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A Safari of Returns (part 2): Mashatu, Tuli Block, September 2015


Tdgraves

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@@Tdgraves

 

Very late to the party here but I gotta agree with @@deano that mashutu is near the top of my have not visited list. I would love to mountain bike there but I have no idea what I want to combine with Mashutu, maybe @@Towlersonsafari will let me tag along with them!

 

You have too many good photos to list but that cheetah sighting was really special, like everyone else I've only seen bushbabies at night.

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Towlersonsafari

We would love to @dio but alas going to the Kruger instead for the first time in 20+ years!

Edited by Towlersonsafari
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Daytime bushbaby! Awesome stuff, great shot!

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@@Big_Dog babies plural....?

Edited by Tdgraves
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@@Tdgraves

 

Thanks I'll definitely read both. I've always loved East Africa but I really did enjoy Namibia so I may eventually give South Africa a chance.

 

@@Towlersonsafari

 

Without hijacking this thread congratulations and when do you leave?

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The bushbaby is a real thrill; what a clear daytime sighting!

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Towlersonsafari

No @@Marks two bushbabies!!!

Edited by Towlersonsafari
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Peter Connan

Bushbabies in daylight! And a stunning Grey-headed bush shrike and Oriole too! Wow.

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Bushbabies in daylight! And a stunning Grey-headed bush shrike and Oriole too! Wow.

You should have seen me creeping after them....the OH was laughing at me! An oriole had flown over every day in SA at the start of the trip, with no chance of a photo (I think it was mocking me....), so I was determined to catch it this time!

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No @@Marks two bushbabies!!!

 

Quite right - reading too fast for my own good, as the correction was right above me, haha.

 

Well, even better!

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Day 4 evening drive, 8/9/15

 

Starting off with one I forgot from the morning, not only did we hear hyaenas on the way to the hide, we met one!

 

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Given the camera issues from the morning, I didn't dare to fiddle with the zoom, so I was stuck at 400mm

 

We started out with some birds

 

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Before we found some other game

 

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And we found this sleeping beauty

 

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And then some more of what Mashatu is known for....

 

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The sun was rapidly dropping

 

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So we repaired for drinks

 

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For the night drive, we met this character again

 

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And to top it all off, a springhare that posed for a photo!!

 

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What an endearing ele calf. So expressive.

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So much cuteness in the trip reports this week! The ele is great and that hyena is as well. Mashutu always seems to deliver in all the reports I've read. @@Tdgraves did you anyone doing a cycle safari and did you hear any impressions if you did?

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Thanks @@dlo we saw a mountain bike safari on our first trip, but the participants were staying at main camp, so we didn't get to hear what they thought.

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That is a lovely baby elephant sequence - always a joy to see.And the Spring Hare is very impressive (as is the leopard of course)

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Day 5 Morning Drive 9/9/15

 

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We started off with some elephants

 

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When we carried on, there was a huge number of impala alarm calls. When we found the herd, I had never seen them so agitated. But try as we might, we couldn't work out why. Another vehicle was approaching from the other side and they had found nothing either. After a fair amount of backwards and forwards, we found the culprit....

 

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We were in a dry river bed and as we climber up the side, we were marginally too late to catch him greeting his brother, in a half-jump cuddle/greeting. Grrrr.

 

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After morning coffee, we were so excited to make our way to a pair of martial eagles, that I got whacked in the face by a branch, as I was too busy setting up my camera, not looking at where we were going :(

 

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Then we had an unscheduled stop due to a flat tyre, which was rapidly sorted

 

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On the way back to camp, we saw some more giants that Mashatu is known for, although they are not always keen on posing for photos...

 

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I can't decide what I like more: very handsome young lion boys or very cute elephant calf :).

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I can't decide what I like more: very handsome young lion boys or very cute elephant calf :).

 

@@bettel you don't need to decide, you can like them all!

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That elephant calf made me smile after a hard day so I'm going with that!

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@@Tdgraves

What an excellent morning! The 3 elephants walking in size order, the baby elephant running- ears out - wonderful.

And those lions are certainly very handsome and beautifully photographed.

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Day 5 Evening Drive 9/9/15

 

I just found one that I missed from the morning and given how popular this little guy was, I felt I had to include it..

 

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We went out to an area of the reserve that we had never visited before, with some striking red cliffs. These were taken with my iPhone

 

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and the same view with an actual camera

 

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It was a fairly quiet drive

 

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We drove along a dry river bed and I saw a bird, which looked unusual. So I made Richard reverse and we were rewarded by a Pearl spotted owlet!

 

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Not much happened after sundowners.

 

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I continue to be impressed by iPhone pics - can't imagine what that tech will look like in ten years. But your "proper" camera photos are even better, particularly the owlet. And of course the eles are great.

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Day 6 Morning drive 10/9/15

 

This was our last day in Mashatu and we had paid extra to have an early transfer to the gate, as we had a 5-6 hour drive to Welgevonden and we had also paid there for a late arrival (3pm). So we would be collected from the game drive by another vehicle and have a packed breakfast to take with us. It was mainly a birding day and we saw several new species

 

Brubru

 

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Temmick's courser

 

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And some not so new ones, red-faced mousebird

 

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Saddle-billed stork

 

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And then when we were in a dry river bed, we disturbed a family of Verreaux's giant eagle owls

 

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At this point, my camera failed. I think it was due to the broken lens and it was fixed by reattaching the lens to the body, phew! The OH managed to catch this one though....

 

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Another new one - greenshank

 

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We had a send off from a herd of elephants

 

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After a quick coffee, it was time to go. This enabled a much shorter and smoother route to the gate as you would normally go back to camp to have breakfast and then leave, which puts you on a more winding, hilly road.

 

So we said "goodbye" again to the reserve

 

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and "hello" again to South Africa

 

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And we were off!!

 

The final three days of our trip can be found here:

 

http://safaritalk.net/topic/15670-a-safari-of-returns-tswalu-and-welgevonden-south-africa-september-2015/

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