Cold weather and exceptional safaris

With the onslaught of winter we had our fair share of cold weather. So, warmly wrapped in blankets, jackets, beanies we braved the element for some exceptional game viewing. This month has been my best of the year in terms of leopards. We’ve seen 8 leopards in 9 days. One sighting included a female with three cubs in the safety of a big tree. Also in the tree was an impala the female caught on which they could lazily feed. The energy of the cubs made for some entertaining viewing of leopards at play, bounding up and down the tree. Another leopard was relaxing on the side of the road when, out the blue, a hyena came crashing through the bushes chasing it off in a flash. I suspected it had a kill in the vicinity which drew the attention of the hyena. Some great cheetahs were seen as well. On one occasion we spotted a cheetah on the side of the road. He totally ignored us as his focus was entirely on a herd of impala on the other side. He slowly stalked forward without the impala noticing (see photo). I then caught sight of another cheetah on the other side of the impala quickly drawing closer. Cheetahs are not known to hunt co-operatively, but few exceptions have been noted. In this case it seemed like the plan was to chase the impalas from the one side right into claws of the other cheetah. With a sudden alarm call and a burst of speed, the impalas bounded away in every direction with one cheetah at full stretch behind them. Unfortunately for the cheetah the impalas changed direction and ran away from the waiting cheetah and were unsuccessful this time around. They had to do it again but unfortunately for us, we couldn’t stay as we had to make our way to camp. We saw 3 other cheetahs that have recently finished a kill. Eagles and vultures were already descending on the half eaten antelope. With the cheetahs making a final inspection of the kill a hyena approached and took the hindquarters away for its own meal. In the dry season lions often stay near watering points, waiting for animals drawn by thirst to walk into their ambushed positions. We saw lions at several watering holes, but a memorable sighting happened at Mazithi dam where ten lions were doing what they do best – lazing about. With the approach of a few waterbuck with a youngster amongst them, two lionesses decided this is a perfect opportunity and slowly crept closer. Stalking through the reeds, they came pretty close, but just not close enough. Somehow, the nervous waterbuck realized there was something up, although they didn’t see them, and didn’t want to get any nearer. Finally, one lioness was tired of waiting and made a dash for it, only to see the waterbuck disappear into the bush. With sightings like this I will face any cold weather.

Happy game viewing.

Simon
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