Safari Day 2

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Geo: -25.3917, 31.9589

Back into Kruger for our second full day safari. Just us and Kobus this time. At 7:00am the low sun illuminated something that caught Robyn's eye, and it turned out to be a fresh impala kill dragged up into a tree. Kobus said this was a leopard kill and the leopard would be back. Shortly after a large male climbed the tree and sat beside the kill, not eating and apparently not hungry. After a while it came down again and wandered off into the bush. Bingo, we completed our Big Five sightings.

Then we encountered two rhino ambling down the sealed road toward us. A massive herd of distant buffalo that I said would number in the hundreds, but Kobus said was probably over a thousand! A lazy cheetah that eventually stood up to be photographed, lots of close encounters with elephants around the vehicle, and sundry other animals.

We returned to the leopard tree in the afternoon and the kill was still there, but half eaten. We didn't see the leopard again, but still felt the buzz from the morning sighting.

I had few expectations before coming on this impulsive trip, but I must say the safaris have been excellent and seeing the abundance and variety of animals has been awesome. Lowies, you would be in heaven! Lying safely in bed and listening to the lions roaring through the night and especially in the early mornings, is sublime.

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Photos

Leopard kill
If you look closely just to the right of the trunk, low down in the tree on some horizontal branches there is a dead impala. Very obvious with binos, you'll have to take my word for it.

Kill 2
Look closely just above the impala's open stomach and you'll see the leopard's spots.

Leopard
And there he is walking away, just to the left of his shadow.

Lazy Cheetah
A passing driver gave us directions to a cheetah sighting about 5km away. Two vehicles were parked at the spot and they pointed out the cheetah, lying in the grass about 60m away. We watched her with binos for some time and then she obligingly stood for about one minute, then flopped down again.

Rhinos
Just a few metres in front of our vehicle.

Lunch
Excellent salads at the Mug & Bean restaurant in Lower Sabie. All that you see cost AUD$23.

Comments

[Angela & Stef]

Great to see you are having such a wonderful time! Fabulous pictures, thanks for sharing..... xo

[John Lowe]

Sel, Rob, G'day. I am just catching up with your blog. Great to hear you are having a rewarding time. Yes, we are envious ....but in the nicest possible way. The animals are as wonderful as they are different. When one thinks, the larg
est original Australian predator (excluding the croc) is a quoll!! Your blog brings back lovely memories. You have done better than we did on Big 5 sightings. However, of interest, we found that after a while one's attention shifted to the myriad of other animals and birds to be experienced.All the best.Cheers,Lowie