A delayed trip report to Klaserie and Timbavati, November 2023

[Toxic]

Thank you @Peter Connan. What scares you about adult hyena? Completely understand about the snakes... though despite the will I have not seen one on safari. Or any scorpions or tarantulas (the latter is what would terrify me most I think).

 

Ngala Safari Camp - Day 12 (Morning and Evening Drive)

 

If yesterday was all about the lions, today would turn out to be all about the leopard.  This morning, we were joined by two couples in the vehicle, and after a few days of just me it was quite nice to hear the wonder of people on their first safari.

 

Today started wet. The ponchos were out, and it looked like sightings today would be a wash out. It eventually stopped raining though it remained overcast, which was good for the cooler air.

 

Our first sighting turned out to be some warthog, which as I said in another post had been surprisingly scarce this trip (alongside baboons). The young ones were too fast for a good photo!

 

 

 

 

 

We then came across a small herd of elephants eating their breakfast.

 

 

And this eagle (which if I've learned from Peter in an earlier post is the hawk eagle??) 

 

 

We also found a small group of mongoose. It was quite fun watching them, it was like a 'whack a mole' game where they would pop their heads up and then go back down to appear in another hole!

 

 

Another elephant

 

 

Our guide and tracker had found some very fresh tracks in the road, that looked like something had been dragged, which we followed... and found the (fresh) carcass but no assassin. 

 

 

We drove a little more and came across this nursery of impala...

 

 

whom were blissfully unaware they were being watched.

 

 

She decided to climb atop this termite mound for a better view, at which point she lost all interest in breakfast and proceeded to groom herself. Not complaining, as she turned out to be a real poser!

 

 

 

 

 

She eventually decided it was time for a nice nap, so we headed off for breakfast. 

 

We had some visitors at the pool. I particularly enjoyed watching the little one who could not quite stand like the others and just drink, use his trunk which would come up like a little telescope before diving into the water. Adorable!

 

 

I enjoyed a spa session ahead of my long flight home the next day -- a facial and head massage.  Feeling relaxed, I headed back to my room to find this lizard going through the bushes.

 

 

By afternoon, the sky had cleared up a little and off we went for what would be my last night drive.   

 

 

Our first sighting was this vulture staring off into the distance, so with no other leads we decided as a group to just go where the wind took us and headed in the direction it was looking at.

 

It turned out to be a good decision, this is what we found.

 

 

They were active, though they had eventually gone off the Ngala property and into Kruger, meaning we could follow them no further.  

 

 

 

 But we did come across another mongoose home

 

 

 

Light was fading and we came across another vehicle in the river bank.

 

 

They had found a male leopard just chilling

 

 

 

 

He eventually started his patrol, and we followed him for a while.  There was another, much shyer leopard, that we also saw very briefly - a female almost stalking this male (she was following his path). Having learned by this point my phone was losing what little effectiveness it had to begin with given the darkness, I gave up trying to take anything and just enjoyed the ride through the bushes to find out what this chap was up to.  He eventually decided to go up a tree and it was time for dinner, so off we went - a great last evening drive.

 

Dinner was a boma and it was off to bed. I would have one last drive in the morning before heading back to Hoedspruit.

[Peter Connan]

Yes, African Hawk Eagle.

Lovely leopard sighting.

 

Re Hyena, I guess it's a number of factors.

Firstly we were taught from a young age not to be needlessly afraid of spiders and other bugs. With scorpions we were taught to wear shoes at night, to always shake the shoes out before putting them on and to not fiddle with them. Not much risk if you follow those basic rules.

As for snakes, we lived on a property where snakes were very common. My dad would catch and release them frequently if they were found too close to the house. Many of them were venemous. Many Puff Adders and Rinkals, and for a period of a few years we had Boomslang living in the garage's light fitting.

 

But as a young boy I heard many stories of Hyena biting sleeping people to death, and in the Moremi I had a face-off with Hyena in Third Bridge camp. That one was not afraid at all. I have faced charging lion a couple of times, and this Hyena was much scarier. It felt like I could see it deciding when to attack, and it followed me around for a while.

And then of course, have you heard them?

Edited August 21 by Peter Connan

[Hads]

@Toxicthanks for a great report and stunning photo's. you definitely had some epic sightings and encounters.