Not having any joy with elephants the last couple of days, we headed up to the north east of the reserve with a low cloud base still hanging overhead.
It was another quiet start to the day with just a tortoise venturing into sight.
Khayeni pan had its full compliment of animals (impala, zebra, wildebeest) and this herd of eland which didn’t hang around.
We followed the Chiredzi river south hoping to at least find an elephant bull or two down that way. But not even they were around and also not much else but a few zebra.
It was only in the late afternoon that the sun managed to find a gap in the clouds to shine through, which didn’t last long. Although soon after dark the skies were clear and full of stars.
Several giraffe were drinking at Banyini pan including this bull with the wound in his leg. It doesn’t look too bad and is probably only being kept open by the oxpeckers. But I’m baffled as to what might have caused this injury.
While filming the giraffe we heard buffalo to the east. I was sure a herd was on its way to drink at the pan. We waited. But just then a young male lion coming from the west was heading straight towards the buffalo.
He wasn’t even bothering about stalking and soon had a large herd of impala shouting their abuses at him. He moved closer to the buffalo, but shortly afterwards gave up and headed east.
The buffalo were now drinking when a black rhino bull was moving in from the east. We sat and waited. He kept coming and coming and coming. Then saw our vehicle from about 20m away and came towards us at a slow walk right up to the bull-bar. Only after having sniffed the car did he spin around and take off to water.
As we moved around the herd of buffalo a white rhino cow and calf were also moving in to drink.
Unfortunately when the lion arrived the light was already too low to film. But it did give me the chance to WATCH all this activity for a change and not have my eye poking through a lens to see all the action.
What an amazing last half hour to the day!
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