South Africa Day 7: Crouching impala, hidden leopard

Monday was spent in a futile search for lions; however, I did bag an interesting episode with a leopard, so my catless days were over. I left Olifants early and went back towards Balule, but not a single lion was to be seen there, so I set course south towards Satara.

Now, the landscape between Olifants and Satara is maybe the most "savannah" you'll find in Kruger. In my childhood I remember watching documentaries from the Serengeti (I think), and those pictures of the endless grass made a real mark upon a young, impressionable mind. In other words, I fell in love with this area from the very first moment I laid eyes upon it.

Mom and baby giraffe. Goofy and cute.


Mom and baby zebra. Cute.




I hadn't gone very far on the road before I saw a couple of cars parked. Sometimes this means lions, sometimes it's a congregation of birdwatchers, nature's most pointless beings. I pulled up and was told they had spotted a leopard and a cub; both had now gone into hiding.

I was inclined to press on; readers will know how little love I have for situations where people have seen a leopard and are willing to wait an hour because maybe a cat is willing to take requests from the public. Yeah, right. But I was desperate for cats and so hung around for a couple of seconds.

This was fortunate, because right then, the leopard crossed the road behind me; in my mirror, I saw her disappear into the grass on the other side. We all turned our cars around and the next half hour was spent observing the cat trying to sneak up on a bunch of grazing impalas.

We weren't exactly the target, so she didn't care if we saw her butt.


She lay down there for about half an hour.


Video of the stalking leopard. She's just to the left of the tree, under the bush.


Sadly for her and for us (and for you bloodthirsty bastards out there), one of the impalas got wise to the situation and let out a series of long, hoarse barks, which probably translated to "there's a fucking leopard in the grass", and had the effect of sending the herd into a howling, jumping frenzy. The cat just got up and left, passing right in front of my car and disappearing on the other side again.

After this excitement, I continued on and saw an ostrich, a kori bustard and finally some type of eagle that was feasting on roadkill. Wildebeest were playfighting in the grass and naturally, there were impalas and zebras everywhere.

Ostrich.


Looks like a kori bustard according to the drawings in my Honeyguide map. Probably a young 'un and/or a female, as the grown males are described by Wikipedia as "[maybe] the heaviest living animal capable of flight".


The eagle. Could be a Wahlberg's eagle.


The dark tip of the beak points (see what I did there) to it being a Wahlberg's. Oh lord, does this mean I'm turning into a birdwatcher? I'd rather slit my wrists and end it now.


I stopped in at Satara, then quickly left again and first went over to the waterhole where I had seen lion cubs the year before. This time it was all empty and quiet, so I continued north to Timbavati picnic site, then farther north to Ratelpan Hide. Here, I had a long talk with a couple who had been living in the UK for several years, both were engineers, but originally from countries in Eastern Europe. I also talked a bit with some elderly English South Africans, very nice people all.

Wildebeest locking horns.


The waters outside the hide were infested with effin large crocs and up the dam there were hippos snoring. A couple of African swallows had built a nest inside the hide and were busy flying in and out around our heads. Sadly, I did not get to ask them about their capacity to carry coconuts.

Hippos snoring.


Nasty mofos.


I really, really like swallows. Lovely birds. Probably has to do with childhood memories.


I pushed on north along dusty gravel roads, the kind I love so much. I saw ellies and a couple of flocks of baboons; in one of them, a couple of monkeys were merrily pursuing a large colony of possums, who were protesting loudly at being evicted in such a rude way. The wittle baboon babies riding their mothers' back were unspeakably cute as always.

Wittle baby baboon all alone.


This one was riding the mommy train.




By now, I was so far north that I decided to chance the Balule road again and then have a late lunch at Olifants. The road was yet again empty and barren, so I settled in at camp to stuff face on an excellent hamburger. As I was shoveling the last pieces of meat into my ugly mug, I looked up to see the two Eastern Europeans greeting me. I immediately waved them over and we spent the next hour just talking and talking and talking.

A most excellent hamburger.


Finally, I drove back to Satara (and yes, by way of Balule) and nothing much happened until I was almost at camp. Again, a couple of cars were parked, and I soon saw a young hyena between them, not caring one iota about their presence.

Not caring.


The next ten minutes were spent filming and watching what eventually turned out to be a litter of four young 'uns. They'd probably been left to their own devices while the adults were out hunting, and they were insufferably cute.

Hyena pup video 1:


Hyena pup video 2:


Not thirty seconds after leaving the hyenas, I happened upon two jackals who were having an argument with a group of birds. Thirty seconds thereafter, several cars were parked and this time it did turn out to be lions they were looking at.

Video of jackals in the road:


However, I had no chance to see them from my position and as the gates were soon closing and I'm anal-retentive about following such rules, I had to press on. Yet another lionless day was closed out with a burger.

Last video of the day, a paean to the beauty of Kruger.