Tembe dag 10: A close encounter and goodbyes.

Woensdag 14-11-2018

Tembe dag 10:        A close encounter and goodbyes.

Dieren vandaag gezien / Animals spotted:

·         Impala

·         Nyala

·         Elephant

·         Giraffe

·         Yellow billed kite

·         Steppe buzzard

·         Fork-tailed drongo

·         Speckled mousebird

·         Violet-backed starling

·         Brown snake eagle

4 am we left for or morning session. Gerhard was staying home because he over slept. The first part of this journey was to check on the dogs. They were still asleep and didn’t want to move. We left the scene and while doing this we got a glimpse of the sunrise. It looked like zorro had been there because there was a Z cut out in the clouds that the sun was shining true. It was a nice sigh. I guessed the first animal of the day again, another giraffe.

When we continued we found some lion tracks. They appeared to be from F70. We got signal for her and waited for a while but nothing happened. After about 45 minutes we moved on. We drove to the west side of the swamp here we had morning tea at a camp just after de Ponweni hide. When we left I closed the back of the car and Linda climbed it. Apparently I didn’t close it write because it came down and she fell of the back. It was quite funny because it looked like a slow-motion fall. Luckily it was soft sand and she wasn’t injured. We drove back the same way as we came. We put up a new camera, this took a while but not too long. When we were almost back at camp we came across an elephant bull whom was blocking the road. We waited and after a while it walked up to or car. It even touched it and Ben decided to go backwards. The elephant followed the car and even a second one joined him. In the end the first one defended us against the second one. When we finally had the opportunity to pass we drove passed him quickly. We dropped Thoko of at her place and we took some photo’s with her. From now on we have to go out without her because she is on her time of. This is a real pity because she is great in spotting the animals.

 We arrived back at camp around 10.30 am and I decided not to go on the elephant session. I was just to tiered.

When I woke up after a nice 3 hour nap I felt so much better. I really needed the nap. I had been grumpy and emotional for the last few days.

At 3 pm we left to feed the dogs. I was scanning but this was a really short session and I decided with the group that I do tomorrow mornings session as well. After we came back we washed the car and prepared us for or night out.

At 5.30 pm we left for the water tower. Here we had some sundowner drinks while the sun set. Then we were of to the Tembe lodge. We were going out for dinner tonight. It was a buffet. It was lovely to do something different once in a while. After the meal the lodge had arranged for some entertainment. A Zulu tribe was preforming their dancing. It was kind of spectacular. They just move so fast.

We got back home at 10.15 pm so a big day.

During dinner Ben told me that MCM23 from Mkhuzi has been snared and didn’t make it. This was sad news. He was such a lovely cheetah. It is just hard to understand why people do this. And it shows how important the work is that Wildlife act and the rangers are doing.