We started with coffee at 0600 and were on the road soon after. The air temperature must have been under 10 degrees this morning so down jackets, thermals, beanies and gloves were popular dress items.
Our first encounter was with a herd (or implausibility) of blue wildebeest, also called gnu. The young of these antelopes are all born within three weeks of each other but are not born at the same time each year. It seems that the females’ oestrus cycle is affected by changes in the lunar cycle.
The next sighting was of a herd (or bounce) of springboks. This was the first time we’d seen these beautiful animals on this trip. They look somewhat like impalas except for their ghostly white faces and white underbelly region. These animals can make spectacular springing leaps (called spronking) of up to two metres vertically. The numbers of springboks is declining dramatically but in the past there have been recorded migrations of springboks involving millions of animals in columns of up to 24 kilometres wide which took days to pass.
Springbok
There were very large herds of impala seen in several parts of the park. It was interesting to see the primary male keeping the herd of females and young within given bounds that determine his territorial limits.
There were sightings of distant zebras and giraffes but the majority of the morning’s time was spent on bird photography.
Francois has an incredible natural history knowledge and this includes the bird life. The birds identified included some of the following: hoary bustard, gabal goshawk, red-breasted shrike (gorgeous!), hoopoe, crowned lapwing, flycatcher, southern masked and buffalo weavers, red and yellow hornbills, little bee-eater, pied dabbler, bush canaries, scimitarbill, iridescent starling, pink dove, darter, fork-tailed drongo bird, lilac roller and fish-eagle. In some cases good photos of these birds were achieved but often they were tricky to get due to the birds being partially obstructed by bushes and twigs.
During a brief coffee break Francois enticed some yellow hornbills to come and accept fruit from his hand. This provided very good photo opportunities.
Yellow-billed hornbill
Before heading back for brunch we spent some time observing a sounder of warthogs. These pig-related animals have long tusks and warty skin covered with shaggy bristles making them look less than pretty! When fleeing from danger they erect their tales vertically like radio aerials to warn others in the sounder to follow.
Warthog
The afternoon’s safari session commenced at 1500 and took us northeast principally in search of rhinoceroses.
At the nearby dam we met up with four giraffes and the same large male elephant that we’d met yesterday and who is in ‘musth’ at present. The giraffes stayed close to us and then moved to the water’s edge to drink. Unfortunately whilst drinking they were partially hidden by trees so clear photos of their thirst quenching went missing.
Meanwhile the bull elephant had found a muddy hollow near the dam and was now lying and rolling in the mud and at the same time throwing slush and water over his body presumably to cool itself and to eliminate skin parasites.
Another younger bull elephant arrived at the dam and we spent a good deal of time photographing its antics of drinking and spraying water over its body.
A new bird sighting occurred soon after when we encountered a red crested koorhan or kamikaze bird. The hen and her half grown chick crossed the road in front of us very tentatively so we had some time to observe this interesting bird. They are called kamikaze birds because of their peculiar flight paths that involve sudden uncontrolled dropping as if dive-bombing.
We saw a large male kudu and then we can upon a very large male white rhinoceros. The name has nothing to do with their colour but in fact it is due to a misinterpretation of the term ‘wide’ or square lip that identifies it from the black rhino.
White rhinoceros bull
This was a very senior bull rhino probably weighing close to 2.3 tonnes. These are the second largest land animals on earth and possibly the largest pure grazers to have ever roamed the planet. The males are territorial and vigorously defend their territory against intruders. The number of white rhinos has been drastically affected by the poaching trade whereby the animals are killed for the horn keratin which is prized particularly in Chinese medicine. The number of white rhinoceroses in South Africa is now estimated to exceed 6000 thanks to a breeding program in the Umfolozi Game Reserve.
Even so, it is estimated that there are still two or three rhinos killed each day in South Africa purely for their horns. The street value of the horn is in excess of U.S.$75 000 per kilogram.
We did not encounter any of the so-called black rhinoceros this afternoon. These somewhat smaller rhinos have hooked lip as opposed to the square lip of the white rhino.
Amongst the many birds sighted the greatest interest was in getting clear views of the red-breasted shrike. There were four or five pairs of this spectacular bird seen and despite its propensity to flee at the slightest provocation, we did get some reasonable photos. Another interesting bird we saw was the shaft tail paradise whydah. The male bird in breeding plumage has inordinately long tail feathers compared to its body length. These feathers disappear after the mating period.
Red-breasted shrike
At dusk, as has previously been the case, we parked for twenty minutes or so and had drinks and nibbles and watched the glorious colours of the sunset.
Sunset behind shepherds tree
We then ventured in semi darkness through an area adjacent to the local air-strip and encountered next to the runway a small aircraft plus a number of elephants to which Fran commented that they must be ‘jumbos’! A little later near the runway we spied in the beam of our spot-light a scrub hare to which Jak’s rejoinder was that the animal was a ‘hareoplane’.
Scrub hare
On returning to our Leopard Rock Lodge we were met at the front door by staff member Gladys and each given a steamy hot towel to freshen up with before heading for dinner.
Group at Leopard Rock Lodge
This has been another wonderful day in this game park and the guidance and leadership of Francois has been quite exceptional making the whole experience so beneficial and enjoyable.