Browns in Kruger October 2018

[Peter Betts]

The plan was too return the same way so we decided to move on and to get them again on the way back because they may have woken up a little more by then.

Just past Lubyelubye we found a cheetah parking off in the riverbed which surprised us because it’s in the middle of a lion/leopard hot spot.


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The cheetah looked rather nervous and was looking around all the time and then she moved closer to the edge of the riverbed and it became a mission for a clear view spot so we eventually continued on.

The Lower Sabie area is actually a Cheetah Hotspot what with Mlondozi dam's web of backroads and The north end of the S28 around Duke and the Salitje road ..sadly an area I dont visit anymore . Lovely male lion on the highway and nice to see that leopard are are back on that rock again ..Great trip you had

[Pumbaa]

WoW not only honey badger, Bushcraft,

but again lions and even two leopards

Your number of leopard sightings do make me very very

[Alf]

Next time on the browns trip I will follow them to make sure they really see so many cats

I love cats

They are great for breakfast

Lunch

And dinner

[Bushcraft]

Thanks Lisbeth, Flutts, RP, PJL, Peter, Pumbaa and Alf for popping in and posting again

Just had one of "those Mondays" so just walked in from work

RP, you gave me a fright with that pic

Alf, pull in, my next trip is only in September 2019 though

Rainy update on the way

[Bushcraft]

4th Skukuza

We woke to very suspect weather, it was raining on and off and very cold, so we didn’t rush ourselves this morning and left camp after 6am.

Our first stop was just down from the 4 way intersection outside camp as a mother hyena was feeding her large junior and a few others were hanging around and wailing which is always cool to witness.

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The only other animals we spotted all the way to Lower Sabie, besides the odd impala, were vervets trying to keep warm in the pouring rain and wind.

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The H10 Bridge did produce some desperation bird sightings for the Cow

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Luckily we decided to do a few km of the H10 before turning and heading back because around 4km up the H10 2 cheetah made an appearance. It was a mission taking pics in the rain and we kept having to put the windows up and down quickly while snapping pics.

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[Bushcraft]

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The cheetah wanted to cross the road but each time they tried a particular twit cut them off so I was starting to chirp, but fortunately something else caught their attention and they ran off deeper into the bush as the rain really started to come down hard.

We turned and then stopped briefly for a tortoise having a drink and the H10 Bridge now had a few different locals.

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[Bushcraft]

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We grabbed some much needed hot coffee at Lower Sabie and continued back towards Skukuza.

Just before the S79 causeway some SBS’s appeared and then lion on the causeway.

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The causeway looked like a river so the Cow was flapping but I was more concerned about trying to follow the lion that were moving along parallel to the road. They eventually found a spot to their liking and all parked off in the rain.

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[Bushcraft]

Next up was a miserable looking Tawny and a leopard kill stashed on a vulture’s nest which had a few people very confused.

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When we arrived back at Skukuza it was around 10:30am and only 12 degrees which was a massive change from 43 degrees 2 days prior, but nobody felt like spending the rest of the morning in the unit hiding from the rain, so we decided to do some of the H1-1.

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At the H3/H1-1 intersection it was still rather quiet, so we decided to head down to the S112 and return on the S114, but we never made it because 3km later we found around 8 cars parked off, so did some enquiring and it turns out a leopard was moving in the grass but now nobody could see it.

We checked things out from in the crowd and just by chance I looked further south with the binoculars and spotted something familiar, so I started up and parked around 50m up the road and switched off. The Cow and clan were confused so I used the Cows point and shoot to show all what I had seen.

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The crowd continued to wait up the road, so I said “We are waiting” which isn’t something we have been particularly good at in the past, but all agreed that there was nothing much better to do, so we chatted away as time went by.

After around 45 minutes most of the crowd had moved on from up the road but a young couple in a Discovery had figured out our secret, so they were parked off next to us much to my horror because I knew it wouldn’t be long before others followed.

At the hour mark there was some movement, thank goodness, and the leopard first checked out the weather then got up, cruised forward and sat down in a new spot. He checked us out for a few minutes and then flopped over and out of sight.

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[Bushcraft]

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We had seen him well enough and we were tired of parking off, so I turned and headed back to camp for lunch.

The rain stopped after lunch but it was still freezing cold, so we dressed up warmly and went for an exploration around camp during the afternoon, but I got some faulty looks with my bare feet as usual and I think the rats were looking more for “talent” than anything else.

At around 4pm we started arguing over routes, Albert, Hawkeyes and the Cow wanted to go see the “impala kill in the vultures nest” from earlier and Bushpig and I wanted to go down the H1-1/H3 to the sleeping leopard from earlier. Bushpig and I lost, so I subtly put some sour grapes pressure on “we better get a leopard on your route because we would get 1 on our route”. Bushpig took it worse though and Albert’s teeth hanging at her may have escalated it or the cortisone she was on for the flu, but she hit a major huff and went to sleep for the first half an hour of our drive.

We had a few of the usual guys, including ellies and stopped a few times, but we didn’t take pics until just past the H12 Bridge at the vultures nest, but on arrival the remains of the kill were on the floor with plenty vultures and the odd scallywag hanging around.

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I wasn’t keen to continue further as it would have put time pressure on us, so we turned and started back towards Skukuza


4km from Skukuza we met a nice chap, while parked briefly in a little loop, who pulled up next to us and informed us that he had just seen a leopard up the road, but now it was missing, however if we look around the area we may be lucky.

We didn’t need more than that and after a polite “thank you” we were cruising slowly up the road with the eyes peeled.

Minutes later we came across the a few cars doing the same thing, but nobody seemed lucky, so I reversed again while slowly looking and spotted him walking off down the riverbed

“Camera Cow, leopard!”

I hoped he would sit as it was a mission now in the 5:40pm light to get a pic while he was moving, but we scratched some proof pics together.

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[Bushcraft]

Back in camp I decided to start a fire even though the weather was still very suspect and the Cow charged around after some bird in the dark, but surprisingly she got close enough for the little camera flash to work.

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To be continued