Nice Sightings

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Geo: -24.7605, 26.3246

I finished work early this afternoon and went with Paul to go and pick up staff from the gate. Twenty minutes into the drive we came across the back end of a herd of breeding elephants walking through the bush. Paul thought he knew where they were going. He predicted that they were going to the waterhole by the park's fence. Paul drove us to the waterhole and parked the car next to the waterhole.

Within a few minutes a herd of elephants appeared out of the bush, lead by the matriarch. The elephants quickly walked to the waterhole and stood by the edge and drank water. It was a really nice sighting- there were elephants all around us, busily drinking water. Within ten minutes they left the waterhole and went back into the bush.

We continued driving to the gate until we came across more elephants. This time it was three male elephants. They slowly moved off the road.

Further along we stopped at Vlei Pan. Being the middle of winter, it had not rained for a few months, but this pan has water pumped into it. The pan was full of water. Here we saw zebras and a mother white rhino and her calf. The rhinos happily drank water and ate grass by the water's edge. We watched the rhinos walk away from the pan. This is when we noticed a third rhino; this one was an adult one. All three of them were white rhinos.

Nearby a herd of blue wildebeest stopped walking to watch us as I took a photo of them.

We were now close to the gate and walking towards us on the road there was a bull elephant. Paul slowed down and carefully observed its behaviour. He didn't seem too happy with our presence. We slowly drove towards him and we walked towards us. Luckily we got past him without any issues. The last animal we saw was a female kudu that ran across the road in front of us.

We picked up the staff that had returned from leave and drove back to the lodge.

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Photos

01 Approaching
The matriarch leading the herd to the waterhole.

02 Out of the Bush
The rest of the herd coming out of the bush.

03 Drinking
An adult elephant drinking water.

04 Drinking
Elephants drinking water.

05 Drinking
Elephants drinking water.

06 Elephants
Elephants by the waterhole.

07 Drinking
Elephants enjoying the water.

08 Elephants
Elephants drinking from the waterhole.

09 Drinking
Elephants drinking water from the waterhole.

10 Many Sizes
Various sized elephants by the water's edge.

11 Drinking
A younger elephant drinking water.

12 Drinking
The elephants drinking water.

13 Younger One
A younger member of the herd.

14 Reflection
On the water there is a reflection of the elephants.

15 Drinking
The elephants continued to drink.

16 Playing
Two little elephants playing in the dust.

17 Road Block
The elephants that blocked the road ahead of us.

18 Zebra
A zebra in the middle of the pan.

19 Zebras & Rhinos
A pair of zebras and a mother white rhino and her calf.

20 Rhinos
The mother is eating and the younger is watching us.

21 Walking
A zebra walking past the rhinos.