Sunrise over the African Bushveld marks the start of yet another exciting game drive…
A lone Impala contemplates the fact that it has survived the night while it searches for breakfast…
The Spotted Eagle Owl from our drive the night before was special, but we had our eyes on bigger game…
Specifically Leopards, which had led us on a merry dance the night before…
This young female decided to play hide-and-seek with us…until we decided that enough was enough and took of in search of better,more co-operative game…
This young Wahlberg Eagle was certainly prepared to sit patiently as we all clicked away…
Flowers are always good to photograph, as they tend to stay in one place for the longest time…
This Impala ram was busy eating as the light faded…
This one was not so lucky and was dinner for our elusive young Leopard…
Our night drive ended with us spending time with a group of Lion cubs…but as it had started to rain, we cut our time at the sighting short and headed back to the lodge for a warm dinner…
As the sun rose on our morning drive we were encouraged by the fact that we had already spotted a young male Leopard…who unfortunately refused to pose for pictures…
Unlike this young female Waterbuck who patiently waited for us to get “the” shot…
We were lucky enough to come across a small group of Elephants who, although close to us, were hidden behind grass and vegetation…
So it was back to flower pictures…
Even a windmill can be used as a distraction while waiting for the “real” game to appear in my viewfinder…
And our patience finally paid off when the vehicle found itself in the middle of a large herd of Cape Buffalo…
This close! Or was I using my long lens?
Even the Oxpeckers were enjoying a ride while helping to rid the Buffalo of ticks…
An Oxpecker busy at work…
We left the herd to graze in peace as we went in search of…
Our elusive Leopard…and we found this young male, who after walking up and down a drainage line for a while,eventually lay down and groomed himself for our cameras…
He groomed…
And groomed…
And groomed…
Until we decided that we had had enough of his ablutions and left to seek not only greener pastures but animals of a different species…
And we found this breeding herd of Ellies on the way back to the Lodge…
They were very relaxed and we were able to sit quietly while they fed close by…
This youngster seemed to be treating this stick a “food for the road”…
Then it was time to hit the road back to camp…and breakfast…
This young antelope decided to pay us a visit just before lunch…
While a troop of Baboons,led by this male,walked past the front of the camp, going wherever it is that Baboons go to in the afternoon…
Moms, youngsters and baby baboons going about their business…
My wife decided to nap while all this was going on…
But I hear the drum call for lunch…
More on our subsequent game drives in my next blog…
