The bush was lovely and fresh this morning after our first main rains of the season, and over the next few days we can really expect to see things greening up.
The wild dogs have moved across the Chiredzi River so I wasn’t able to see them this morning but we’ll be working with the Nyari pride for the next few months now and seriously hoping Manyari will have cubs again soon AND they’ll survive.
I found the lions east of Nyari pan this morning with the remains of a zebra kill. The males moved off when I approached but Manyari and Magwaza had no plans on moving.
I haven’t seen the lions for a few months now, so they were a little nervous of my initial approach. And even Manyari gave me a little growl and rev but soon settled down totally when she saw me up to my usual antics.
With their full tummies and still a little carcass left they will no doubt still be here this evening when we follow after them again on our nightly sojourns.
Well I obviously didn’t make it back in time to get the blog up yesterday. I was on a marathon drive, marathon wait on a death run.
I left White River, South Africa, at midnight in order to get to the border by 6am. Then the long wait while they processed my papers to export the filming vehicle I was towing. Midday I was done there, crossed onto the Zimbabwe side and that ended up in another 6 hour wait in queues and just waiting. To pass the time I found myself directing traffic at the border in that confined area, which is pure chaos. My traffic skills aren’t the best but I did manage to get some order into the place, which made my escape a lot faster when I finally got my papers.
I left the border post at 6pm and was again driving into the night. But now the roads were a lot narrower. Only 2 lanes, one each way, and with no shoulder. Twice I was pushed off the road by oncoming trucks! Not fun when you’re towing something.
Eventually I made it back to the reserve in one piece after having been on the road for 22hours. Not something one does for fun, well I don’t anyway.
But I was greeted to the most awesome sound on my arrival at home. Lions were roaring in the valley below the house where the dam is, and the echo from the surrounding hills was just wild! Almost made the whole drive worth it.
Today didn’t get much life out of me as I’d been up for 42hrs and was now trying to catch up. I’m nearly there.
This evening we had our first rains of the season. A magical thunderstorm, impressive lightening and probably about half an inch of rain.
Well I obviously didn’t make it back in time to get the blog up yesterday. I was on a marathon drive, marathon wait on a death run.
I left White River, South Africa, at midnight in order to get to the border by 6am. Then the long wait while they processed my papers to export the filming vehicle I was towing. Midday I was done there, crossed onto the Zimbabwe side and that ended up in another 6 hour wait in queues and just waiting. To pass the time I found myself directing traffic at the border in that confined area, which is pure chaos. My traffic skills aren’t the best but I did manage to get some order into the place, which made my escape a lot faster when I finally got my papers.
I left the border post at 6pm and was again driving into the night. But now the roads were a lot narrower. Only 2 lanes, one each way, and with no shoulder. Twice I was pushed off the road by oncoming trucks! Not fun when you’re towing something.
Eventually I made it back to the reserve in one piece after having been on the road for 22hours. Not something one does for fun, well I don’t anyway.
But I was greeted to the most awesome sound on my arrival at home. Lions were roaring in the valley below the house where the dam is, and the echo from the surrounding hills was just wild! Almost made the whole drive worth it.
Today didn’t get much life out of me as I’d been up for 42hrs and was now trying to catch up. I’m nearly there.
This evening we had our first rains of the season. A magical thunderstorm, impressive lightening and probably about half an inch of rain.
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