The sun rises and the dry sand begins absorbing the heat as its rays fall upon the ground. The wind swirls between the hills and the dust takes to flight from the down-draft from the chopper as it takes off, marking the end of the long hot buffalo capture. Flying between the hills and over the Chiredzi River makes for some breathtaking sequences, I always enjoy getting a birds eye view of a place.
For now I’m happy to get back to my hyenas, and they must have heard me coming, because the first came ambling out of the woodwork right away, followed by the others as the heat began to dissipate. It was wonderful to see some real behaviour from the clan, this is quite a change from filming humans performing tasks.
After a good time at the den I thought that Manuchi must be rocking and I was right. The adults had once again taken over the pan, they were sprawled out all around the entire area. Hyenas can be quite possessive over their watering spots, they tend to hang around longer than what is required to just rehydrate, they rather enjoy sporting around in the water.
One of the mothers was carrying what looked like a dead cub in her mouth. She proceeded to drop the lump of flesh in the pan and then submerge herself in the water. This all looked a little horrifying to begin with, but it turned out to be what seemed like a foetus of some sort from a kill - what a relief.
Alan called on the radio and mentioned he was near Sosigi so a quick detour was in order to catch a glimpse of Tanga. Nothing like spotting a leopard on the road home, this may have been with the help of a little cheat, but it was still just as sweet.
Hi Mark,
It was wonderful to see some aerial footage of the beautiful place you live in. Your writing is always so descriptive and one can easily imagine the scenes - thank you!
I have to agree with Douwe’s comments in that I too miss the daily videos and blogs. Is this twice weekly format going to be a permanent arrangement?
We haven’t had any news about the Wild Dogs in a while. Looking forward to getting an update from Kim soon.
All the best out there,
Lily
So beautiful Mark. Thank you so much. I really enjoy this site! Tell Kim, that we are also waiting for an update on the dogs.
Beautiful scenery.
Are we going to see photos or footage of the the leopard?
Beauiful scenery. Are we going to see some photos of Tanga or some footage?
+1 …..miss the daily video’s and would also like to hear how the dogs are !
Malilangwe looks super place by the way
I agree with Lily, Mark! Where you live in is so beautiful. Especially that stampede of buffalo! So it’s in Malilangwe, is it? And like Lily said - not to be too pushy - we haven’t heard much of the wild dogs lately, (although those hyaenas are adorable!!) let us know how Kim’s doing, looking forward to more videos!