Imfolozi Browns March 2025

[Bushcraft]

With the OSV driver at the cheetahs, how infuriating!

Marvelous little things in camp, great pics, Bushy!

Had to giggle at the bare feet on the bricks at the braai there!

Nice scenery pics too.

Ja, many OSV drivers are cool and help with/at sightings, but there's always a few twats in the mix

It was cooking on the bricks and in the sun

[Bushcraft]

Sunday 23rd March

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning, but we had to be back in Toti at around lunchtime, so the plan was to pack the cars completely at 5am and then to quickly do the Sontuli loop, since we hadn’t driven it yet, before heading for the gate.

The 1st part of loop produced a few rhinos, another giant legless skink, a golden orb that gave Hawkeyes the creeps and a martial, but things heated up towards the end of the loop as the clan spotted a cheetah charging through the grass and into the road in front of us.

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[Bushcraft]

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I was about to follow the cheetah up the road when Bushpig shouted

“There’s another cheetah, a small one”

A small cheetah face was poking out a bush from where the mother cheetah had first appeared, so I thought that this junior, and possibly other juniors that we hadn’t seen yet, would follow mom onto the road, therefore I waited, but this turned out to be the wrong decision, because the junior disappeared in the grass seconds later and the mother cheetah did a U-turn up the road and galloped off back towards where the junior was and also disappeared from sight.

I was tempted to just wait with the hope that they would reappear, but the clock was ticking, so we headed towards Nyalazi exit gate, but stopped a few times for various animals, including buffalo, boon gangsters and some ellies.

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We arrived at the exit gate at around 8am, stopped for a quick loo break and then hit the 3.5-hour drive back to Toti.

It was a good trip and Imfolozi is definitely becoming the place to visit for cheetah sightings and they must be doing something right in this regard as we managed to spot 11 different cheetahs in the 48 hours that we were in the park. It seems that the cheetah monitoring comes from “Wildlife ACT” who monitor the cheetah, wild dogs, etc, in Imfolozi with volunteers for free since Ezemvelo don’t have the capacity or funding to run effective wildlife monitoring projects despite monitoring being an essential part of wildlife management.

I’m personally really enjoying Imfolozi at the moment and the sightings can be good, not as good/frequent as the southern section of Kruger, but it’s definitely more peaceful, there’s less people/cars/OSV’s, so less “chaos” at sightings. We discussed many times on this trip how some of these cheetah sightings would have played out in the southern section of Kruger and the general consensus was that they would have turned into total chaos. That said, Ezemvelo don’t seem interested at all, the fences are still getting cut and the accommodation is falling apart, so I hope that the Imfolozi of today, which as far as camps go has already deteriorated big time, is still around in 20 years’ time.

Lastly, thanks to all of you guys who took the time to read our travel tale.

Bushcraft, Cow, Hawkeyes, Bushpig, Albert and Sasquatch.

[Pumbaa]

Thanks so much, Bushcraft,

definitely you are also a good cheetah hunter and obviously found always the right time at the right spot

And finally even a leopard

Great spots of the ellie, the buffaloes and another bushpig on top and still far too many cheetah sightings

Until the next time

[Richprins]

Good gracious, Bushy, what sightings you had!

Nothing like watching a predator while on your feet at a lookout!

And great drama narration re the ellies and the leopard!

Wow, ja, leppies scarce in Umfolozi, but you are their Whisperer, after all...

Not a bad pic of the blinded cat in the end, all mysterious!

Sorry, what is wrong with Bushpig's leg, I missed that...

All the girls are gorgeous as always, well done all round!

Thanks so much for this lovely report, as always!

[ExFmem]

Wow, yet another of your entertaining TTs, replete with GREAT sightings, wonderful banter, and beautiful photography, with a few much appreciated pics of the smaller denizens of nature.

I echo all the other great praise and remarks from other readers of your tale and can't wait for the next one.

Now get planning!

[Lisbeth]

How big is Imfolozi compared to Kruger? I was wondering if it is big enough for so many cheetahs

Are there man-made waterholes?

In only two days, you saw a lot of animals

I am already looking forward to the next trip

to all of you

[Bushcraft]

Sorry Guys, it's been hectically busy at work

[Bushcraft]

Thanks so much, Bushcraft,

definitely you are also a good cheetah hunter and obviously found always the right time at the right spot

And finally even a leopard

Great spots of the ellie, the buffaloes and another bushpig on top and still far too many cheetah sightings

Until the next time

Thanks Pumbaa

I'm definitely not a good cheetah spotter We were just very lucky to be in the correct place at the correct time

[Bushcraft]

Good gracious, Bushy, what sightings you had!

Nothing like watching a predator while on your feet at a lookout!

And great drama narration re the ellies and the leopard!

Wow, ja, leppies scarce in Umfolozi, but you are their Whisperer, after all...

Not a bad pic of the blinded cat in the end, all mysterious!

Sorry, what is wrong with Bushpig's leg, I missed that...

All the girls are gorgeous as always, well done all round!

Thanks so much for this lovely report, as always!

It was a good trip for Imfolozi RP

I agree, watching a predator while at a lookout gives you a completely different experience

That's only our 2nd leopard ever at Imfolozi, so I was stoked It was blinded by the torch for a few seconds

Bushpig's knee dislocated during a 1st team hockey match when she was in matric and it has given endless problems since. 3 weeks ago she had a full on knee operation and is slowly recovering at the moment.