There was no sign of the dogs at dawn, but Manyari and Sjambok were close to Banyini AND mating again! And mating at quite a pace while Chahwihwi just had to wait it out in the wings as usual.
So my thoughts of Manyari having cubs come to an end and we have to wait another 3 months before we can hope for any cubs. Although I’m pretty confident Magwaza has cubs in the hills that we have yet to see. They must now be about a month old and it’s at least another month before they might venture out from their den.
The mating couple kept up their mating tempo and then headed out across Banyini plains where a herd of wildebeest took notice of them. Instead of running away, they stood around snorting their abuses at the King of Beasts. The lions sort of showed an interest but soon were back on the job, mating in front of a herd of about 20 wildebeest, and us of course.
When the couple passed out in the shade I took to the skies and Voila! I found the dogs right down in the south, just north of Malevula hills. The were running around playing. The bad news was I couldn’t get there though with the veld being so wet and those black cotton soils being impossible in the wet. So we had to let them be.
In the afternoon I was up in a helicopter taking photos of the landscape. It sure is so much easier from a chopper and pretty cool to be up there spinning around and doing all the things I can’t do in my microlight. In the last few days I almost feel I’ve been in the sky more than I’ve been on the ground.
It was back to the lions in the afternoon. And how did I know they wouldn’t be up to much else than a little mating here and there? And so their leisurely day moved into night as the couple barely had enough energy to coax each other on, get down to it only to collapse and pass out again.
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The good news is, although I didn’t see the dogs I got a great signal on them.
I had hoped to fly early again but the weather was coming in fast and was sure to blow me to the north pole had I tried my wings up there.
So it was in search of lions. I had tracks around the airstrip and a giraffe right there was intent on something in the nearby bush. It had to be the lioness, but I never did get to see her. It was probably Magwaza on her way back to her cubs and I was keen to see what state she was in health wise and how her teats were looking. But I just wasn’t having luck in finding her.
For the rest of the morning I spent my time running around searching for a signal on the dogs and making sure all my tracking equipment was up to scratch with a plan to fly around midday. The weather was cool and sure to stay that way making flying at the time pretty good.
I had in the meantime picked up a very faint signal on the dogs a long way south, although it seemed to be in the same area as the last 2 days.
Midday came and the clouds had cleared making flying conditions really bumpy and not conducive to my weak stomach. And so we took to Banyini to eye out the plains game where no doubt there was little if anything going on. And so it was!
Eventually we got airborne around 4pm. The winds were blowing strongly from the south but I really wanted to find the dogs.
On getting myself into the sky I soon realised what our dilemma was. A huge storm was coming in fast and furious from the south. But I wanted my dogs and so headed what seemed like straight for the storm. Luckily what looked like rain was just a haze, but beyond that there was REAL rain. Reaching Malevula hill I got a strong signal on the dogs. I so wanted to see them from up there but the storm was approaching fast and I lost my nerve, and headed for home.
Anyway I was relieved that all the technical stuff was working and the dogs still seemed to be on the reserve. All great news! So hopefully tomorrow I’ll get lucky and find them.
We landed just in time and the rain came. But it never turned into much of a rain. Just a drizzle, which made filming a hassle and the rain hardly visible in the shots. When it rains I like it to really rain, otherwise just don’t bother.
But for the baboons the cool wet weather was a relief as they tucked into the flush of everything green.
I was hoping to get my blog up to you yesterday, but as hard as we tried we just couldn’t locate the wild dogs.
I had hoped for an early start this morning but an all night drizzle put a dampener on that one for a couple of hours.
Heading up the hill to check for a signal for the dogs and I got a beep way way to the south. It was almost in the same place as the signal we had yesterday. So we continued to search on the ground travelling extensively in the southern areas all the way to Malevula hill. Still not a peep.
I then changed modus operandi and went in search of elephants. We came across a couple of bulls having their mud wallow and this dude just loving all the splashing. His friend wasn’t so keen and moved on in the shade.
But I wanted to find the elephant herds. And sure enough I found evidence of them right up in the north east. I presumed they might be here in search of marula berries, which are just ripening. They just love them.
The evidence of the herds was there but we didn’t find them. I think they must be in the thickets right up in the north.
Late afternoon I again took to the skies in search of the dogs. We flew for ages in the lovely light seeing lots of buffalo, a number of white rhino, all the general game but no sign on the dogs. This has now really snookered me.
I’m really stuck as to what to do next? And really I don’t have an option, I must just soldier on.
Late yesterday afternoon I took an easy drive past the old favourite, Banyini Pan; there is just so much activity at the moment. This might not last with the grass growing tall and showers of rain to help it along. I was just in time to catch the young pride of lions from the South poaching on Sjambok’s territory – I would not want to be in their paws if they were caught out!
Lions are known to kill other lions in their territory, but I think they know the pride is moving up in the hills with cubs on the way, we hope. The interesting thing is that these guys were just as relaxed with us around as Sjambok’s pride.
After taking a few photographs of them lying sprawled out next to the pan, they were provoked by the sound of Zebra passing by. In typical lion style, each lion was waiting for the other to kick into action and catch themselves some dinner. At first I thought there were only four lions, but then as the hunt began we counted six lions. We don’t see much of these lions so it was good to spend time with them and hunt with them. They are really in good shape; the male is still young and does not even have a mane yet.
This morning was rescue the terrapin day. There is a pool of water we drive through to get to our house and there were a few very small baby terrapins inside. Each time a car came driving through, there would be a whole lot of paddling going on as they made a break for the bushes. I thought I’d give them a fighting chance and dropped them down at the dam. There were only two left to save, but at least they can now go on their merry way.
Kim is out flying to see if he can pick up on the dogs, I hope we see them soon, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms – hey, the thrill of the bush!
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