Weekly Cyberdiary

Mashatu Game Sightings 13-19 January 2008

13 January 2008

This morning was filled with sightings of elephants. As we drove around the stunning landscape Mashatu has to offer, we came across a total of 150 elephants. In between the sightings of these gentle giants, we saw plenty of other game such as zebra, giraffe, warthog, kudu and plenty of impala. We did see something to do with a leopard though – for we came across a leopard tortoise! The only predator seen on this drive was that of an adult female hyaena crossing a riverbed. With the stands of tall grass, it seems to be more difficult to find those secretive, nocturnal predators such as leopards… But this was only the beginning of our stay.

Our evening drive was very exciting since we found the king of beasts – lions! We came across 3 lions, two sub-adult males and a female, but they were very shy and it was hard to follow them. Elvis, our guide, told us that these lions are new to the area and that is why they are so shy. The rest of the drive was filled with plenty of game and we also saw jackal, Vervet monkeys, baboons and steenbok.

14 January 2008

On our morning drive we came across 15 spotted hyaenas! They were resting in a riverbed and didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence. That made our day, since we could get beautiful pictures of them. We also found a leopard resting in the shade near a riverbed, but unlike the hyaenas, this male leopard did not stay around for too long. We did, however, get some stunning pictures of this elusive big cat. Other sightings included zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, warthog, impala and many bird species.

15 January 2008

Our afternoon drive was action packed, and we started off with a sighting of a young male leopard walking along a riverbed searching for his next meal. We followed him as he weaved through the bushes and finally caught something small. It looked like he had caught a cane rat or rabbit. It happened too quickly. We then watched him as he casually lay down in the tall grass enjoying his little snack. A herd of elephants also came down to drink from one of the many pools of water in the riverbed. They were oblivious to our presence and only focused on the fresh water. With the setting of the African sun in the background, it made for some amazing pictures. Other sightings included kudu, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala and many baboons.

16 January 2008

Our morning drive offered some great sightings. Apart from the loads of bird species we saw, we were also fortunate to see a herd of about 50 elephants feeding along a riverine area. It was amazing to see how these huge animals can use their trunks to not only break massive branches, but pick up the smallest fruits from the ground with pin-point accuracy. It was amazing to sit with them and observe their behaviour. We came across 9 spotted hyaenas that were just lying in the soft riverbed sand. From duiker and steenbok, to eland and zebra, we saw them all. What made our drive extra special was the sighting of a honey badger! It was a great morning drive.

On our evening drive we came across another uncommon species – a large spotted genet. They are said to be arboreal (tree living) and can move around at night with ease amongst trees searching for little birds and other critters to eat. From our small nocturnal predator, we moved on to the serious species, such as male leopard hunting. The leopard did not succeed in catching anything while we were following him, but I’m sure he got something as the night went by.

17 January 2008

On our morning drive with ranger Mothusi, we saw plenty of game species such as wildebeest, zebra, and warthog wallowing in mud, giraffe and stunning bird species. Regarding the giants of Africa, well we saw plenty of them too. We saw a total of 100 elephants moving through a plains-like area towards riverine bushveld where there are large, succulent trees to feed from. The only predator species we found this morning was that of 11 spotted hyaenas. This clan is seen most often and they are very relaxed towards vehicles, which makes photographing them easy and fun.

Our evening drive offered a beautiful sighting of a pair of black-backed jackal. They were found resting amongst a field of yellow flowers and the pictures taken of them will most certainly end up on my desktop PC background. Vervet monkeys, baboons, impala, wildebeest and zebra were also in abundance on this drive.

18 January 2008

What a drive! We found a massive herd of elephants this morning – 200 of them! As we stood on a hill and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee with our ranger Bashi, we were amazed to see this massive herd of elephants gently grazing by. I will not forget that cup of coffee anytime soon… We also saw a beautiful bushbuck feeding along a riverbed and plenty of giraffe. Warthogs, zebra and wildebeest made for some stunning pictures and we also saw the most amazing bird species.

On our evening drive we saw plenty of new born wildebeest calves playing in a field covered with yellow flowers. Although it is difficult to spot smaller animals in the tall grass, it is awesome to see the new born of impala and wildebeest running around and playing. After we also saw kudu, zebra, giraffe, eland, steenbok and plenty of bird species, we were again stunned by the magnificent sunset over the African plains of Mashatu, while enjoying an ice cold Gin & Tonic. Later the evening we came across spotted hyaenas walking along the road, sniffing the air as they went. We could see these guys were out on the hunt and they hardly looked back at us following them. It was a perfect night out in the bush.

19 January 2008

On our morning drive today we saw big herds of elephants. We followed them along the plains and watched as they interacted with one another. They are truly fascinating animals. It was a cloudy day and although the sun wasn’t shining to its full potential, we still felt the heat of the bush as the time went by. Kudu, giraffe and zebra was abundant on this drive.

Our evening drive proved to be yet another unforgettable night. We came across a male leopard that at first was resting, but later got up and walked all along the riverbed. These are magnificent predators and although they look relaxed and tame while walking along, they possess awesome strength and power. It was so wonderful to be the only people there to follow this elusive big cat of Africa and see how it went about his leopard-like business. We took stunning pictures of this male.

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