Yes you guessed it, the Leopard did not visit (or I was fast asleep when she did). I got up later than I wanted to, quickly packed the car made my coffee and said goodbye to Eric (until we meet again in April 2012). I took a slow drive to Mata Mata as I could only check in at 12:00 and it was only roughly 60km to go. Sightings again rather slow with some general game and a Crimson Breasted Shrike
and a Pygmy Falcon
At 14th waterhole I sat watching some Red Hartebeest
They were later joined by some Springbok and Gemsbok
They were all interacting and the dominant RHB male was giving everyone a hard time
They Springbok left the waterhole but after a few minutes came charging back. Everyone at the waterhole was now wide awake and staring in the same direction. From the reaction it must be something serious…..
it turned out to be
what a disappointment, as he was drinking the male Red Hartebeest tried to take him on as well.
These Swallow Tailed Bee Eaters were putting up a show with dad first feeding mommy a bee
and they then commenced some lovey dovey
Just before camp I saw my first Giraffe for this trip
I arrived at Mata Mata at 11:30 and was given chalet no. 6 (Riverside) which has a slightly different layout than no. 2 where I previously stayed. After unpacking I made sure that the bedroom aircon was on and drank probably 1 liter of cold water (as it was rather hot)!!! I made myself something to eat, charged all camera batteries and downloaded photos. After all this hard work I took a short nap and was ready to leave camp at 17:00 for my afternoon drive. As would be expected this time of the day most animals were still standing in the shade.
There were some Giraffe approaching the waterhole at Craig Lockhardt and I had to quickly find a spot that would remain in the shade but also presented good photo opportunities (although these two are normally mutually exclusive). All of a sudden there were 7 Giraffe and this made getting a nice shot very difficult as they were all over and in the way of a clear photo
I reluctantly had to leave them and head back to camp. At Sitzas this male Cheetah was relaxing very close to the cars
