Brendon’s Shares his Day on Safari:
(All images from back of Brendon’s Camera)
It rained throughout last night and this morning started all wet, soggy, overcast and drizzly. Unperturbed by the weather we headed out and went straight to where we left Salayexe and Tiyane with their kill last night.
We couldn’t find any sign of them initially, but after scratching around for a while we spotted Salayexe lying in the shelter of a bush. She got up and started to move around, whereupon Tiyane popped out and we photographed them together and singly. They went together to check on the remains of their kill, but foolishly for two leopards, they did not stash it in a tree overnight … and of course it was stolen by hyenas – probably in the early hours of this morning.
It wasn’t long before the two leopards abandoned the area and started to travel to a different spot. Well, Salayexe marched along while Tiyane tried her level best to keep up with her mom, but mom wanted nothing to do with her daughter, and at the first opportunity Salayexe dashed away, and the two ended up going in different directions.
We left the leopards to see what else we could find, and passed White Rhinos, Buffalos, Elephants and plenty of general game. From a birding perspective there is always plenty to photograph here – including adult and juvenile Martial Eagles.
We went to Big Dam to see what activity there was in and around the water. We arrived to find six or seven Spotted Hyenas playing vigorously in the water. They collected chunks of a Hippo carcass that they threw around in the water, running in and out of the dam, and swimming to retrieve bits and pieces that floated away.
We also spotted a baby Waterbuck that the Hyenas had chased into the centre of the dam. He stood or sat there, and didn’t move until the Hyenas tired of their strenuous game and moved away to find a spot to rest. Only then did the little one emerge from the water and escape to a safe spot.
This afternoon we again saw Buffalos and Rhinos. Oh, accompanying the Rhinos this afternoon we saw a tiny baby Rhino with its mother – a lovely sight to see.
Then a call came that Tingana had been found with an Impala kill up in a tree. We dashed there and saw the large dominant male leopard in a big, thick tree – so leafy that although it looked gorgeous, Tingana was difficult to see well. Nevertheless it was fabulous to just see him with his kill.
Then Tiyane was found again so we returned to her, and spent the remainder of our drive with her. She was hunting, trying to go after Impala, then resting on termite mounds before trying again.
In between she walked around and climbed branches and trees for a look around. Eventually she went to lie down – maybe waiting for darkness to aid her hunt later on.
Tomorrow morning it would be great to follow up on Salayexe for a final time before our safari ends …
