Brendon Reports from Elephant Plains at Sabi Sand Game Reserve …
(Leopard and Lion Images from the back of Brendon’s Camera)
It was our last full day here for this safari, and we left as early as possible to take advantage of every moment.
We hoped to catch up with Tiyane, the beautiful young leopard. We scored around the area where we saw her yesterday, but all we found were her tracks. That was frustrating, but only for a few seconds, as we received a call saying that she had been spotted. Where? What? She was miles from where we were trying to track her. She must have walked very far during the night.
It was wonderful to catch up with her again, and Tiyane, as always, was a fabulous photographic subject. The morning light was perfect again, and we spent the morning with her. We left her when she started to hunt some impala.
We also encountered three of the Birmingham Male lions. We captured some great images of them in the excellent lighting conditions. They walked around, providing us with some great photo opportunities.
We left them when it was time to return to the Lodge for brunch and then photographic and Lightroom classes.
This afternoon we returned to where we left the Birmingham Males this morning. However, they had moved into thick bush, and were only just visible through the dense foliage even though we were really close to them.
We moved on and photographed elephants, buffalo, and two rhinos. This completes our Big Five for today.
We returned to Tiyane, but she had disappeared.
So once again we meandered back to the lions, knowing that they would probably be up and about as the sun set. Out came our spotlights and we practised a variety of lighting techniques as they emerged from their siesta spots.
They started to patrol their territory, reaffirming that they are the dominant males in the area, and we followed to watch their diligent patrol.
All in all, we had a really full day, and we look forward to our final morning drive tomorrow …
