May 5th - 4th and 5th Game drives
MORNING:
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| OSTRICH |
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| AWEOME SUNRISE |
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| HUGE Cape Buffalo |
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| Cape Buffalo and the Oxsuckers |
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| Always getting up close and personal |
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| Oxsucker convention |
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| "hmmmm... nice butt!!!" |
Boy 5am comes very quickly! Another quick cuppa and off
we went ... Don was keen to track a herd of Cape Buffalo, which was
quite a drive from the camp, so we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as we
drove... just after sunrise we had a surprise and rare sighting of an
Ostrich.. probably the only one in the area... quite exciting... but the
highlight of this drive was the enormous herd of Cape Buffalo, lazing
in the grass... hundreds of magnificent beasts, crowned with massive
heavy horns (called a boss). We got to drive right into the herd and
watched them for 30 minutes at least... fabulous experience. The
pictures just don't do them justice.. they are truly awesome animals. After we resumed our drive we came across more giraffe.
Two young males were having a bit of a fight, which they do by using
their massive necks to whack each other quite violently. One of the two
looked like he had had a stroke, as one side of his face was droopy and a
little deformed. Very strange sight. By far the most breathtaking sight that day... although
they are all breathtaking, was to once again spot our grumpy, huge bull
elephant as he literally pushed over a tall, live tree (20-30 feet
high).. for his grazing pleasure. It was so quick and such a surprise
that no-one managed to get a picture. But we did enjoy snapping pictures
of him grazing on the fruits of his labour. (he breaks off large tree
trunks and rolls them around in his mouth stripping the nutrient laden
bark as if he were eating corn on the cob. We once again enjoyed some
ranger coffee while watching a river lizard sunbathe on a log in a small
pond with a lone rhino keeping a close eye on us. On our way back into
camp we saw warthogs, a massive Kudu and a huge bird drying its wings.
By far the most breathtaking sight that ... although they
are all breathtaking, was to once again spot our grumpy, huge bull
elephant as he literally pushed over a tall, live tree (20-30 feet
high).. for his grazing pleasure. It was so quick and such a surprise
that no-one managed to get a picture. But we did enjoy snapping pictures
of him grazing on the fruits of his labour. (he breaks off large tree
trunks and rolls them around in his mouth stripping the nutrient laden
bark as if he were eating corn on the cob. We once again enjoyed some
ranger coffee while watching a river lizard sunbathe on a log in a small
pond with a lone rhino keeping a close eye on us. On our way back into
camp we saw warthogs, a massive Kudu and a large cormerant drying its wings in the sun.
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| Loving it!! |
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| Giraffes |
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| Cute! |
We started out extra early as Don really tried to make our last drive memorable. In radio contact with others we searched in vain for cats for about an hour and a half. Then the radio really came to life and we were off at racing pace to another area. We cannot quite describe the thrill of racing through the African bush at breakneck speed, bouncing around and hanging on for dear life.. better than a roller coaster!!!! In contact with others we finally found another land rover on the edge of a thicket. They waved us in and there inside was a young male leopard devouring an Impala. So Don says "it'll be here a while lets go" whaaaat!!! Apparently he had heard rumours that there was a Cheetah in the area. Just 5 minutes away, and to the awe of all of us including our tracker and ranger, we were treated to a very special find.... a wonderful sighting of a Cheetah, set up on a 5 foot high mound surveying the area around and watched by us and another land rover. We were in awe for about 90 seconds and then it just decided to move on, stealthily through the brush and it was gone. What superb timing. Only a minute either side and we would have missed it. 
After
we left the Leopard to his meal, we saw Giraffe, elephant, zebra,
Wildebeest, Impala, Warthogs, a beautiful lilac breasted Roller (bird),
and a huge water buck before arriving back at camp. We said goodbye to
Judas and went to pack before final goodbyes and a beer on the deck,
where we saw some guinea fowl and a Cape buffalo, grazing by the deck. Our driver arrived to take us back to Nelspruit
airport for our uneventful flight back to Jo'burg. We chatted with him
about today's big national election... he was definitely an ANC supporter
for life! Back at Africa Sky we had dinner, packed, sat by the Boma and
had a reasonably early night. 
