Lunch on the lawn was as delicious as always. Three guests had left and another 3 arrived just before lunch along with Greg du Toit, a South Africa safari guide and photographer whose work I have long admired (excluding his winning 2013 WPOTY picture about which words fail me). He is a regular visitor to Kicheche Camps and several of his photographs adorn the mess room walls and well-thumbed copies of his coffee table books are around. And what a thoroughly nice guy; unlike some other "well known" photographers/wildlife experts we've encountered, he didn't carry an air of superciliousness about him. We got chatting and it transpired that he worked at Mashatu (where we're going in July) many years ago and regularly runs trips there now - he can't praise the place highly enough. He hadn't been to South Africa's Zimanga (known for its night hide images and where we'd booked to visit in 2020) but had heard similar unfavourable comments.
Lunch, a couple of glasses of wine and a little bit of time to download the morning's images before we were back in the truck for the afternoon drive. The images may be getting a little repetitive now but I write this just for me and Ian and we don't mind, although there certainly seems less anecdotes to recall. Maybe it's because I'm with another photographer but I certainly think I'm taking many more shots than before and a lot of them are unnecessary!
Eyelashes to die for, the only person we know with better ones is our great nephew.
This is a straight shot, the giraffe bent completely at right angles from his body and stuck out the longest tongue ever - no wonder they can stick them up their own noses.
So graceful and balletic, I'm trying a fine art edit with this one but it's taking forever.
So I went down the pop art route in the meantime (much to Ian's horror).
This is a White Bellied Bustard, we've seen quite a few but never got a decent(ish) photo before.
And of course their close relative, the Kori Bustard, the largest flying bird on earth.
A mid afternoon nap for these lions.
And I don't think he's going to wake up any time soon.
This vulture hopping around on the ground hoping for some scraps might give you a clue of what's coming up next.
And a few of his mates waiting in the trees.
Just a warning, the next few images are a little gruesome; the lions had made a kill, this morning I would imagine as the blood was still red and the zebra's skin looked quite fresh. I've surprised myself that I am actually able to take these images given how squeamish I am.
But I do have to admit that this one freaks me out a bit.
This Silver Backed Jackal wasted no time in trying to steal a little bit for himself.
His stomach suitably full, this gorgeous male had a little time to reflect on which camera angle was best.
Before doing what all male lions usually do for most of the day; sleeping.
Given the amount they'd eaten I don't think either would be moving for a very long time, so we left them to it.
Yellow-Winged Bats which promptly flew off - don't they know they're supposed to be nocturnal.
We came to the shallow river crossing just as a small Journey of Giraffe were approaching so we thought we'd stop for a few moments whilst they crossed. Goodness me, what a fuss, it took each one about 15 mins to make the small crossing - whether they didn't like the cold water or were afraid of slipping I don't know.
Oh for goodness sake, just get on with it!
Meanwhile numerous baboons had jumped their way across without a problem, this one was so nonchalant it carried a blade of grass in its mouth.
Phew, he made it!
It was quite late by now and the light was fading fast so we went off to find the lion pride with the varying aged cubs, which we did quite easily. I've whacked up the ISO just to get some images so they are quite grainy but for the blog will have to do.
I love you!
Night Night, Sleep Tight
A beautiful spot for our sundowner.
I think we'll leave them in peace.
Chris and Susie had seen two leopards before we arrived, the famous Fig and also one of her daughters, so before we headed back to camp Nelson thought we should have a quick look around a particular area where he thought the daughter might be. It seemed miles away from where we were, but eventually we got to the area and, sure enough, his instincts were correct - there she was (and it's almost dark by now, so don't judge the photos!).
She's clearly seen something of interest, maybe a chase will happen?
But no, she settled back down again.
We did remember to take a short video but she wasn't doing much!
So we left her to it and headed back to camp. As we got there it just started to rain and by the time the Askari had walked us back to the tent it was raining steadily. We changed quickly and as it was already about 1950 we thought we'd better go for dinner so flashed our torch and waited for the escort. Why oh why we didn't think to make use of the wellington boots provided in the tent I have no idea, I decided to wear flip flops so at least they couldn't get spoilt but poor Ian wore his "normal" shoes. It's only about 250m to the mess tent but as soon as we stepped out of our tent the heavens opened and the rain came at us in all directions. The umbrellas were useless as the rain was sideways and under them and the path was just a sea of mud and about 6" of water and by the time we got to the mess tent we were both saturated. I only had thin trousers on and they were completely wet through (hopefully not see-through too!) so much so that I declined to sit on the sofas before dinner despite being told not to worry. I did sit on a cushioned chair for dinner but I knew that could be easily removed and dried; the sofas would take a lot of drying. By the time we'd finished dinner the rain had abated considerably but it was still a challenge to walk back to our tent, sliding around in the thick mud. Our clothes went straight into the wash basket and we'll sort out Ian's shoes tomorrow.
