Unlocking Mountain Zebra

[PJL]

Love the birdies and the scenery.




Almost no visitors and you still hear about where to look for lions

It just so happened that a friend of mine was visiting the park on the day we arrived so had seen them early in the morning... it was the only 'sightings lead' of the trip, so the other things we found were very rewarding as we had to work for them

[PJL]

Continuing along Ubejane we were excited to spot our first aardwolf of the trip





I always enjoy sightings of these animals - partly because they can be hard to find and partly because they look so unusual. Here's a short video of it meandering around looking for food

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A few hundred metres further along on the other side of the road some movement caught our eye - another aardwolf! This one wasn't keen to be seen and disappeared very quickly



After reaching the end of the loop we still had a bit of time so decided to do the loop again in reverse and see what else might pop out. There were a couple more bat-eared foxes





There's a big pan area on the loop which was completely dry on our December visit, but now had a good amount of water. Along the edge we saw yet another aardwolf and a couple more bat-eared foxes who stayed long enough for some pics in the fading light.









We couldn't believe our luck with the bat-eared foxes... 7 individuals in the space of an hour or so. There had been times on a previous trip where we had been hunting for them and never found any

The sunset colours were amazing



And there was still time for one last highlight before leaving the park for the day - our 4th aardwolf sighting of the afternoon, right at the side of the road



What a fantastic way to start out our stay.... but wait! There's more

During the course of the afternoon we came across this mother and calf. The calf was so small it was barely visible above the grass! A real treat to see

[Lisbeth]

Flat invisible lions....hmmm!

But I love the rest, especially the BEFs

[Lisbeth]

Even more aardwolves and BEFs WOW!!!

You also threw in a rhino with a calf to make number?

Do you think that those multiple sightings of BEFs and especially aardwolves were due to less human/car presences

[Alf]

Stunning sightings. You are so lucky when visiting MZ

[Klipspringer]

Best aardwolf sighting you ever had - you can only say this having seen them often

Love the Eastern Cape rhino - they are a distinct subspecies - pink-lipped

[Mel]

WOW, that was one successful drive With the lions being the worst sighting of them all

Love those fluffed up batties and aardwolf. And the blackie with baby is awesome of course too

Plus, I find the scenery even nice in winter as there is no haze in the air. Probably even better when it gets colder

Did you have to report to reception every morning AND afternoon - coming in and going out?

[Flutterby]

Wow, you had amazing sightings!!

[Richprins]

WOW WOW WOW Peej!

Incredible record with 4 aardwolwe, surely?

I love the "spot the lion" pics...really had to look!

And of course the privilege of a blackiebaby!

[PJL]

Even more aardwolves and BEFs WOW!!!

You also threw in a rhino with a calf to make number?

Do you think that those multiple sightings of BEFs and especially aardwolves were due to less human/car presences

Yes Lis, we thought that the BEF sightings in particular were as a result of fewer cars... most of them were on the road and then ran off into the grass as we arrived. We probably wouldn't have seen them had there been more vehicles around

Stunning sightings. You are so lucky when visiting MZ

Agreed Alf - this trip proved to be no different

Best aardwolf sighting you ever had - you can only say this having seen them often

Love the Eastern Cape rhino - they are a distinct subspecies - pink-lipped

Thanks Klipspringer. We were fortunate on this trip with the number of aardwolf sightings. Definitely a bonus of winter in MZ

WOW, that was one successful drive With the lions being the worst sighting of them all

Love those fluffed up batties and aardwolf. And the blackie with baby is awesome of course too

Plus, I find the scenery even nice in winter as there is no haze in the air. Probably even better when it gets colder

Did you have to report to reception every morning AND afternoon - coming in and going out?

Very successful drive Mel! We had to do the reception thing just once a day - they were happy for us to head out and in again on the same permit

Wow, you had amazing sightings!!

Thanks Flutts... we seem to have great luck when visiting this park

WOW WOW WOW Peej!

Incredible record with 4 aardwolwe, surely?

I love the "spot the lion" pics...really had to look!

And of course the privilege of a blackiebaby!

I think we had 5 aardwolf in one afternoon last time we were there in winter
But still... a very good number of sightings - particularly when combined with the BEF crew