Good day, bad day.
I was excited to catch up with the dogs again today. They were right up in the north near Nyamasikana pan. I had never been in that area before, lovely country and no roads.
But it was a bad day for the impala again. I found the dogs feeding on an adult female impala just after sunrise. They were soon finished and moved on east. Again they were hunting along the fence line where they flushed another female and chased her several hundred meters down the fence before she was able to break away from it. But exhaustion took over and the dogs were onto her, but only the adults. The pups now 6 ½ months and 4 ½ months still can’t keep up with the chase. The adults are moving at such incredible speeds, which will probably take the pups another 4 months or so before they’re able to match them with speed and stamina. But even so the stamina the pups already have is phenomenal.
While the pack was feeding on this second kill, a dog called a long way to the south. They all abandoned the kill and sped down there to another kill, an adult male impala. Yet another hugely successful day for the doggies.
But not so for me. I didn’t get to film anything. I could have filmed them eating but there is just so much eating one can have in a film. Anyway I was lucky to get some great photographs.
The pack moved on to rest up near a pan in the area and I rushed round to get there ahead of them, but alas I miss judged this little gully and found myself high and dry straddling it. My only way out, luckily the soil was wet, was to dig an entrance and exit out the gully and eventually I managed to drive out. The dogs in the meantime, tired of watching me, had passed out in the shade at the pan.
I left to go and find the elephant herds and was hardly on my way when I had a puncture. No big deal.
But then the car wouldn’t start again. The same problem I was having yesterday which I never really managed to fix but all seemed fine again till now. After tinkering under the bonnet I got her going again. I still don’t know what the problem is.
On the road again I was driving casually looking for the elephant, which wasn’t actually going to happen as I dosed off behind the wheel and was rudely awakened as I careered off the road into a bush. Thankfully the bushveld doesn’t have oncoming traffic.
I extricated myself from that friendly bush to find another slow puncture on the way. So it was back to base to fix both punctures.
Early I came across this heap of giant land snails. They must have all been aestivating in the cooler dry winter in a dead fallen over tree which burnt out when a fire went through the area, and fried the poor snails at the same time.
And then I was rushing out of camp again to catch up with the dogs. (Never got to the elephants today.) I was half way there when something told me to check the vehicle starter again. Stopping on a slope, again she wouldn’t start. I played with her again (nothing fun playing with this ‘her’) but no joy. With a little push I roll started her on the slope and was back in camp under the hood for another couple of hours.
And she still won’t start!
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