We can never anticipate what we’ll see scurrying and loping through the bushveld while we’re on safari. Eager safari goers arrive at their destinations with a certain level of expectation, and a tick-list of the “must sees”. The wild natural world around us doesn’t care about your safari bucket list, and constantly seeks to disappoint and surprise us on a daily basis. We are merely observers to the tumultuous, yet strangely ordered world of wildlife. We experience swings-and-roundabouts in terms of sightings, and today’s Week in Pictures is an yet another example of the unpredictable moments in the wild!
You are to expect the unexpected when visiting reserves. You will see things you’ve never expected, and soon forget about your list. Our highly-qualified guides will attempt to monitor wildlife behaviour and make assumptions based on history, and their experience in the wild. But even they don’t know what will cross their paths at any given moment.
Herds of elephant might visit the lodge swimming pool everyday for 2 weeks, but then the day you arrive, they stop. We might not have seen a leopard kill in weeks, and you arrive and a kill is made. This is the beauty of the wild – we’ve come to expect surprises.
Our first eye-opener of sighting this week happened on the traverse hugging Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp in the Klaserie. Rogan was out on drive and came across a pack of wild dogs frolicking at a waterhole, while a herd of elephants were hovering in the background soaking up the fresh water. Neither party seemed to give much notice to the other, and shared their space quite happily.
On the Klaserie side, we’ve shared a few photos of the resident hyenas and vultures that seem to have crawled out of the woodwork to perform their janitor duties. Those lions that feasted on the giraffe kill from the previous week sure made a mess! Commonly spotted carrion lovers will retreat into the bushveld abyss when a kill site is cleaned to perfection, proving yet again that sightings are never guaranteed.
Another thunderbolt of a sighting occurred at Chacma Bush Camp. The Maseke male lions were spotted ! The team at Chacma haven’t seen the Maseke boys in a while, so it made for yet another unpredictable sighting. Ezulwini Game Lodges have continued to enjoy lion sightings on their traverse in the Balule, with the previous week’s sighting of the cubs ranking as one of the top sightings of the month. Umkumbe constantly enjoys leopard sightings, but once again, we can’t predict when and how these sightings happen!
Nsala Safari Camp came across a coalition of young and confident male lions, just casually enjoying their pocket of paradise in the wild. They are the youngsters from the Western Pride of lions. In term’s of our Timbavati sightings, Walkers Bush Villa delivered an unexpected sighting of hyena cubs in the wild.
That’s our round-up for this week, we trust you’ll enjoy the images. Next week we’ll start the week off with a themed “Week in Pictures”, which will run for 3 weeks. After which, we’ll take a week’s break and then furnish our fans with a bumper catch-up.
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