big as a rabbit they live up here among the rocks and tourists, quite happy to sit and pose.

There are also the intrepid adventurers who eschew the cable car and the pathway and prefer to do it the hard way. Climb the massif. Well, good luck buddy better you than me! 

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

Python in the tree

We were driving along one day and spotted a large number of cars on either side of the road and that in Kruger means there is a predator about. Given where we were on the Lower Sabie road it usually means lions. But I was wrong. The whole crowd of people were staring up into a tree and quite a distance off at that! Which is why the pix are rather awful!

Some waved me over and said “Python eating something in the tree , over there do ya see it hanging?” Now for the life of me I could not figure out what he was talking about, cuz I was looking in the wrong tree. Then I saw it, thick as my thigh with a raptor in its coils and man it was big! Really big. He probably went up there to get a monkey and the eagle of some sort got snacked on. That’s fate for you!

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

One hot day at the waterhole.

Heading for Satara camp from Tshokwane after a quick breakfast we noticed  a herd of elephants heading north as well and slowed to keep pace with them. They were looking like they might cross over and head for the waterhole just ahead so we took up position facing the waterhole and sure enough there they came. The thing is that we had not seen the whole herd yet. So as we were parked there they came across the road and heading down the slope to drink and it was then that I realized that the rest of them were on  my left and now the car was between two groups from the same herd. One female was none too pleased about this and gave me a couple of real dirty looks but she passed around the back of the car to the rest of the gang giving me and the car a wide berth with no incident at all. It was a bit hairy however having her behind the car and me parked on the embankment but she just passed over and was fine with the rest of the herd.

It’s a delight to watch a herd of elephants relaxing at the waterhole. There are so many special little interactions and it is not unlike a big human family gathering. The older ones more sedately drinking cuz of course they need a LOT of water. The youngest ones with moms and nannies around to keep them safe and the youngsters were pushing shoving ducking and spraying and generally goofing off. A great sighting. Kruger rocks!

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com