Happy to Dave, Joan, Denny and Sandy. They had a good first drive seeing pangolin, aardvark, Cape fox plus lots of general game.

Picture below is from Ralph he got the only good shot. The pangolin was hiding in a bush for the rest of us.

Today was a beautiful clear day for the view from Table Mountain. The Table Bay hotel provided a shuttle to the cable car and off we went. Afterwards we went to Golds Restaurant for dinner. They do a really comprehensive and entertaining show of African drumming, singing and dancing. It is generally referred to as “too touristy” but I personally don’t find that to be a particularly negative term! I love touristy stuff. We had a great time and are back at the hotel since the “kids” who only arrived this morning were dead on their feet.

A great day, a great birthday for Jerry and a wonderful start to this trip! Tomorrow we head to Birkenhead,
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Helen

Happy Birthday, Jerry! Sounds like a great way to kick off the adventure! Enjoy every minute & we'll follow along!

So we had a plan to go to the meerkats but the dogs were near the lodge. So plans changed. We tracked and tracked and finally found them but they were laying down. I was so happy our new to safari couple Denny and Sandy at least got to see wild dogs.

What I found out later on was the dogs were at room 10 at 2.00 am in the morning. The dogs destroyed the deck furniture. It was the first time safari guests Denny and Sandy in room 10 so they had seen the dogs better than anyone has before. They have pictures of the dogs laying on the couch, playing with the pillows and having a grand time. They destroyed the fire extinguisher. The shots are dark as it was at night but I will get some posted when I get them from Sandy. They dogs ran off and then came back around 6.00 am then left again. One looks live an evil dog from a horror movie.

Found the lions on a zebra kill. Two large males, females, 8 month old and 3 month old cubs. Much bigger than the little ones we saw at Makanyi. Very different behavior between the prides.

Makanyi was a pride where everyone seemed to get along. Cubs climbing all over all the adults. Older and young cubs about the same age playing together. Male very tolerant of the cubs. No real aggression just motherly discipline with the cubs.

Tswalu pride totally different. Mother of the little cubs not allowing some of the other lions to be around her cubs. Lots of growling and charging with aggression. The big male growled a lot and at time hit or violently chased the larger cubs off the kill. The larger cubs and small cubs had unpleasant interactions as well.

It was a great sighting due to all this aggression between members of the pride. The behavior of the animals is what makes a safari so fascinating.

Now on the menu are meerkats and a cheetah and her two cubs. Hope we get that all accomplished.

Update. Cheetah and cubs not found. But most of us saw four male cheetahs. Very cold and windy here today. We leave Tswalu tomorrow.

We have arrived at Birkenhead House. Almost like coming home as this is Jerry’s and my 3 rd time here. Family was suitably impressed by the place!

We spent the day driving around Cape Point. We saw a very large band of baboons running around the street and shoulder of the road. We also saw a couple of wild ostrich. And of course the African penguins at Boulders.

For sure not as exciting as Denny and Sandy’s day but fun for my 1st timers!

Tomorrow we will do the Great Whites. Rain is predicted in the afternoon so we are going really early. Wake up call for 4:30!
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Helen

Tswalu - Our Sightings at Tswalu



Meerkats.

Aardvark.

Cheetah.



Roan Antelope.

Quick report. Saw the wild dogs kill a warthog last night. The dogs dug down and got the warthog. This is the first wild dog kill I have seen. A kill is a pretty graphic and can be disturbing but I hunted many years ago so I handled it okay. Watching the dogs taking turns at digging and the cooperation between them was remarkable.

Others saw eight different cheetah last night. Many saw the habituated meerkats. Some saw aardwolves.

Sightings have been spectacular as they always are at Tswalu. We were the first group in after a 6 month refurbishment and it was like being on a shake down cruise. Rooms finished right before we arrived so like any new construction hiccups at first. But the rooms and lodge are fantastic now. New dining direction under some famous chef has messed up the meals. It was great before. Hopefully it will either improve or they go back to the wonderful food they had before.

Just went to the meerkats this morning only four people went out. Almost everyone is flying back to USA tonight so they are facing a long day ahead.

Warthog and the dogs



Dog came right up to the vehicle

Springbok “pronging” they get so high




Lioness and her cubs

RIP Pumba.

We had an interesting day . We went to the animal farm recommended by Ngaire and although it was a cold rainy day, we had a great time petting cheetahs and zebra and snuggling with baby meerkats.

When we got back to Birkenhead House, I went to take a shower and found a really big baboon on my balcony enjoying a banana. I went for my camera but he wasn’t in the mood and jumped up onto the roof. Pandemonium ensued as the guys here tried to get him down. Meanwhile 2 baboons got into and trashed my niece and nephews room. They had to sanitize the room afterwards as apparently baboons leave behind some very stinky evidence of their visit. Very exciting!

Early trip tomorrow morning back to CapeTown for our flight to
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Helen

Wow Helen baboons attacking. I know they are around the area but never seen them at Birkenhead House before. Hope your family attracts lots of other animals like wild dogs and cheetahs. See you this afternoon at Lion Sands.

Yikes Helen, we've never see baboons at Birkenhead. That is amazing. You'll always have the image in your memory.

Tom & I went to that animal farm (they use them for movies).I took a zillion photos that day. I sat on a zebra, we had lots of fun there.

Is Pumba that really old lion ?

Marcie, Pumba is/was the warthog in The Lion King. Every time I see a warthog I hear Nathan Lane in my head singing “When I was a Young Warthog “ 🤪
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Helen

haha...the one with no worries, now I get it. I'm a bit SLOW.

Just FYI about to start a contest for the name for the 2021 SAFARI. Much easier if i have a name from the very beginning of my planning which I am starting this week. Need a great name we need more pins for safaris than any other trips. Prefer an animal name or something distinctly African.