Browns in Kruger September 2019

[Bushcraft]

Awesome sightings, Bushcraft,

not only from the leopards but also from the wild dogs.....

Love the shots with the snail - That is so typically doggie

As always the leopard magnets worked again brilliantly

Each trip seems to bring something different, this trip produced more of certain animals, but no cheetah

The Rats only focused on the 1 with the snail eventually When I dumped their pics there were like 5 of the other dogs and 20 of the 1 with the snail

[Bushcraft]

Astounding luck, as always, BC!

But you write very well too.

How nice to get entertainment at that pan even with no water!

A steenbok kill in the tree.

Marvellous snail kill too!

The luck varies, but it does increase slightly the next morning

Not sure about the writing Some sections may be very suspect if written after a "biscuit"

Snail kill

[Bushcraft]

Wow what a start ,a big hyena ,three Leopards ,two packs of wild dogs and a bunch of Lions .Interesting the three WD's .We once saw a group of two that seemed to be a separate group in the same area some years ago before the loss of the main pack to Distemper .

Agreed, that was one Heffalump hyena

That "pack" used to be 2 and the 3rd joined around April/May last year from what I can remember. Been following sightings of them for around 3 years. I remember that distemper loss I wonder if it was the same 2, makes sense

[Bushcraft]

21st Lower Sabie continued

After chow the younger Rats ducked off to the swimming pool, Hawkeyes bluffed that she was doing some matric studying, the Cow read a book and I tried very hard to vegetate on a camping chair outside which never lasts long, so I was off to check SA versus the All Blacks world cup rugby game at Mugg & Bean, got the braai ready for later, walked down to the fence line, returned to Mugg & Bean and then in frustration returned to the chair with a pelican as SA lost.

Just after 2pm our new EH hut neighbours either side started to arrive and I was like a Meerkat in alert mode because strangers and noisy kids drive me mental and I didn’t like what was arriving.

“Cow, the new neighbours either side have plenty junior boys!”

“Relax!”

Immediately it became apparent that our neighbours on both sides were a travelling group of friends with a clan of boys between the ages of 5 to 12 and we were stuck in the middle.

The brats then decided a shrieking soccer match had to take place in front of our hut which sent my blood pressure through the roof, so even though it was now 38 degrees, we decided to duck off on a drive just before 4pm.

I wasn’t enthusiastic to do a long drive in the heat, so we decided to fiddle around the H4-2 and H4-1 just north and south of Lower Sabie.

Our first stop was for a sleeping ellie and then around 2km south of Lower Sabie for a lion “mating couple” parking off in the open.

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The lioness wasn’t keen on the male just yet and eventually the large crocodile in the background was more interesting so we decided to turn and duck a few km up the H4-1 before returning to the Cow’s leopard spot from the previous day on the H4-2 just south of Lower Sabie.

We first drove over the H10 Bridge for Hawkeyes as she loves looking for the otters, but today there were no otters around, so we turned at the end of the bridge and headed back towards the H4-1, however I had to stop next to a car on the bridge and inform the occupants to get back in because they were cruising around the car.

We only made it a few km up the H4-1 before something in front of the reeds in the riverbed caught my eye and we pulled over next to another car that was already stopped.

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[Bushcraft]

It was a peaceful sighting even as more cars stopped because one could see the leopard from many spots, so we decided to just park off and watch.

After around 10 minutes the leopard checked around and then got up for a drink in front of us which was cool.

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The leopard seemed to drink forever before moving off deeper into the reeds and it was nearly 5:30pm, so we decided to head back towards the H4-2 and the Cow’s nervous leopard spot.

I slowed in the general area we had seen the leopard the previous day, but an ellie we last spotted around 5 years ago in almost the same place got our attention and we forgot about looking for leopard.

This ellie has a unique tusk deformity and if I’m not mistaken, is on an emerging female tusker thread or something (it was 5 years ago and I’m too lazy to search for it, but Aat could probably advise). It was 5:45pm so the Cow and I were having a mini scrap over the best camera settings as I knew it would be a waste of time without a flash and the ellie was on the Cow’s side so she had to take the pic, therefore we had to sneak close to the ellie, but that gets the Cow hiding in the car’s foot well, however eventually the Cow got a pic.

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It was now 5:50pm so I turned and we headed slowly back towards Lower Sabie, but nobody was paying attention to the bush, so I chirped.

“Hey, pay attention; this is the area where we found the leopard yesterday!”

5 seconds later, no jokes, the Cow’s hands started and then “LEOPARD!”

At first I thought she was pulling my leg, but then I also spotted the leopard parking off on a low branch looking at impala below the tree and it looked like it was about to jump, so I instantly got overexcited, however I couldn’t get my camera to focus in the poor light which added to the tension.

Seconds later another car stopped next to us and it was Heksie and mates, so maybe she got better pics with her kit; however Hawkeyes changed something on her point and shoot camera and at least got some proof pics.

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[Bushcraft]

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The damn Garmin suddenly started flashing in red and it was indicating that we would arrive at camp at 6pm, so I shrieked at Heksie “We got to go!” and drove off.


It’s never easy leaving a leopard in hunting mode and I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening as we drove into camp with seconds to spare.

My teeth were hanging out when we arrived at our hut because the plan had worked which is rare with leopard, but my lip soon hit the ground when I realised that our neighbours with terrorist boys on either side of us had decided to braai right next to us and to use the walkway in front of our unit as the route between their units.

“Cow, let’s put our table and chairs in front of our unit to force them to walk around”

“No, be polite!”

I then decided to rather swallow plenty “biscuits” which calmed the system to the point where I was sitting quietly staring at the fire and the Cow and Rats were moaning about the terrorists. The Cow has massive amounts of patience, probably from dealing with me for years, but if she’s moaning then you must know how loud the terrorists were and it went on until after 9pm and it ruined the evening for everybody else in the EH area.

Later that evening a work colleague who was due to arrive at Skukuza contacted me to inform me that their car had broken down and the engine would require a rebuild or a new reconditioned motor, so it was totally stuffed. The car was with a mechanic in Hazyview and they had hired a car so that their holiday could continue. We planned to meet up with them towards the end of the holidays to load some of their things in my car to take back because they would have to catch a bus back to Durban. It must be a nightmare to go through this type of thing after saving for a year for a Kruger holiday.

To be continued

[Richprins]

Superb leopard drinking there, Bushy!

The ellie is on the tusker thread somewhere, will look!

Terrorists! Thank heavens for tea and biscuits.

Interesting distemper story.

Your days are emotional rollercoasters, aren't they. Too much living with females...

[Alf]

More and more leopards

[Mel]

Ha! That afternoon wasn't too shabby either - no thanks to those terrorist neighbours

Although, I do understand your discomfort... But some people see being in a national park camp
like any other holiday with a bonus of seeing animals every now and then.

[Richprins]

The tusker lady is MaKungwe:

http://www.tuskersofafrica.com/tuskersnw/makungwe.htm