Africa Wild

Nice hyena sighting.

Nice cooler weather, Rog?

Alf wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 8:03 pm Very underrated animals

We enjoy seeing them and often stop if they are stationary to watch them .This day was special

Lisbeth wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:17 am Definitely "Hyena day"

and more to come ...

Pumbaa wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:33 am Thanks Roger,

again fantastic leopard sightings you had and all the rest sightings and shots were not that bad either

The scenery around Berg en Dal is indeed always breathtaking

Pumba sunset on the road back is special with the hills

Flutterby wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:48 am Nice hyena sighting.

Richprins wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 5:28 pm Nice cooler weather, Rog?

The day started out overcast and there was a hint of rain

Suddenly the two oldest Hyenas got up and went to either side of the drain pipe running under the road and started crying into the openings .After which they both lay down on opposite sides of the road .



The reason why became apparent shortly afterwards when a young pup came out from either side and started playing and feeding



The pup used mom as a jungle gym and moved around and over her .


While this was going on the rest of the clan were trying to work out if there was anything edible on or under the car or what type of animal we were ...






We spent a good 15 to 20 minutes alone with the Clan until another vehicle arrived and we decided to move off . Stopping at Afsaal there was no Covid temperature today but it was still so early they were literally opening the doors still On returning to the vehicle I noticed something hanging down under the vehicle oh I though the Hyenas must have broken something but when I got underneath it was only a branch that we had scooped up somewhere on the travels

We carried on towards the Weir ...

What a wonderful time with the pups
Great family time

They are so cute when they are small!

Alf wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 8:17 pm What a wonderful time with the pups
Great family time

it was great and nice and quiet .

Flutterby wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:53 am They are so cute when they are small!

yes they are very cute even when they get a bit bigger .

On the way to the Weir we found another Eagle



The only thing active at the weir was these two Geese


We carried on around the loop and finally found a Vulture something we had not seen many of this trip but this one was not wiling to come out from behind the branch ...


A couple of Mongoose on the lookout

We carried on along the loop .As we passed the one lookout point in between the large boulders where the Klipspringers normally hang out SO said stop .I stopped and we watch a very alert Kudu in the Middle of the riverbed . Suddenly a herd of Water buck broke from the opposite side of the river and ran across and the Kudu took off as well . Hmm that is unusual .We could not see what was the cause so went back to the little lookout point and knowing the bus would bottom out drove down to the look out and there was the cause .


Well part of it we noticed another Lioness move to behind the rocks so we could not see her anymore . But Lions

The Lioness and cub moved out and Lay down .


Shortly a second Lioness arrived and Laydown


And finally a second Cub came wondering out and joined them .


We sat watching them for a good 30 minutes as they lay there and eventually one cub got up and wondered down past were we could see . Not a single vehicle came past until close to the 30 minutes mark but they did not stop on the road they just drove past

The two Klipspringer who normally were on the rocks where we were parked were just a bit further up and they stood like this not moving once the entire time .

We finally decide to carry on first going back down the road to see if we could see the other Lioness and where the cub went and we were not disappointed

We had had a truly special morning already and decided to leave and notify any passing vehicles about the sighting .We had planned to drive to Lower Sabie but as we had already spent quite some time at the sightings we decide to carry on to Skuks as it would be quicker for a bathroom break .. we notified one vehicle after about 10 minutes of the sighting and then we found an OSV parked on the side and we shared the sighting of the Lions with them and they shared their reason for stopping ....

Wow great lion sighting. Sometimes it pays off to sit and wait when animals are alerted to something.

Leopards AND lion cubs!!