But we finally managed to sneak a bit of a day trip in last weekend - after some initial school sport commitments. The park is looking very green and healthy which is good to see
Josie was seen in the early morning (minus the cubs) near the windmill dam, but by the time we got there she wasn't to be seen.... instead there was a muddy looking buffalo and a close up black headed heron
The park seemed very full of kudu as well - including some very nice bulls
Water seemed somewhat limited in the south of the park, but this may have something to do with the park management's plan to try and make certain waterholes unavailable to elephants (see here: http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/2017/0 ... ty-jumbos/). So it was not surprising that Ngulube waterhole had a chap drinking
Something that has amazed me over the years is how the zebra population in the park has changed. There used to be very few zebra, and they would only ever be seen at a distance, but now there are plenty of good herds, and they aren't afraid of vehicles any more
The 2 cheetah had made a kill up at Carols rest in the morning, and despite their bloated tummies they were still enjoying their meal later in the afternoon
Not even elephants bothered their meal
Little did we know at the time, but that was our last ever sighting of the cheetah. They were captured later that evening and moved to Phinda private game reserve
On our way back out the park we went in search of Josie and her cubs but they weren't to be seen. It was already going dark when we decided on a last loop around Mbotyi on the way out and it turned out to be a good decision. First up a ghost-like eland
And then coming round a corner we slammed on brakes for a caracal in the road.
It was stalking a mouse, but as we came to a stop the mouse ran one way and the caracal dived off the road into the bushes
We waited a while and after it didn't appear we carefully scanned the bushes next to the road... and with a bit of luck it was still there. The light was terrible, but thankfully the caracal stood motionless in the bushes for a few moments before totally disappearing...
We were stoked with that sighting - I haven't had one stay still long enough to photograph in over a year
)
