Dan Will Travel
I'm Dan and I WILL Travel
This is my last game drive at King’s Camp. It was really special as we saw a large group of elephants with a very young weeks old baby followed by a male and female leopard mating. (Unfortunately they chose to do this in the privacy of the bush so the shots are not ideal, but the sounds were and there are great shots later in the trip.)
Nice Zebra shot. Looks like they are posing
Kudu. A large member of the antelope family. Males have these striking horns. About the size of our elks.
Mother with child, maybe 2 weeks old. Note trunk extended straight out. It seemed to spend much time trying to figure out how to use it.
Not many babies cuter than an elephant one.
Others in the herd help watch the baby. Some other females, or even older siblings.
That round of mating is done. the next one starts shortly. This goes on continuously for a few days. The sounds they were making were amazing. We are about 50′ away, but heavy brush unfortunately.
I took this to show how close we get to the animals and that the tracker is just sitting out there on the front of the Land Rover. Braver than I would be!
The end of the 3 days at King’s Camp. On to Londolozi, famous for the cats. Exciting!
I will do a series of posts talking less and just sharing some photos that I hope you will like.
This is all from one morning safari out of King’s camp.
Do I really have to get up now? I am so comfortable this morning.
Ok, I am up now and ready to go eat all day.
Sorry, I am not a birder, but it is nice looking for sure.
Boys will be boys, and now we get to watch them duel for control of the day. The next 3 shots show some of what happened. Some day I will learn how to use my video function and then you could have seen and heard the whole fight.
Slugging it out neck against neck.
Wow that hurts. Both parties. It can even kill one eventually, but not today.
It’s over. Let’s be friends again, OK?
Valid direction to be given on a game safari as we wander about the unmarked gravel roads that crisscross the reserve. But, which vulture nest?
Today, we drove about 15 miles into the remote far eastern edge of the reserve, looking for those elusive lions. It was a hot day, 4:45 in the afternoon, so about 90 minutes of sun remained. At a creek bed crossing, Albert spotted prints. They were fresh! Aiming due north. So, he decided he would take off walking cross country due north to try to find the lion and we would drive around, also looking, but without him. He was equipped with a walkie talkie and nothing more other than his 30+ years of experience. So off we took, each looking for that lion. I never did figure out what he was going to do if he did find that lion, but I assume that he had an idea. He sure did not have a weapon. The plan was to meet him somewhere across the river at or before 5:30. We drove and drove and drove, no lions, no Albert. We were all alone, no other safari groups at all in this remote area. I do not know about Anna, but as we approached 6:00 PM and sunset soon after, I was getting worried. That was about when he told Anna over the radio to turn left at the vulture nest. But, we had turned one way or the other at least 15 times in our journey, and we were many miles from where we left him, so how would he know exactly where we were relative to this vulture nest? Sunset was just minutes away as we sort of gave up and stopped for our much needed drinks. I think Anna knew he was close, but we all did not. But, as we set up for those drinks, there comes Albert walking out of the bush! He had walked over 4 miles totally in the bush, not on trails or roads tracking that lion. Unfortunately, we never saw it, but it was nice to see Albert again!
Waterbucks with their telltale target rump. Has to be a drag going through life with a target on your rear end.
The much prettier front of a male waterbuck
A rare river with water in it. The planned meeting point was to be on the other side, but with the water, that was not going to be possible.
And here comes Albert out of the bush! As if on cue. How this all got resolved so well, I will never fully understand.
Most of my King’s Camp travelling team, minus one wife. The couple on the right are from Frankfurt, the other couple was from Portland. Both were great to do this with.
A magical African sunset. Always spectacular as they signal the end of another very hot day.
Sunset on the savannah.
A special dinner out in the bush to celebrate Halloween.
The grilling and serving area.
One of the uninvited guests around the perimeter. (Hyena)