We are at Kings Camp right now. Ken and I decided to fly over to see the other group of Gary, Anne, Don, Michele, Grant and Dena and also check out the refurbishment of Kings Camp.
We are doing a family group here and this will be a perfect place to come. Great game and now the lodge is all spiffed up and looking great.

So much fun to suprise the six of them although it was very short. We waved goodbye like "staff" and they are now on their way to Vuyatela.

Last night was a good first game drive for the new arrivals. We were with Ralph, Ray and Pat. It started off with some elephants and a giant monitor lizard and when we left that we turned the corner and on the road was a lioness and two four month old cubs. We followed them down the road for a while then into the bush where they stopped at a fresh Impala kill. THe lionesses was obviously full so there was no more feeding but the cubs were bouncing all over the place. We were going to head to the area of the wild dogs but decided to take advantage of a male leopard that was close. As we made our way there the leopard went up in a tree and when we arrived he was posing for us in the tree with the huge orange sun setting as well.

The other vehicle had the "day of days". They went to the wild dog den area and the tracked and found the pack of five wild dogs on the hunt. The dogs were chasing impala, zebra and harrassing the buffalo. They did a high speed off road chase and all came back so excited and totally in awe of the experience. I was so delighted they had that opportunity what a sighting for their first ever safari.

This morning we went straight to the wild dog den. On our way another vehicle radioed in that the PUPPIES were out for the first time ever. They saw five puppies that were still wobbly on their feet. There could be more as they often have up to 12 pups. Our ranger Gary, was so excited he has never seen wild dog pups at a den and never this young. The pups did not stay out long and the next vehicle in did not see them. Then it was our turn. We did see the alpha female but the puppies never came out. We were able to stay longer than usual as the other vehicles did not come in without the pups in view. However, they never made an appearance. The good news is they are coming out now and will come out with more frequencuy. We stopped for coffee and sighted a lion and two nine month old cubs in the distance. So we stopped to look at them and they were precious. Having to leave for the flight to Kings camp we reluctantly left. ON the way to the airport we saw a nice elephant at a tree with big branches in her mouth and a male lion, just no time to enjoy these sightings.

This afternoon - who knows what we will see.

You are have having such great sightings. It is getting me wanting to return.

Comings, goings-on, greetings and meetings

Whew! Another wonderful day in Africa. We hopped up on the range rover at 6:05 am (I was a little slow on eating the muffin without Jake the not-so-wild dog). We drove right into a mixture of cape buffalo (herd #2) and elephants. Elephants evidently planned a region wide get-together, as they were pouring into one patch in the King's Camp concession.

Our Timbavati Twosome did NOT manage to pick off the duggar boy (or any other cape buffalo) overnight. They headed over to the Kruger Park about 50 km from where we saw them. Patrick did a yeoman's job of filling in our species sighted forms. He found tracks from a different group of lions (2 lionesses and 3 subadults as we say in the savanna ). Nyala (a couple of really handsome ones at that), a two generation Kudu family, hippos from a more than safe distance, and the best of the available animals species along our route.

the call came through - the King's Camp resident leopardess was hanging out for adulation and endless digital records of her morning in the bush. We drew nearer to the location and crashed our way through the vegetation. There she was .. in all her glory. My very best picture of the entire stay was the last one .. as she shot down the tree in search of a tasty lunch.

We headed back for breakfast and ran into Johannes, our former night watchman turned waiter. He started calling off room numbers as he gathered our breakfast orders. It was time for last showers, final packing, final photo backups and then time to leave our wonderful spot at King's Camp.

I headed up to settle up our incidentals bill. We had a very welcome and rare sighting in camp .. the BK trio. Ngaire, Ralph Webster and Ken were heading over to view the honeymoon suite. How about that? How nice of them to come see us off to our next African safari home We gave 'em the down low (as the kids say these days) on King's Camp and headed off to the airstrip.

On the way, we were treated to a Bateleur eagle send off and, the rock star of African birding, Miss Botswana (lilac breasted roller) in full wing as her super saturated colors shimmered in the lovely day.

Our sixteen minute flight was in our favorite African bush plane, the Caravan. Ralph, you left your ticket to Leopard Hills in the plane along with some uneaten bread

Our pilot and copilot guided us into Djuma, where Texan our guide met our very own native Texan, Michele. We boarded the Toyota Land Cruisers for transport to Vuyatela. We checked off warthogs and wildebeests on the way back. it is hotter here so we were glad to see camp.

Unlike King's Camp, this is authentic African themed vs. British Colonial. Open air seats await; and the animals (except the elephants) walk freely through camp. We are mesmerized by this place. We got the quick tour and settled into watching wildlife from our deck. I dunked my feet in the plunge pool to cool off. Hippos were giving the Grey Heron a free ride and elephants were massing near the mud hole. Cape buffalo are lowing and the impala and water bucks are on the other side of our room.

the footprint on the rooms is huge .. separate reception room, bedroom, desk area, closet, safe, separate toilet area, double sinks, indoor bath and outdoor shower. Two loungers for enjoying the wildlife show and a side chair. Geez .. this is bigger than the ground floor of my home!

We especially enjoyed getting to know Lisha and Warren Moore a bit better. it turns out their children are attending a local 'school for the planet' so they get a standard and local bush education at the same time. The other day had the wild dog pack hunting impala throughout the school grounds. Umm .. if we don't find good stuff here, we're volunteering to teach as guest speakers on practical matters if that's what it takes to see a wild dog kill.

It's time to clean up, put our laundry order together and head up to super tea before we head out for more game drives.

cheers, Anne

That is a great photo Anne, thanks for all of the updates.

Tell everyone hello for us.

Perfect picture Anne. would make a great photo book cover. We are getting great reports from many of you and really appreciate you'll taking the time.

These photos are unbelievable!!!! Oh, how I wish I was there!!! :app:

Anne, great report and really great pic!!!! Thanks for sharing!

Love the reports and the pictures -- so glad you're having a great time. Wish we were there.

lovely writing and reports. like the vertical cat.

Djuma today - check out today's webcam. http://www.djuma.com/blog/index.php?special=Webcam

If there's any way to get this morning's game drive, it should be worth watching from about 6:35 to 7:15 am

Thrills and kills

Vuyatela offers early morning tea and rusks (bars as we call 'em in the great Midwest) prior to the 6:30 am morning game drives. We then enjoy a brunch from 9:30 to 10:30. It's free time until supertea at 2:30 with a 3:30 evening game drive depature. We have modified our schedule for a 6 am depature and a 4 pm departure, as it is hotter and more humid.

We settled in our room as the elephants and hippos put on a great show. Gary took on the job of official mid-day photographer. Our Texon explained hippos stay in the water as they get easily sunburned during the day. Our hippos must be the jet lagged variety:





We arrived at supertea for smoked duck rolls, jelly roll, tea, salad and .. OMG! our favorite worldwide food, fried spiced onion rings. The batter was tempura-style - just the way we like 'em. Lots of impala, waterbuck and kudo were in the grass not more than 25 meters away. A South African came over and introduced herself. It was a lively conversation about various ways to enjoy wildlife on safari.

4 pm and we were off with Texon. We stopped to admire a gorgeous bull elephant, and then circled back to where the lions had been in the morning. The juju is still working - we had three lionesses, a year old male cub and six of the cutest 2 month old lion cubs. They were safely stowed in taller grass. Pictures were tougher but the setting was priceless. Each of the younger lionesses had 3 cubs apiece. We stayed there for a considerable period of time, then headed out for sundowners.

Cocktails were served at the central bar overlooking the Djuma webcam watering hole. Texon joined us for dinner. He came by way of Londolozi and Lion Sands to Vuyatela. The good news is his family lives only about 20 minutes outside the gates to the Sabi Sands reserve. He's a delightful guide. We were all very tired for some reason and bolted to bed by 9 pm.

In keeping with the local African lingo, we've renamed our resting room 'the shabeen'. The staff member knocked on our door at 5:30 am. All I heard was Gary calling out "We're awake. Thank you". Ugh .. time to get dressed. Time to stalk for coffee. This was sweet .. the staff turns on the hot water kettle, so two scoops in the french press and you are in business. We promptly arrived at 6 am to start our safari. Texon confidently swung outside of the gate, where the baboons had been making a considerable fuss.

On our left, the fence was halfway knocked down. On our right, the carcass of the wildebeest who was slammed into said fence lay in the shade of a tree, about 50% intact. Our lionesses were there with their cubs. On the hilltop, the young wildebeest stood at attention, whisking its tail as it looked for its mother. To the left of us about 200 meters away, eight hyenas were circling and taking up positions to encroach on the tasty remains of the wildebeest's mother. It was 6:35 am and the next actor moved in: the webcam truck. If you see this part of the footage, we were were no more than 20 feet in front of the ranger's truck.

The lionesses did not like the hyena movement, so the lead one charged a hyena who got too close. The oldest lioness was posted as lookout at the kill site; while the remaining lioness and the hapless one year old male were supposed to keep the tiny cubs safe. The tiny cubs, though, hadn't memorized the script. They were hell bent to keep up with momma/auntie at all costs, if we she was traveling at high speed straight towards the hyenas. Yikes! Momma charged again and carefully marked the line beyond which those pesky hyenas were going to be guaranteed a fight. Momma then trotted back towards the kill, all six cubs in tow. The two minders circled behind the cubs, securing their general safety. We watched for quite some time as the cubs alternated between affection with the older lions and joining in snacks at the kill site. One of the oldest tiny cubs was exerting maximum effort to gulp down some meat. The cuteness index soared skyward.

It was off for the 'morning elephants crossing just in front of a huge cape buffalo herd' sighting. Many of the buffaloes were resting, as small calves stuck close to their moms. Some of the bulls had a beef with others in the herd. Horns were locked, a cloud of dust and a swarm of flies rising up from the beating hooves. A space opened in the roadway so we proceeded, where one tiny calf was crumpled under its mother about 10 meters off the road. It must have been either critically injured by a flying hoof during the bull fights or suffered a life ending complication from birth. The herd cleared a space for the calf, whose only remaining movement was an occasional twitch or an irregular breath. Sad as it was to watch it dying, the hyenas have a choice between taking on the lionesses for the rest of the wildebeest or having the whole calf to themselves.

We got the call; Lots the spotter jumped into the Toyota and Texon yelled: Hang on! We are going FAST!! We grabbed the roll bars and headed off in a cloud of dust. Texon said the lionesses had come back and killed the baby wildebeest. Geez .. those were some kind of hungry lions. We sped around until we were stopped dead in our tracks by a group having coffee. Lots of local dialect was exchanged as the other car was moved a few feet so we could squeak by. We rounded a corner quite close to the lion kills area and .. huh? .. that's a leopard. Texon just grinned and said "it was the OTHER lion in these parts!" Another Texon tall tale? Yep .. and we fell for it :D

The leopard walked over to the termite mound .. where its twin was huddled on the other side. Yay! twin leopard cubs about 6 months old. The cuteness factor intensified (if that is even possible at this point) and we got some decent digital memories. There was a light sound and both cubs took off. Momma must be nearby. We found her about 10 minutes later, plotting strategy in a grass thicket. Impala were feeding close by. We tried to warn 'em .. but it was time for us to start back towards camp.

We pass on the morning coffee stop and circled the pond where the presiding hippo harrumphed at us for disturbing his solitary territory. As we headed back in, the radio crackled with more news. The leopardess had successfully snagged an impala and the cubs were on their way. We will bat clean up on that sighting this afternoon.

At brunch, we enjoyed a continental breakfast followed by eggs or porridge. We had the perfect view of the main pond, where one hippo was actively swimming around. He'd swish his tail so hard it looked like he had an outboard motor. Two others were battling over either turf or reproductive opportunity. The first hippo was either sleepy or suffering from indigestion. He had no fewer than 4 huge yawns during the course of our brunch. He was in profile to us, as his head tipped far, far back. Talk about a "Y" rising up out of the water!

It is now our 'resting period'. Gary is once again glued to the deck, tracking the fighting hippos. We just heard some elephant trumpets, so I hope we will get the ellies back at the watering and mud bath hole.

That concludes this morning's segment of 'Djuma Today'.

Pleasure, No. 7 Ranking Member

Simply love all of the commentaries and pictures. I check LCT a couple times of day now! Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

Reports, photos; just mind-boggling! Thank you ALL!

These pixs/reports are mind-boggling - thank goodness for LCT vs some of those other nasty boards -

Honestly, as much as I love being on ROAR's with Anne, there is NOTHING like her reports from the bush at other times to make you feel like you are there with her! It is like being a part of a private and professional documentary with entertainment and humor and information all rolled into the same report! Thank you, Anne! And Grant, and Ngaire and Ken who are also sending great pictures and recollections, I am just loving it!

Just a few more from saturday, oh yeah we had a Puff Adder just outside the unit between #3 and #4 for those looking for some added thrill! The sundowner last night was a special event with all the guests from the camp...


sundowner with Jessie and Nic, we had some croc meat sticks!


Puff Adder


One big Bull

Fantastic game drive this morning at Leopard Hills. First, we followed a mother and two male lion cubs as they played. Moved on to tracking and locating two female leopards that were competing for the same territory. Forced to leave the leopards to follow the 5 wild dogs as they ran to the den with full bulging stomachs and bloody faces. Saw the alpha female receive her morning breakfast.All the commotion drew 8 wild dog pups out of the den into plain view. We watched them play for about 10 minutes before they scampered back into the den.

ROAR 3


Reflections after Day 2 at Camp 2: Tintswalo

May 7, 2011: Rhinos & other Creatures

We arrived before lunch yesterday at Tintswalo and exchanged hugs and kisses with the group of 8 who were switching homes with us. We absolutely loved Leopard Hills and were ever so sad to depart this camp which had become our home. The rooms, while nice, were not the largest nor the most luxurious we have experienced, the lodge and library were separated and the property itself small compared to others. The service, food and rangers were among the best we have ever had. The layout lent itself to our using the common areas and staying long periods of time after breakfast and lunch chatting with one another. We are a very cohesive group and there is no drama, save for a tic or spider bite which Dr. Ken quickly cures. We quickly fell into a jeep pattern and really bonded with our terrific rangers, Dave and Gary. These two fellows are so, so knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, we have learned a tremendous amount from them.

In addition to our group, there were two other guests, a German couple who had their own jeep. We soon became friendly and learned he worked for BMW and had been transferred to Pretoria, South Africa for 5 years. They shared stories of their lives as expatriates with us....tales of living as prisoners in a luxury compound due to Johannesburg's high crime rate and days without water or electricity due to infrastructure problems. Glamorous South Africa seemed less so after a few drinks.

Cougar

They were replaced on our last night by a different guest...the Couger from Phoenix or Cp as I will refer to her here. Cp did not come off well initially with me. As I sat in the library on the computer, she stood over me demanding I get off for her. I told her to "move along " as I had just sat down and would be awhile. She turned on her gladiator sandals, straightened her silk pashmina and shook her dangly earrings and proceeded to march up to the dining area where she joined Guy, Jacob, Sheila and Ken for lunch. By the end of lunch, our quartet beat a speedy retreat from this freeloader's pushy and haughty Ugly American behavior. She shared that she was a travel agent who would never travel with her "high wealth" clients as our travel agent does. Cp spent the lunch hour interrogating our friends and making snide remarks about Regent, the rangers' personal lives, etc. For the 4pm game drive she plopped herself in the jeep with Jacob, Guy, Susan, Paul, Cindy and David and by dinner time she had done anything but ingratiate herself to our group. When we asked her where in Phoenix she lived, she responded, "In a conservative community with big houses near John Mc Cain." An odd response to say the least.

She was a well preserved mid 60ish Couger and proceeded to try to pick up most of the men in the group. She started with 80 year old Jacob, but he really didn't understand the gibberish coming from her- English not being his fluent language (Swiss German was)- and ended up hitting on poor Dave, our early 30ish ranger.
We wondered what type of clients would ever want to interact with this obnoxious species of American human and hoped that the future would lead to extinction of this breed. We wished we had the foresight to have said, "it would be so lovely if you were somewhere else."

Rhino

Sadly, while the Cp species seems to flourish, the prehistoric looking rhino is fast becoming an endangered species. While supposedly quite dangerous, the white rhinos we encountered seem ever so gentle and unthreatening. They rarely seem to acknowledge our presence and continue their focus on eating and carrying on munching on grass. Sometimes these shy and clueless souls will hide behind whatever they can. As you can see from this picture, this hapless beast has no idea that he is too large to hide from us. It was kind of "I can't see you so you can't see me."

Poaching of rhinos is fast becoming a serious issue. Before the poaching situation began a few years ago, the white rhino population was growing at a rate of 3-6%. Poached for their horns, during 2010, 333 rhinos lost their lives to poachers up from 47 in 2008. Despite emergency summits by the parks and government and public outcry, their slaughter continues. The horns bring $1 million dollars on the black market and greed is fostering their demise. Specialized anti poaching units, assisted by the military have been set up. Traditional Chinese Medicine subscribes that the horn is a viable Viagra alternative. China, far from debunking this myth, is funding studies and proposals that advocate the breeding of endangered medicinal animals. The other primary use of horns are dagger handles for Yemini men. Some estimates have put the retail price of rhino horn as high as $60,000 per kilogram, which makes a mockery of some of the SA fines. SA's 9 provinces carry different penalties which impose impose a max penalty of a 10 years prison term and/or a $1.4mm fine. What is most daunting is that poaching syndicates have upped the stakes by using high powered weapons, sophisticated GPS and night vision technology. Companies like Woolworths and it's customers are responding with programs to fund anti poaching by supporting the purchase of binoculars, radios, night vision gear and bullet proof armor as well as rhino tracking and camping equipment.
The bottom line is the need for funding of a long term sustainable educational campaign that debunks the belief that rhino horn has medicinal properties.

Elephants

Watching the elephants has proven to be a fascinating experience for us. They are possibly the most frightening of the animals we have seen. A bull elephant in musk is downright mean and females protecting their young can prove quite fearsome.

We had our own encounter with a female elephant. You'll see Sheila's shock above as the elephant appeared to be getting a little too close for comfort. Elephants walking through an area leave a path of destruction, knocking down huge trees, leaving huge dung heaps everywhere, eating the bark off trees and destroying them. However, they also display contradictory selectivity, judiciously picking only certain plants and roots from the bush.

This herbaceous diet leads to an interesting dung. According to our rangers, since the elephant eats a mixture of plants and does not digest about 70-80% of the food they consume, the dung supposedly holds a multitude of benefits ranging from mulch, insect repellent when burned, headache relief, a digestive to a dingo doobie. Our tracker even ate an entire batch of it during our drive today. Yum.

Can't you just see a market for this? We thought EleCure would be a great name! Just imagine the marketing....

Lions

These are certainly beautiful cats; so cuddly and sweet looking that it is hard to believe that they are killers.

One look at their massive size and teeth and one listen to their mighty roar certainly returns you to reality.

We have been tracking a coalition of 6 males and a female who moved in for a 4 day quickie. One good looking blonde male, Brad Pitt, seems to be her chosen man. However, we have only observed one mating. There has been a lot of flirting by the female and some futile attempts by the male-one which resulted in a bite from the female. Sometimes no just means no. Each sex act takes about a minute and usually reoccurs every 15 minutes for 4 days. This male lion just didn't seem to tickle her fancy, no matter how much eau de dung he rolled in.

Even a meal coming down the road is not enough to excite a lion to attack. We watched while a water buffalo came face to face with the female lion, resulting in a stand off. Each stared one another down, then looked away as though not knowing what to do. Then, the male lion came into the scene and the water buffalo turned and retreated. Nevertheless, the lions just stood and watched and didn't follow. Sex was the only thing on their minds.


The mighty lions also had a haughty way of just plopping themselves wherever. All of a sudden, our lion would just decide to stop (the usual) and take a cat nap at a moment's notice.
We found ourselves stranded behind them time and time again. However, our tracker seemed to possess special powers and was able to redirect them, with just a strong hand motion. We began calling our tracker, Foster, the lion whisperer.
Monkeys, Baboons and the Presidential Suite
We had an interesting time watching the vervet monkeys outside our room at Tintswalo. The monkeys appear all over the resort. It is the baboons who are the most concerning. We were warned to ensure we lock our doors as they have already destroyed our suite twice. We are sharing the presidential suite with Ken and Sheila and this suite has two suites (identical to the rest of the suites) and a large shared living room and kitchen.

Today, we were out using the deck area. Doug, Ken and Sheila went to lunch and I stayed behind to rest. It hadn't been 5 minutes or so since they all left and I had begun to doze off. All of a sudden I heard a loud banging. Thinking someone was locked out, I jumped up and opened our suite door to see the living room door being pushed ajar by a monkey. Behind him were some buddies. Seeing me, they dashed off, thank goodness. At first I thought it might just be a malerone dream, but I walked over to the door and there was a giant poop right outside. It was either a calling card or my showing up shared them shitless.

We determined that, due to the size of the dung, it had to be a group of the pesky baboons. These little burglars must have been casing the joint!

Our lovely suite and the scene of the crime had a few issues: no hot water, rattling pipes (both caused by broken "geezers") and a leaky pipe in our wall in the bedroom. We also had an issue with missing laundry which the lodge replaced. These things happen, but it was not the running operation of some other camps.
As pretty as the lodge and rooms were, this resort did not hold a torch (even though they tried) to Leopard Hills in terms of maintenance, service, food, ranger quality or game drives. Leopard Hills will be added to our list of favorites along with Singita and Lion Sands.


Leopards

Usually leopards are illusive and solitary cats but we found Leopard Hills lived up to it's name. We began our first day with mating leopards then moved on to female leopard rejection by the new alpha male. Try as SHE might, this guy wasn't interested.

A new leopard moved into the 'hood and we followed him about while he checked out a new territory.

Hippo

We soon learned that hippos pooping sounds like a machine gun going off! Overall, we saw the usual hippos in the water but were lucky enough to catch a land view as well.

Wild dog

Yes, we finally saw them! First,we saw a pack of 6 out hunting and then the alpha female, who promptly left a present for us. It's been a trip of poo and Wild dog poo stinks! Then, on our last day, we had an exciting race chasing the dogs. I think the jeep excursions with Gary at Leopard Hills was as much fun as seeing the game!

Our rangers

I can't say enough great things about our rangers at both camps. Dave and Gary (LH) were full of knowledge and wild jeep rides. Our rangers Eric and Jamie (Tint) form a team with their trackers and have provided tremendous comic relief. We have had a baptism, joke telling, song and dance numbers and today a bush breakfast replete with entertainment provided by our ranger/tracker team. The game was a bit more exciting at LH but I think we have made up for the lack of game with so much laughter that no one seems to mind.

The Gigglers and Geeks

We have labled the men a Geekload of Guys and the women a Giggle of Girls. Today, we separated into male and female jeeps and went off on a race to see which sex would find more species. The Geeks favorite discussion centers around ISOs and apertures. They continuously stop to take pictures of blades of grass "with the right amount of gold" and birds in various stages of flight. "Don't rock the jeep" and "one more picture" are the frequent critter calls from the Geeks. The Gigglers favorite conversation centers around tales of the Cougar and comparing the Geeks. We never stop to take a photo of birds or insects, but only deem to stop for kills, leopards in trees and the rear ends of cheetahs (inside joke).

Doug and I lost much of our underwear after we sent it out to be washed. We were informed that the monkeys or baboons have probably retrieved it when the maid dropped it. So, we are all in search of baboons with a leopard bra, men's jockey shorts and white ankle socks. Of course, the lodge replaced Doug's finery with a stunning pair of blue polyester boxer shorts with no fly fronts. He should be modeling for us later.

Bush breakfasts and Bomas

I love the bush breakfasts which are lovely formal breakfasts out in the bush (duh). The BOMAs have been fun as well, being outdoor barbeques full of laughter and song.

The weather has been delightful and pics will be sent along soon. The internet connection has been very slow, so pics had to be separated from the story!

Posted under Andi by mistake my post below - Ngaire

We arrived at Tintswalo and it was great to see everyone again. Lunch was great the food was excellent with some great calamari. The resident yellow billed hornbill named Ferdinand entertained and provided great photographic material they are really unique looking birds. We were then entertained by a big bull elephant who came to drink at the watering hole that is REALLY close to the deck almost arms length. Incredible to see this huge animal drinking and raising his trunk so much fun entertainment for lunch. The monkeys are all over the place too we just saw a mother carrying a baby on the railing around the lodge.

Only two game drives left at Tintswalo then most of us head to Lion Sands tomorrow where we will meet up with others who are coming from Leopard Hills. So sad to say goodbye to those not joining us for the last three days. This has been a great trip and we all share many memories. As much as we have seen there are still things left unseen as animal behaviour provides such incredible material nothing is ever the same.

Last night we heard the impala alarm call and it was very loud. A good sized bachelor herd were really making so much noise and snorting away. It was as much fun to look at all these male impala's as the leopard.

We saw the female leopard and the followed her off road. It turned out there were two leopards and they were growling at each others the way leopards growl. At first the ranger thought she was pregnant but it turned out she was just big bellied from lactating for her cubs. She continued to make a sound I have not heard from a leopard before that I was told was a warning to other leopards to stay away. We called the other vehicle to join us as we followed the leopard for about 15 minutes. The other vehicle arrived and saw a little of the leopard before she crossed over a ravine to the other side. Difficult to follow but Eric (the ranger) was not to be deterred. Off he went and that group disappeared in the ravene we thought never to return.

Today it was a little slower for game viewing. There was rain and thunder last night. The upside was the tracks were so incredibly clear on the roads. We saw lion tracks going into the buffalo herd, the tracks of the female leopard with two cubs, and lots of hyena tracks. We are hoping that all this activity in the area creates a kill for us this afternoon. We have not seen lions or leopards eating a kill yet. There are a lot of vultures in this area so maybe they will "signpost" the way to what we want to see.

Todays Bush Breakfast at Tintswalo was the best I have experienced and I have seen a lot of bush breakfasts. In a river bed under giant trees the setting was perfect. Greeted with champage or mimosas in elegant glasses we took a group picture by the beautifully set table. The highlight was our Shangan guides and trackers. FOSTER a tracker dressed as a woman and did a fantastic job of playing the roll. It was so funny and we were all laughing our heads off as we have come to know these men and to see them dress up like this and get into the spirit of the moment was really special. This was not a serious dance routine but full of fun, humor and absolutely sensational. The women were doing a shrill sound in the background that the giggling girls tried to imitate, not very sucessfully I might add but we will continue to practice.

This was topped off by Foster at the end who with great sincerity thanked us for coming and how our presence gave them jobs and he hoped we would all be back. This was really quite touching.

So now onward to lunch and another game drive.

Just some more Vuyatela today, some cats, termites and hoofs and horns...

Hi all

Great report, Andi and Ngaire! We were wondering how things were going in Tintswalo and glad to hear of the enjoyable environment and game drives. It sounds like lots of fun.

We are so pleased all of you are virtually joining us on safari. Our award winning photographer has provided the executive summary above; here's the supplemental highlights.

Our afternoon drive started off on a good clip: all three leopards were satiated with impala and resting. We entered a steeper valley and saw 3 leopards in adjoining trees. Unfortunately, the Djuma webcam truck had the prime photo taking slot. We start our game drives 30 minutes later than the others, so we had limited time to catch Karooli (the leopardess) and her two cubs in action. Drat! We hoped for better luck next time.

Texon saw a huge elephant with great lighting. From there, we drove around looking for great things, and filled in more of our bird checklist along the way. We were coming back to the presiding hippo hole, where - shazamm! - our staff had set up pondside sundowners for all. The sun cooperated with a bright orange descent against tree branch filled background. Grant spotted his newest find: a Rover TD-5 Defender owned by none other than Jessica the chef. We got several great shots of her truck. Afterwards, we ambled homeward with a nightime sighting of the leopard in the spotlight on the prowl down the dirt track, ignoring the grazing zebras nearby.

Dinner was unintentionally exciting, as the outdoor dining was quickly disrupted by lighting and thunder. A new host, Eugene, had his first full day on the job starting with our dinner. We had to reassemble in the indoor dining space as a quick, heavy shower beat down on the patio. We lucked out with a break in the rain long enough to get us to our rooms. We lost power briefly and snuggled into bed as the rain opened up across the wetlands. We were rudely awakened around 2:30 by a hippo-hyena howling contest. Hippo won for volume; hyena for frequency.

Morning came very early and we were a few minutes late for take off. In no time, we saw Karooli and her cubs ambling up the dirt track in the first light of dawn. The cubs practiced stalking and pouncing as mother kept the leopard pride reasonably close together. All the pictures I shot in the low light look like 'demonic cats' - a bare outline and bright spots of light where the eyes should be. In about 20 minutes' time, the light was sufficient to get more wonderful shots of the leopard family. Karooli decided to aim for a flock of guinea hens. It was fascinating watching how the guinea hens picked up on the leopard approach, flew into a tree and warned their brethen of impending danger. That round went to the guinea hens.

Karooli then started looking for cape buffalo dung, and rolled in it with the cubs to disguise their arrival for wary prey.

After we left the leopards, we found perfect light for a group of giraffes. We went on our further search for getting the lilac breasted roller in full wingspan. Texon and our able bodied tracker, Lots, gave us the time of our life. Lots found another watering hole occupied by a termite mound crowned with 4 .. count' em 4 .. cheetah brothers. My heavens .. we will probably never see this again. The shots were uniformly magnificent .. all 297 of them along with a few short video clips.

For two days running, Texon has earned the VBMOS award - Very Big Man on Safari. The other ranger/tracker combinations have a ways to go to exceed their excellence in finding amazing animal sightings.

Texon brought us back, where we finally found Miss Botswana - that saucy Lilac Breasted Roller. I used my best bird whistles to coax her/him into flight. Missed on the first one, but nailed it on the second try. We saw an unusual African Hawk Eagle close up, and a good shot of the yellow hornbill on the wing. We are still eluding the photo capture of the Rhino .. but we are assured the rhino will respond and provide beautiful poses.

We were brought home along the road into camp, where the baboons were trooping with with two tiny babies clinging to their mothers on the run. Jessica has the monkey warden stick, and she spares no monkey from a very red bottom who messes with her kitchen.

I had a wonderful foot massage from Patience, whose african name is .. wait for it ... Tintswalo. Tintswalo means 'mercy' in English. Time for the gym, then a shower, super tea and more in store for us to see.

Happy mother's day to all, as we close the Ocho de Mayo edition of "Djuma Today: Texon spots Lots of Game"

Cheers, Anne

Great reports - fantastic shots everyone. Wish we were there!

I hope you had a long zoom when you took the shot of the puff adder, Grant. Yikes!

MORE PHOTOS FROM LEOPARD HILLS:


Our first sighting of the wild dog pups.








Bush breakfast at Leopard Hills.

MORE PHOTOS FROM TINTSWALO:


Bachelor Impalas sending out their warning call of a leopard in the area.


The Leopard.


The chase.


Mimosas before our bush breakfast.


Our rangers and trackers did a traditional song and dance for us.






Our resident yellow bill horn bill at Tintswalo.

Such wonderful photos! And such a happy looking bunch you are

Great to hear about your trip. We are looking forward to the cooler temperature than the plus 100 we are having in Oman. What are the temperature like in the mornings and at nigt? I'm trying to figure out if I need our jackets out when we arrive in J'burg. At about 8:30 pm

Jan

Hi all

Temperatures this morning were 13 C (about 55 degrees Fareinheit) at Vuyatela. We saw the two leopard cubs out with their mother, Karooli (?) or Karoola strolling down a dirt track. The cubs continue to practice their hunting skills by stalking and pouncing on one another. We circled the hyena den a few times, rewarded by the mother's return. Pups were sleeping in for the morning, so no sightings. There was a brief rutting dust-up among a herd stallion and the bachelor boys trying to butt (or rut) their way into herd dominance. The lighting, temperature and conditions were superb.

We then heard Karooli the leopardess had killed an impala in the early morning hours and stashed it in a thicket nearby Vuyatela. We found the female cub feeding on the carcass. Unlike lions, leopards eat one at a time. Karooli and the male cub were buried in the same bush, waiting for the female to finish feeding. She was, in every sense, the dominant leopard this morning. No one, especially her brother, got near the kill. It was notable the leopards feed individually as opposed to the lions, who all dine together at whatever kill is serving as today's buffet.

We finished up with breakfast, packing, showers and check out at Vuyatela. Our 6 minute airtime flight to Leopard Hills was slightly delayed. Ralph, your airline ticket and fermented leftover stuff is still sitting in the pocket of the Caravan's pilot seat.

We touched down and were quickly in our range rover and on our way to the camp. Gary, our ranger, appreciates he has a tall bar to climb with animal sightings. We hope to enjoy a few days with the wild dog pups .. another thing we are unlikely to see again .. especially in eastern Pennsylvania .

We met Ellen, Marv, Art and June enjoying a last game of bridge and lunch at Leopard Hills. They had a wonderful time here, and we gave them the "ROAR ON" farewell wave as they departed to Ulusaba International Airport. Marv was glad he has his Platinum card, so he can enjoy the VIP club facilities.

Lunch was delightful - a build-your-own salad followed by chicken bunny chow for Gary and pork schnitzel with monkey gland sauce for me.

Tea starts in a short 20 minutes. It may be a record for short teas at Leopard Hills, as we hope to hop into the vehicle and be on our way not later than 3:40 pm.

Cheers, Anne

More, More, More
....these postings would definitely make the NY Times #1 best seller !! (with movie rights as well) :app: :app: :app:

I agree. Write the book, fearless leader!

Well alas, even the perfect trip can have a glitch.....after the 2short flights into federal air, picked up luggage, all is well....when kaboom. Flight to Frankfort completely cancelled. Airport was crazed with German travelers livid as SAA cancelled both Frankfort and Munich. Zero explanation offered. They already had letters waiting with our hotel arrangements for the night. Business class travels were sent to the D'Oreale, the others to another property near the casino as well. Up this morning at 3:45 to get the 4:30 shuttle to hope to get this mess cleared up. Srrived to find out that our NEW 8:00 am flight is now 11:00. Of course we knew that flights from Frankfort leave before we get in, so yep, looks like we are staying in Frankfort tonight. We tend to roll pretty well, but really the attitude here is not a good one. So we sit.....They are not really being helpful, but oh well. Good thing it was the best trip ever! Hope everyone else enjoys safe and speedy travels!!!

Oh, Cindy. We wish you were here with us instead. Safe travels and enjoy Jberg. Maybe you can do the walking with Lions tour or go shopping at the Rosebank crafts market?

Djuma

leopardhills

leopardhills

Cindy, would love to know if they ever tell you "why" as we are on that JNB to Munich flight and I have a graduation and a business thing I need to get back on time for. Glad tho to hear that it was the best trip ever!
-----------
Helen

Cindy, so sorry about your snag with the flights...that's a PITA. Glad your trip was otherwise perfect!!

Great pictures Grant!

OH sorry to hear about your return flight Cindy hope you are making progress with the new flight!

Ok! Sitting in the Frankfort luftansa club at last. We will be home in 10 hours. Two additional nights unplanned, but we are making progress. Last night at the airport Sheraton. Must say SAA made a pretty good attempt at the accommodations, meals etc, but two nights we would have rather enjoyed with our gang of geeks aand giggles. We have asked what was the reasona for the delay, no answers, but I think over 100 people missed their connections. I actually felt worse for those that wewre inconvenienced on the front end of their holiday. One poor German lady was crying, I felt so bad for her, luckily she was fortunate enough to be in the company of the official LCT crier, so that helped her a whole lot. It. Can always br worse for someone else. We lost our premonition business seats (2a and b). Now have 2 center section, still business, but ailse and middle. Kind of a bummer, but feel pretty fortunate awed kept business at all. This place And jo'burg were complete zoos.

Wish I could give more info on why....just don't know. Off to the gate!!!!

Oh Cindy, I am sitting here at Leopard Hills reading about your long journey adventure home. What a PITA is right. Hi to you & David and all the rest of you ROAR3ers!!

All is well with our little band of characters. I'm enjoying Grant doing the heavy photo lifting here - Don & I are having a blast. Could stay forever.