Sightings WOW, photos not so... (Oct 2018)

[Mel]

Further up the road, a springbok ewe had started giving birth:

We had never watched the full thing so far, but after half an hour we had to get going again, because we just couldn't face the pain the mum went through and also we found it more that strange that the little one didn't move at all

[Mel]

At Craig Lockhard we decided to have breakfast first before carrying on to Mata. It was almost twelve by now anyway
The storm up there last year must have been quite serious. Not only the big beautiful shade providing tree at Craig Lockhardt
had suffered of it. Lots of trees looked as if they had been split by a lightning bolt. Kalahari Tented Camp is still
under restoration because of the damage the storm had caused.

At Mata Mata we met an acquaintance from last October. He had been at the second cheetah sighting later than us and passed
while we had been sitting at Craig. He told us that there was a cheetah with two cubs right next to the road close to Urikaruus,
having caught a springbok lamb.

You what?!

Oh well, we declined his friendly offer to have a cold drink and got on our way again as soon as we were done with our business -
filling up on diesel, visiting the ablutions, getting something cold to drink from the shop and swapping around our booking.

Needless to say, we didn't stop for much else on the way back. We did check on the springbok mum and found her
as well as the newborn. It's not the one in my photos because it was lying in the shade while this one offered better photos opps.

And also a pretty bee-eater

[Mel]

Arriving at the spot we had left three hours or so earlier, there were a few cars parked and much to my surprise, the cheetahs were still in the position our friend had described to us

The lamb was still lying around, untouched…

It felt really strange to have witnessed the full circle of life in the Kgalagadi in less than 5 hours... from a lamb being born to it being killed
after only a few days of living But of course it's part of nature and if I want "my" cheetahs to prosper I'll have to cope with their beasty
side as well..

Anyways... we sat with them for four hours in total, so be prepared for a slight cheetah photo overkill next time

[Richprins]

Mello!


Ja, I agree that getting out of camp early is for the birds!

How interesting that springbok birth!

And you declined a drink from a friend?

[Pumbaa]

Indeed the circle of life, Mel,

Great cheetah sighting, love the newborn springbok, the bee eaters and the three drinking lions

[Lisbeth]

Great pic of the lions at Mata Mata and also the cheetahs are very nice

I am happy to see that at least one of Hanri's cubs survived

I saw the "blind in one eye" lion a few times. Once with two females

Some of the springbok lambs must be sacrificed as food for the predators, if not there would be too many springboks and no cheetahs. Rule of the wild

[Flutterby]

Wow Mel, what great sightings!!

Never seen a wild animal give birth, must be amazing to watch!

So many cheetahs!!

[ExFmem]

Ahh...an Auchterlonie sundowner out of KK - or Kamqua out of Uri "all to ourselves" in the sublime evening sunset... I suspect now that we've exposed these evening jewels, they will soon be more populated...but I suspect by true Africa lovers such as we.

The secretary in the tree shot was perfect. As for the AWC at the KK waterhole - did you see her kittens in the gas tank space of unit # 1? Jacques showed them to us on our last night there, as he had just "discovered" them via a guest staying there - was that you, by chance?

We also saw the lion w/ the blind eye, but he was with a single lioness - more cubs on the way??

I am trying to ID the numerous cheetahs we saw, so your TT helps immensely - was the mom w/ 2 subadults Corinne?

Lastly, yes, there is such tension and human emotion when witnessing the joy of a newborn springbok take its first breath, drink, steps, and then the agony of losing its life in such a brief span of time.

Really enjoying "seeing" through your eyes - perhaps we'll meet one day for sundowners at Auchterlonie or Kamqua

[Mel]

And you declined a drink from a friend?

I know, it's hard to imagine

[Mel]

Indeed the circle of life, Mel,

Great cheetah sighting, love the newborn springbok, the bee eaters and the three drinking lions

Thanks, Pumbaa