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.

 

Day 10: Out in the Timbavati

Yesterday afternoon we had a number of visitors to the watering hole that we can see from our decks, tents, & the lodge.

The weather turned really hot for our afternoon game drive. It was close to 100 degrees, but a very dry heat. Here's a Wahlberg's Eagle.

This guy surprised us walking in front of the vehicle when we were looking elsewhere.

We've seen lots of these Blacksmith Lapwings.

We spent the evening watching lots and lots of hippos.

Cold winds came in overnight, so we were bundled up for our morning game drive. It's amazing how the weather can drop 40 degrees in a flash. We started out watching a herd of elephants. This is the first time I've seen an entire herd feeding on one tree at the same time.

Charlie got a call that two male lions from a coalition had come to our lodge's watering hole. He turned around the Land Cruiser and we found they had made their way out into the bush. These were new lions for us and really cute!

We came across a 2-month old baby Rhino running with its mom. I couldn't get a photo, but later we came upon two young males. In the Timbavati they don't cut the horns off Rhinos. They have a very strong anti-poaching program. Once a year, everyone who works in the preserve has to take a polygraph test to find any potential connections to poaching.

We ended our morning drive with a group of Kudu. Love this guy.

 

Day 9: Thabamati Tent Camp in the Timbavati Preserve

It is a pleasure to return to Thabamati Tent Camp. This place is so tasteful and well-run we were excited to  come back. The one issue they have is a draught. It's been very, very dry here.

The food is as good as ever. Here is our welcome high tea with salad, mini-pot pies, and breaded cauliflower. Very yummy!

We set out on our afternoon game drive with our ranger Charlie and tracker Caswell. We spent lots of time with these two sleepy giants. They are 4-year old brothers who traverse between Kruger and here.

On our way back in the dark, we saw a number of creatures including this Hyena.

We also had a great sighting of a Honey Badger.  I got this photo off the internet, but it looks just like the badger we saw. They are strong and fierce. It was pretty exciting. 

We started our morning game drive at 6 AM. The first thing we saw was this Double-Banded Sandgrouse. it's the 1st time I've seen this bird.

Same with this Giant Eagle Owl. It's a bit hidden, but only the second owl I've ever seen in South Africa.

Then we tracked a pack of African Wild Dogs while on a hunting expedition toward Kruger. It was a rollicking safari drive trying to keep up with guys.

And as we were driving away from the dogs, Charlie spotted this lone Lion walking down the road.

We stopped at a dam and found these Elephants and Water Monitor.

A very nice first day at Thabamati.

 

Day 8: Last 2 Game Drives at Inyati

Our stay at Inyati has been wonderful. It hasn't been the best food, but the variety of animals we've seen has been terrific. Here's a close-up of a White-Backed Vulture.

We went back to visit the pack of African Wild Dogs we had seen a few days ago. This time they were out on an open road. One male adult was watching all 10 pups. The other 6 adults were out hunting. These pups were running around and playing--so much energy!!

This one stopped and looked right up at the Land Cruiser.

Play, play, play.

They play so hard and then they plop down for a rest.

We then went to find the Mhangeni Pride to see how they were doing on the Cape Buffalo dinner. Most were so full they had to take a rest. These photos were taken in the dark. I moved my ISO to 3200 and was able to take them. So happy they came out.

The next morning we had an amazing sunrise.

We came across a troop of Baboons. This one was enjoying a snack.

This is something I've never seen before. When two male Nyala meet each other they raise their manes to show dominance. It was very cool to see.

Here's a Rock Monitor that was sunning itself.

To end our stay at Inyati we had an amazing sighting. A few days ago we saw this female Leopard with her cub.

On our last drive, we found her mate. He had sustained a pretty big wound on his forepaw and was doing a  lot of licking. We saw 9 different Leopards in Sabi Sands.

Here is our group with Omega, Joel, and a couple from Boston.

 I'd definitely come back to Inyati. If Giraffe was our totem animal in Thornybush, it was the Leopard in Sabi Sands.