A Quiet Day for Sightings

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Geo: -24.3892, 31.7572

We woke up early when the alarm went off and went for our morning game drive. Our hope was to see the leopard on his warthog kill, so we drove directly to that tree. Just before we arrived at the tree, a clan of three Spotted Hyenas were running along the road towards us. We stopped the car and they continued running and ran past us. It was a bit unusual to see so many hyenas together, I've usually seen just one at a time.

A few minutes later we arrived at the tree. A lot of the warthog had been eaten and many of its bones were now visible. Unfortunately there was no sign of the leopard. The only animal at the tree was a Spotted Hyena circling the bottom of the tree as it looked up at the carcass, hoping that it would fall so it could eat it. After realising that it wouldn't be able to get the carcass, the hyena ran off.

Continuing our drive, we came across - a bull elephant, wildebeest, waterbuck, female impalas with young ones, giraffes standing as they ate leaves from short bushes and then walked away and a bachelor herd of impalas.

I then saw the strangest, most unexpected sight - a man riding a bicycle on one of the park's main roads! He was part of an anti-poaching patrol and very brave to be riding around in the wild. At least he was armed with a rifle.

A while later we stopped to watch an old male buffalo. We arrived back at about 10 am.

It was now time for brunch and then rest until our afternoon game drive. During this time a friendly Yellow Billed Hornbill came close to us and I took quite a few photos of it.

At about half past 2 we left camp for our afternoon game drive. Soon into our drive we stopped to watch a dung beetle roll a ball of elephant dung that was much bigger than the beetle. We also saw impala, giraffe, dark grey clouds in the distance and a Black Backed Jackal. This afternoon's drive was very quiet and uneventful.

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Photos

01 Clan
A clan of Spotted Hyenas running along the road.

02 Eaten
Most of the warthog had been eaten during the night.

03 Hoping
This hyena is hoping that the carcass would fall down, so it can eat it.

04 Walking Away
Realising that it can't get the carcass, the hyena walks away.

05 Skull
A skull of a buffalo.

06 Bull
An elephant bull walking towards us.

07 Impalas
A herd of impalas - females and their young.

08 Male
A male impala.

09 Giraffe
A tower of giraffe eating from short bushes.

10 Eating
Giraffe standing around the bush and eating.

11 Heads Up
The giraffe can only keep their heads down for so long.

12 On the Move
All at the same time, they have started walking.

13 Looking at Us
One of the giraffes looking at us.

14 Scenery
Some of the scenery in this park.

15 Strange Sight!
A man riding a bike on an anti-poaching patrol.

16 Buffalo
A male old buffalo covered in dried up mud.

17 Sleepy
A sleepy owl.

18 Weaver
A weaver in the camp site.

19 Weaver
A weaver in the camp site.

20 Scratching
The Yellow Billed Hornbill using its beak to scratch itself.

21 Head
A close up of its head.