Day 14: Leaving the Timbavati

I'm sitting in the American Lounge at Heathrow getting the last page of the blog finished. What an amazing trip this was. Sitting in the bush with such a wide array of animals was such a privilege. We loved our last camp, Thabamati. It is truly special. With only 4 tents, we had the whole camp to ourselves.

Its watering hole was big attraction. 

And we finally spotted a Red-Bill Hornbill right by our lunch table.

Here are a few highlights of our last two game drives.

A young elephant nursing.

And finally we saw warthogs that weren't running away.

We were looking for Leopard on the evening game drive and instead found this male Cheetah--the second during our time in the Timbavati! He was sitting on top of a termite mound surveying the area for prey. This guy is magnificent.

After dark we found the 4 male lions we had seen the day before. Wow!

And during the morning drive we saw lots and lots of animals, but the most exiting was finding the male Cheetah in the road, miles from where he was the night before. We tracked him into a very bushy area and  he went back on top of a termite mound.

Each place we visited we had a totem animal that characterized our visit. It was definitely the Cheetah in the Timbavati. Our trip ended at the airport in Hoedspruit with this cute, but very naughty Vervet Monkey.

What a marvelous adventure we had.

Day 13: Here Comes the Sun

 After two days, we are finally back in the sunshine. The bush is so beautiful in this light.

Before leaving on our afternoon game drive, this Hadeda Ibis was poking around for food near my deck.

We drove back to see if the two Lions were still eating their kill. They were both there, but hardly anything was left of their meal. Love this Lioness.

What was new was the vultures had come in to clean things up. They are really magnificent birds.

Charlie tracked down a ginormous herd of Cape Buffalo.

There are lots of birds that follow these giants because their hooves kick up all kinds of insects. Here's my favorite again--the Lilac-Breasted Roller.

We saw so many different animals on this drive. I am always fascinated by Zebra.

And with the return of the sun, we are back to stunning sunsets. 

Before retuning to the camp, Charlie gave us a bit of an astronomy lesson. He pointed out a number of constellations and we were enthralled with the beauty of the Milky Way. It's impossible to describe the majesty of the African night sky.

With the weather turning nice again, we were able to gather in the boma for a fire and drinks before out wonderful dinner.

I'm getting spoiled here. Every morning when Caswell comes by to wake us up at 5:30 AM, he brings me a cappuccino. Yay!

On our morning game drive we were greeted first thing by this big boy. He was coming straight toward our vehicle and got very close. Charlie made a noise that stopped it. I was surprised to see this giant creature stop his forward momentum for a bit because of the sound of a human voice. He then continued coming toward us and Charlie drove us off.

After checking out the buffalo herd, we came upon 4 males lions who were in a coalition. If they form a pride, they will defend each other's cubs. Here are two of the group.

On returning to camp, we were surprised with a breakfast out in the bush. Marvelous!!

Day 12: More Cold Weather

In my four trips to South Africa, this is the coldest weather I've experienced in the bush. Despite the cold, we are still having a fabulous time and seeing wonderful animals. We started our evening game drive going back to check on the male and female lion who had brought down a small Cape Buffalo. Before we got to the site, we found this Hyena sniffing the air.

When we first found the lions, the female was taking a break sleeping against the carcass. In no time they were both eating.

This is when my own mini tragedy hit. My camera started showing signs of not working. The zoom lens stuck and when I finally got it "working" again it shut down after 3 or 4 photos. This same thing happened in 2017 in Valencia Spain and miraculously I was able to buy an exact replacement camera. I'm hoping I can keep this one going for the rest of the trip. I just need to remember that the camera may not work for any given shot. It's OK--I'm still getting a few good ones and I've got my iPhone along.

We came across what we think was the same herd of Elephants we had seen at the watering hole in the afternoon. There were lots of babies. Didn't get many shots because of the camera issue.

When it was dark went to a dam with tons of hippos and lots of babies. Very cool and very cute.  This morning we were greeted with a stunning sunrise.

We traveled over a fairly open area and saw lots of antelopes. Jerry kept wanting to see Zebra, which he hadn't seen yet in the Timbavati. We came upon a small "dazzle" of Zebra. They are always stunning.

We also drove by Giraffe after Giraffe. They all seemed to be out this morning.

As we drove back to camp there were two Saddle-Billed Storks by the dam. My camera failed, but Peggy got a good shot. They are really spectacular birds.

As I went to put my things in the tent before breakfast, I spied these two from my deck. 

It's wonderful having such a big watering hole right in front of our tents and the main lodge.

Day 11: Freezing in South Africa

Well, maybe it's not freezing, but cold enough for me to wear two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, and 2 jackets. Our lodge has warm, rain-resistant ponchos that help. There have been fairly strong winds and drizzle on the two game drives I write about here.  Thanks to Candy for making sure we took this photo!

The weather hasn't stopped us from some amazing sightings. Before the afternoon game drive we saw a few Elephants come into the watering hole at the lodge. Then more & more. Peggy counted over 20 in all. What a treat.

Then something amazing happened. Charlie heard there was a Cheetah nearby, which is very, very rare in this area. I have seen two in the past way up north near the Botswana border, but never in this area. We searched and searched, but no Cheetah. Then Charlie got word that that there was a second Cheetah who had killed an Impala and was dining--a long way from where we were. We went on a "Ferrari Safari" to get to the Cheetah before dark. She was magnificent.

And for an extra treat, two Rhinos walked right by while we were viewing the Chetah.

There was a herd of Cape Buffalo in the area, so we headed out to find them. It was dark when we got there. It was hard getting this photo. It was the only one I took that wasn't really dark and blurry. Lucky shot.

So, our first drive in the cold was a big success. The next morning I caught a glimpse of this guy from the deck of my tent.

We headed out for the morning drive and Charlie found this male Lion (that we had seen walking the day before) with a female. These two had brought down a small Buffalo fairly recently. Charlie told us that lions often follow buffalo herds looking for weak or slow members. Since the lions just ate, they were digesting and not moving.

Charlie spotted this Little Sparrow Hawk. It's the first one I'ver ever seen.

And then we saw this Lioness walking across the road--probably to find her pride.

So even though we were cold, we had a fabulous safari experience.