Safari Updates

Hilton's news: As we left our isolated camp in the beautiful Serengeti one if the first sightings was a pride of about twenty lions with four or five cubs. It was still predawn so seeing them in the almost eerie light was quite awesome. We noticed that one of the lionesses was behaving really strangely. She never really settled down, although the remainder of the pride were relaxing contentedly before sunrise. The lioness seemed unable to relax and kept looking around and nervously pacing about. Then the members of the pride decided to shoo her away and we realised that she was not a member of this pride. She must have encountered them in the poor light and was deciding whether to remain with them or not when they made up her mind for her and chased her away. After this interesting interaction the world was brightening and we moved on....

Hilton reports:After traveling for most of the morning we suddenly found ourselves in the air and directly over the beautiful iridescent lake below us. Dotted quite thickly in the sparkling azure water we could see thousands of pink flamingoes, shifting, flying and creating a kaleidoscope of changing colours. What a beautiful start to our safari! Cameras already worked overtime ... (My apologies that there are no photos with this and possibly the following posts - there is no internet here but I plan to catch up soon ... so imagine!)Our camp is situated in a special area - it is remote and is erected for only three months each year - for the birthing of the wildebeest. Everything has to be specially brought in, and the logistics that ensure our comfort are simply mind boggling.After offloading and settling in we started out on our first drive. Apart from numerous giraffe, zebra...

From Andrew:   We left about 45 minutes later than usual this morning because of the rain. At first we felt a little dismayed that some roads were closed and off-roading was impossible, but the rainy conditions brought us some amazing opportunities that may not have been possible or that we may have overlooked in sunny weather.   After passing impala, zebras and giraffe we came across the Styx pride of lions. They were just finishing off a young zebra, and we stopped to watch the interactions between the four lions. As we watched the mother zebra came closer and closer to the lions, searching for her foal, and when she approached too closely the lions started to hunt her, causing her to turn and flee. Undeterred, however, she came back many times and as soon as she was close enough the lions gave chase and again and again she trotted...

Andrew Reports:   We were determined to find Salayexe again this morning after the great viewing that we had of her yesterday, so we headed straight to the area  to search for her.   It was a cloudy day again, meaning that the light was wonderfully diffused and the heat from yesterday was gone.   While we were searching for Salayexe we heard from one of the other vehicles that while they stopped for an early coffee break Salayexe wandered right into the clearing where they had parked, almost inviting them to accompany her. We headed straight there and were delighted to find both Salayexe and her cub.   The remainder of the morning was spent taking shots of the two as they strolled around, hunting one another, chasing each other, pouncing and playing in the open plains. The two stopped their antics to enjoy a drink at one of the...

Brendon's Bushveld Bulletin:   A lovely, warm sunny day awaited us this morning. We had heard that there was a pride of lions not too far from the Lodge and we headed straight there in the early dawn. When we found them they were walking around and we were able to position our vehicles ahead of them to get images of them walking toward us, then past and away from us. The predawn soon turned to that golden glow  that makes early morning photography so spectacularly beautiful.   The lions then lay down together and started snuggling, grooming and licking one another. This meant more wonderful photo opportunities for us and we took full advantage of the heart-warming sight. Cameras clicked and clicked.   We moved a short distance away for our coffee break and when one of the rangers went to the bushes for a nature break he came face...

Andrew reports:   We woke up this morning to a cloudy day with intermittent drizzles. The cool weather meant that the animals were quite active and we passed numerous Impala, Giraffe and Zebras, and a large herd of Buffalo. We did not stop for these animals because our aim was to try and find Salayexe and her cub, so we made our way to the den where we had last seen her, but there was no sign of her or her cub. We were following her tracks when we came across Shadow – another stunning female leopard. She had been pregnant earlier in the year, but had lost her cub, and we were delighted to see that she appears to be pregnant again. Shadow was busy patrolling her territory and we followed her on her patrol as she demarcated her boundaries. In fact we spent most of the morning with her,...

Andrew’s News Bulletin:   We started with a glorious morning – lovely clear light with no haze. Our cameras were ready and there seemed to be animals everywhere.   We hoped to see Salayexe and her cub again, but having spent so much time with them in the past two days we could not be too greedy. We found male leopard tracks in the early morning and started to follow them, but we found ourselves repeatedly sidetracked by birds, buffalo, elephant, ... hippos ...   and we spent some time photographing very busy Dung Beetles.   This afternoon we returned to the area where we had spotted the leopard tracks, and followed these again.   We found the leopard – a large, well-built , magnificent male. He was clearly hunting, so we followed at a respectable distance so as not to disturb him, but close enough to get good photographs.  ...

Hilton's News:   There was an ethereal mist covering our world this morning, giving the area that mysterious, isolating feel and when animals appear out of the mist everything takes on that almost surreal quality.   As we peered into the mist, picking out shapes that became various animals and birds, we saw a charming sight that kept us entranced for much of the morning. The rolling, tumbling, leaping shapes turned out to be Salayexe and her cub. They frolicked, played, jumped on each other, then licked and groomed one another, only to start hunting one another again.   The beautiful sight in the truly enchanting  setting kept us busy and very reluctant to leave.   Back at the Lodge we had breakfast and then spent some quality time on photographic post-production work. We enjoyed transforming some of our images -including this Thick-knee.   This afternoon we headed back to where...

From Andrew:   Although it was quite overcast this morning when we set out, there was no rain and the morning was cool, crisp and very picturesque.   We soon came upon Salayexe (the young leopard mother) and her cub. Although they were in thickish grass they were moving around a lot and we managed some excellent sightings and photographs.   Salayexe’s cub is at that very playful, cute stage and we watched as he pounced on his mom’s tail, then climbed a tree to ambush her, and then crept around in the grass to surprise her. They were both enjoying themselves so much, and we thoroughly enjoyed capturing the fun and interactions between the two.   The playful mood changed momentarily when two adult hyenas arrived on the scene. Salayexe stopped, glared at the two and watched them carefully as they strutted through the area.   When we left a...

Wim Reports:   Sometimes communication from the bush can be a bit haphazard so here is our news from our last two days at Kichwa Tembo.   On Friday morning we went straight to the main crossing points on Mara River where we could see huge buildups of animals on the far banks.   We positioned ourselves and waited for the inevitable crossings to take place. Unfortunately some vehicles arrived on the opposite bank and their sudden and indiscreet approach frightened the animals away.   We moved off and found a pride of lions hunting wildebeest. We watched them for a while, but they are so overfed at the moment that they gave up the hunt after a halfhearted attempt, and lay down for a siesta under nearby bushes.   After lunch overlooking the Mara River we returned to the crossing point.   As there were no other vehicles in sight...