Man it’s hard to get up a quarter to five!!! It’s even harder when the local Hyaena’s are laughing and howling all night. We still haven’t seen them yet but they seem to be close to the fence line at night. I’m looking forward to seeing them. So I’m driving the vehicle today. My first drive in about 3 weeks and in an old school Diesel Land Rover. It takes a bit of getting used to but it’s grand after a while. Mind you, you have to remember that they are people in the back seats! I think I nearly launched a few people from the back seat this morning. There were a few complaints anyway so I eased off the gas.
We were tipping away nicely anyway and I had to skid to a halt to view a herd of Buffalo. I’d say there were about 50 in the herd. It was amazing the way they were all standing in a circle with the calves in the middle. It was like a big phalanx of horns and testosterone. I pity any lion that has to try and kill one of them. They are mean looking and it’s no wonder they have a bad reputation for aggression against people. The old Bulls are the worst. They tend to stay a little bit away from the herd. They tend to stare out you directly trying to work out whether you’re a threat and then decide what to do. If they don’t like the look of you then they will attack and they don’t just mock charge you out of bravado. They have been rumoured to wait for people that have climbed tree’s to escape from their horns until the person is too weak and falls out and then kill them. Apparently the Shangaan call them the “Dacha Boys,” or Old Cranky Men. Actually I know a few of my uncles are a bit like that!
We drove on and looked for the Cheetah family but to no avail. We saw some more Bull Elephant’s though and it’s a bit unnerving to drive a Land Rover so close to a monster of an animal. I have a few good shots of my tracker Kevin ( A lad from Glasgow ) and the elephant. Well actually I don’t, I was too worried about getting the vehicle out of there in case the Bull decided to take exception to our presence. I guess I weighed up a good shot or self preservation! By the way, the Bull did decide to give us a fright and mock charged us at one stage. Kev on the tracker seat was told to stay put and don't make any sudden moves! As Pete and the lads would say, he had to check for stains after!!
Were off to Kruger National Park on Sunday so I’m looking forward to seeing my first wild Cat of some sort. We heard Lion yesterday morning roaring from close to the College but we can’t go to the area and investigate until we get the go ahead from the Reserve manager. Apparently he’s on holiday for 3 weeks so unless the Lions come to us we won’t be seeing them in the Timbavati for a while. We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled until then. It’s gonna be great when we finally get to do some walking trails without the vehicle. That’s when we experience real nature.
We were tipping away nicely anyway and I had to skid to a halt to view a herd of Buffalo. I’d say there were about 50 in the herd. It was amazing the way they were all standing in a circle with the calves in the middle. It was like a big phalanx of horns and testosterone. I pity any lion that has to try and kill one of them. They are mean looking and it’s no wonder they have a bad reputation for aggression against people. The old Bulls are the worst. They tend to stay a little bit away from the herd. They tend to stare out you directly trying to work out whether you’re a threat and then decide what to do. If they don’t like the look of you then they will attack and they don’t just mock charge you out of bravado. They have been rumoured to wait for people that have climbed tree’s to escape from their horns until the person is too weak and falls out and then kill them. Apparently the Shangaan call them the “Dacha Boys,” or Old Cranky Men. Actually I know a few of my uncles are a bit like that!
We drove on and looked for the Cheetah family but to no avail. We saw some more Bull Elephant’s though and it’s a bit unnerving to drive a Land Rover so close to a monster of an animal. I have a few good shots of my tracker Kevin ( A lad from Glasgow ) and the elephant. Well actually I don’t, I was too worried about getting the vehicle out of there in case the Bull decided to take exception to our presence. I guess I weighed up a good shot or self preservation! By the way, the Bull did decide to give us a fright and mock charged us at one stage. Kev on the tracker seat was told to stay put and don't make any sudden moves! As Pete and the lads would say, he had to check for stains after!!
Were off to Kruger National Park on Sunday so I’m looking forward to seeing my first wild Cat of some sort. We heard Lion yesterday morning roaring from close to the College but we can’t go to the area and investigate until we get the go ahead from the Reserve manager. Apparently he’s on holiday for 3 weeks so unless the Lions come to us we won’t be seeing them in the Timbavati for a while. We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled until then. It’s gonna be great when we finally get to do some walking trails without the vehicle. That’s when we experience real nature.
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