How precious!!

Good afternoon drive.

Elephant day with the highlight being a group of females and babies when a huge bull in heat arrived. All the ladies offered up their rear ends so he could check them out but with babies already none of them were ready for his attention. He just ambled off looking for other females. He was huge in comparison to the females. Ken will post this sighting as the picture of the day.

Also saw a lot of rhinos and a large herd of Buffalo. Plus three more sleeping lions.

Tomorrow we leave for Dulini and meet the rest of the group.

You're kill'n me...keep 'em coming. I've seen similar with my own eyes but can NEVER get enough of these beautiful creatures. LOVE this !! ❤️

We decided to not go out this morning as we were changing lodges.

Now we are at Dulini. Stunning rooms, large, lots drawers, really comfortable. Sat on the deck for lunch and a whole group of elephants joined us, a lovely start. The lodge has large deck area and beautifully laid out and comfortable.

We did see lions but not much action. Crossed the river a couple of times that was fun and saw some Hippos. I think from here I will just post the exciting things we see and Ken will post a picture a day. Nothing this afternoon to post. Often this way on the first drive as everyone gets settled in.

So did not look good this morning. It was raining and we put on the rain ponchos. Very quiet as the animals hunker down in the rain. However we saw a lot of elephants and I saw two elephant encounters I have never seen before.

First was a wonderful sighting where the elephants including a little one came within feet of the vehicle.Always fun to be that close. Then the expression “all hell broke lose” describes what happened next. Suddenly there was a stampede of all the elephants and trumpeting like I have never heard before. It was deafening. There was so much noise we knew there was another whole herd. The Ranger suspected there was animosity between these two herds.

Second special sighting we came across a bull elephant in musth. Normally I like to stay clear of these guys when they are in musth as they can go loco and get very aggressive. For those that don’t know what musth means it is when he has ladies on his mind.

He was on a mission to knock down trees paying no attention to the vehicles. This is something I have always wanted to see, an elephant knocking down a tree. He tried a fairly big tree and it made a cracking sound but did not fall. So he went to another tree and it was still quite large and he succeeded in knocking it over. The power of a big bull elephant is amazing.
Unfortunately we could not get a picture as he was in the trees. We decided to not push our luck and left him trying to take aggression out on another tree.

Now the rain has gone and the sun is out so this afternoon should be good.

Ellie Group One first night at Dulini

Fantastic afternoon. Highlights. Finding a leopard who was chewing on a skeleton then vocalized between two of our vehicles. He walked off but we found him again in a dry river bed. Then on the way home we found a male lion. It was dark by then so we were using the light. Called the other two vehicles to join us. We stayed with him for a while and then he started roaring. Have not heard a lion roaring for several years. Then on the way back we saw a honey badger and a servet. Both of these animals are rarely seen.

Tonight we had a four course dinner with wine pairings. I ate things I never thought I would eat and the food was truly outstanding. Probably the most gourmet meal I have ever experienced. Tomorrow for lunch we are doing a make your own topping gourmet pizza,

Ken’s leopard picture of the day he will do tomorrow.

Reading your posts is always my excitement of the day.
A bull elephant in mush is definitely a sight to see. We saw one knock down a big tree on his "mission" !! love seeing friends in the group shot...everyone looks fabulous. I'll be excited to see Ken's "elusive" leopard photos. Those photos are tough to catch. If anyone can get it, it's Ken !

So how does a leopard and lion in the same tree with a kill sound. Far fetched?

It happened today. Fortunately we all got to see it. The leopard was in the tree with a kill. A lioness climbed the tree and stole what was left of the kill. Another lioness was waiting below. Eventually the kill dropped and the other lioness grabbed it. The lioness in the tree had a hard time getting down.

Ken is posting pictures now from last night and from this morning.

Absolutely fantastic shots, Ken! What software program do you use to upload to LCT?

Wow the sightings are great. We had another young male lion roaring and vultures on a kill with a hyena grabbing a leg and the lioness with a full belly sitting on the sidelines.

Pizza did not work out well as it was taking too long to cook. But we all had a great time but we will forgo this idea with group two.

Great reports and pictures. We can’t wait to join you for Group 2!

So yesterday afternoon. There was an impala kill by two female lions. The vultures came in and we had a great sighting of them flying in and out of the kill. A hyena turned up and grabbed a leg.

Then we had a different young male lion roaring at dusk. I love watching roaring the power they have is amazing. There are three young males here at Dulini and they chased out the older male. They do roar and communicate so that is good.

This morning they found two other female lions. When we arrived we could not see the lions but the other vehicle said the lions had flanked some waterbucks hoping for a kill. We sat quietly then suddenly thrashing in the bush and right in front of our vehicle (about 15 ft) a large male waterbuck came streaking across the road followed closely by two lions. They missed the kill.

We continued following the lions but lost them in thick bush. Later we were taking one more pass by the area our ranger thought they may be and we heard a loud noise. Our tracker said “that’s a kill”. It was really close, we got there when one lion was still suffocating a kudu. Fortunately the back of the animal was facing our vehicles so it was not an unpleasant sighting.

Sightings have been amazing. Not a lot of plains animals but we know we will see them at the other lodges.

Jim, Ken uses Smugmug and just posts the links, but they have changed their website and it is now more complicated to use. May be better options out there now.

We left for the afternoon game drive and immediately came across a male leopard. We stayed with him for quite a while and he posed beautifully for us climbing up and down trees.

Then we went back to the kill and the lions had their three small cubs with them. The rangers have been waiting for these cubs to come out and be seen. They are about three months old. Absolutely adorable.

We leave Dulini in the morning flying to Cheetah Plains. Been a great stay looking forward to coming back to Dulini.

We are really enjoying all the photos and are delighted for you that you are back on safari, which has always been close to your traveling heart! So glad you are having such great sightings. Ken’s photos are, as usual, quite wonderful and capture the essence of Safari. We were quite amazed, in particular, to see a lion up a tree at the same time as the leopard which caught the antelope. Not only had we not heard of such a thing, but had never seen it, that’s for sure.
We also had never heard anyone mention the Dulini Safari Lodge which looks fabulous.
ENJOY!!

Our ranger working for 14 years had never seen a lion and leopard in the same tree. Ken and I have seen it once but this sighting was better than the first.

I previewed the refurbished Dulini River Lodge in 2018, loved it and booked it for 2020 but now of course staying in 2021. It is a great lodge.

Our next lodge is Cheetah Plains that we fly to this morning. I also selected this lodge in 2018 and I spent the night there. This is a new for this group as well. Anticipate this will be excellent also. Fun trying a new lodge and they usually flex pretty easily to the way we like to do things.

Now at Cheetah Plains. Beautiful lodge, good food. They have a pride of 11 lions. Seen Leopard stalking, lots of elephants, and this morning wild dog. The dogs were for the most part just relaxing but having them here offers the chance of great excitement.

The great sightings continued and it has warmed up a little. This morning we very quickly were on standby for a male leopard. This leopard was in his prime. We got great shots and he walked to a water hole and had a drink. He was looking at impala but he was spotted and the impala started alarm calling so no hope for the leopard. We left to make room for another one of our vehicles.

Then Cheetah tracks were found and then they found the Cheetah. Of course every vehicle wanted to see the Cheetah it is a rare sighting. We got to the Cheetah towards the end of our drive and it was probably the best time. He was walking and went up a termite mound for a perfect pose. He was obviously in hunting mode but there was no game in sight.

Two great sightings in one morning that was a great ganpme drive. Ken is working on pictures.

So happy to be back at Mala Mala. Main camp and Sable are full but we are the first guests at Rattrays since the shut down. They had all the staff standing outside singing for us on arrival. It was great to see familiar faces. For many of you have been to Mala Mala Trevor the Batman has retired. We do miss him.

On arrival at Mala Mala we were greeted with the presence of a huge male lion. His head was up and it was fun to see him so quickly.

Bruce is no longer a ranger, now promoted and over the protection of the reserve but he Is driving for us, which is very appreciated. Becke the chef is still here with a fantastic dinner last night. Lamb roast cooked perfectly was one of the offerings.

First day we stopped to see the male lion again. He was watching the vultures. Then we saw two saddle billed storks. Absolutely stunning huge birds. This is the only lodge where we see these birds they are quite rare. Then we saw a journey of 19 male giraffes. Some were necking, mock fighting. Zebra were traveling with them it was a stunning scene. They just kept coming. Elephants are everywhere. Always fun to watch. We finished the drive with a view of the 4 month old leopard cubs. Not a great sighting we will try and see them again.

This morning was a great adventure. Within five minutes we saw a male leopard. We followed him through thick bush knocking down trees it was so much fun. We stayed with him a long time and then other vehicles arrived and we pulled out. Mark asked the ranger, Tubs if he gets flat tires doing the type of off roading and the ranger said no, it had been two years. We spent time with the elephants and then we got a flat tire. We blamed Mark for that.

Looking forward to this afternoon and a better view of the leopard cubs.

Bateleur Eagle


Little excitement in the Buffalo Herd


Our welcome male lion


The Saddle Billed Stork


Journey of giraffes


The male leopard we followed through the bush


Impalas spotting the leopard


Leopard with Barb taking a picture

Mala mala had a posting on Facebook yesterday about Rattreys opening for the first time and they showed the arriving guests. Who do you think the guests where ?

Yes, it was so wonderful. So many of the staff were singing and dancing it was super special. Mala Mala is a wonderful place and I absolutely love being here. Tonight we had a a full beef tenderloin that was as good as any I have had in the past. One of my favorite places on earth. So sad our cruise was cancelled and then the post safari. I was so looking forward to having so many come and experience the delights of Mala Mala.

More outstanding sightings today. An active Hyena den and cheetah were the highlights. We searched for the leopard others saw in the morning but to no avail.
Coming home we saw a civet, genet and side striped jackel all within five minutes.

More, More ! You make my day reading about your days. Thanks for taking us on your daily drives. Love all of your detailed postings and Ken's GREAT photos. We love Mala Mala. Enjoy your pampering.

This morning herd of about 300 Cape Buffalo. So great to see such a big herd. Bruce said the lions will be somewhere behind this herd. We went through the bush and there they were. Sixteen lions in total including the two big males. Then he heard the wild dogs. So we left the lions to go to the dogs. They were calling so we kept getting closer, unfortunately they crossed over the river and out of Mala Mala.

Will update after this afternoon drive.

So today we started with finding the lioness that has the cubs. But no cubs. We followed her for a while and another lioness joined her. We think she left her cubs on the property next door and will bring the lion cubs over tomorrow.

We saw a bull elephant shaking a giant tree to get the berries. The power these elephants have is amazing.

Little bee eaters having a dust bath in the road. Stunning birds.

Finishing up with a leopard being chased up into a tree by hyenas.

Our rangers spotlight was not working but he still saw a chameleon in a tree and bought the chameleon over to us to see.

Hate that tomorrow is our last day but happy Ken and I will be coming back for another group.

Elephants from our room


Female lioness missing her cubs


Alex, Barbara, Scott and Mitchell’s


Kudu on a termite mound very unusual sight


Bee Eaters taking a dust bath


Leopard chased up into a tree by hyenas.


Chameleon

Great last morning. Started with elephants chasing hyena, four hyena and pups playing. Followed by the finding of the five lions cubs about 4 months old. The male lion was with them as one of the females was in heat. Daddy did some action in front of the cubs. Guess they learn the facts of life at an early age.

Ken will post pictures later.

About to leave for Makanyi, hate to leave Mala Mala

First night very quiet. Just some elephants with good encounters. However first morning was fantastic. The Birmingham pride, a group of about ten lions were mobile and we followed them. One made a run at kudu but missed. It was so much fun they got on some rocks laying in the sun. Really difficult to follow but we found a way. One the best following lions in the daylight experiences I have ever had.

This group has four small cubs but they were not along on the hunt. Hope we see them before we leave. To end the day we saw a big male and two females on a Buffalo kill.

Zebras at Mala Mala they suddenly started running full speed


Cubs at Mala Mala










Daddy with sex education at an early age.

As usual, the pictures are spectacular. Can't wait to get there.

First set of COVID tests for return travel done at Makanyi. Testing paramedics arrived on time, mouth swab rather than nasal, much easier. Tests done 10.00 am and the results received back early the next morning. Worked great.

Sorry it has been quiet since we got to Makanyi internet issues as can happen in the bush and just been very busy. Overview of the time here.

Great elephants with good encounters little ones charging the vehicle showing off how big they were. Love that. The Birmingham pride, a group of about ten lions were mobile and we followed them. One made a run at kudu but missed. It was so much fun they got on some rocks laying in the sun. Really difficult to follow but we found a way. One the best following lions in the daylight experiences I have ever had. This group has four small cubs but they were not along on the hunt. Hope we see them before we leave.

Part of the same Birmingham pride made a Buffalo kill and there is a big male and three females. We have followed that up on all the game drives and now almost nothing left. Hyenas around but not approaching the lions.

Wild dogs and hyenas fighting over a kill. I missed that sighting but saw the videos hope to find the dogs this evening.

Fun sightings. Saw a hyena up to its head in the water. An ostrich which is a rare sighting. New born giraffe with umbilical cord still attached. Had water buck, lots of wildebeest and impala right at our deck today.

Some pictures from Ken will follow.