James Hendry presenting with Bryan Joubert on camera
Jamie Paterson presenting with Jeandré Gerding on camera.
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
James
starts the drive already on Cheetah plains waiting for the sun to rise for an
amazing view from an open clearing.
Jamie,
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:06
Jamie starts her morning on Quarantine clearing with a huge herd of impala.
She
heard lions calling before she left camp however she is unsure where they were
coming from.
While
Jamie tracks either lions or leopard maybe even both, she sends us to James.
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:11
The sun has started rising and we watch it come up from behind a tree very
beautiful view, as I am sure you can tell from my excessive amount of
screenshots.
Two
ground hornbills, but they fly off. Wow they are huge and with the white on the
end of their wings it's amazing to see them fly.
06:24
Tawny eagle
Yellow-throated
petronia and Burchell's starlings in the same tree as the eagle
Jamie,
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06:30
Still searching and tracking the lions.
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:38 One
of the ground hornbills is on the ground.
James is
being a dare devil today he is living on the edge, he dangerously trespasses a
few steps into Kruger National park and picks a few leaves from a tree he
doesn't know.
James
heard on the radio that Cheetahs are headed south towards Cheetah plains, so
while he figures out where he is and where he will not get arrested for going
he sends us to Jamie.
Jamie,
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:51
No lions yet, but Jamie and Jeandré had quite the experience while they weren't
live, and we trying to show us lions. They found elephants who had apparently found
the lions because they were not happy elephants, well at least the bull wasn't.
As I said they weren't live for this, but she tells the story very well.
An
elephant bull it seems was showing off him massive size by messing with the
vehicle Jamie and Jeandré had to slap the car and yell quite loudly to get him
to back off. When she tried to pull away
from him he decided to give a bit of a chase so she had to reverse towards him
to back him off.
Therefore
there is a large uneasy breeding herd of elephants and a large upset ellie bull
all around the lions so Jamie is giving them a chance to move off, or what
probably will happen, the elephants to chase off the lions, then she will go
back to get us a view or re-track the lions.
Crash
cut to James
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:54
Side stripped Jackals for a minute then right back to Jamie
Jamie,
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
06:55
She now has a grey heron
07:05
Dwarf mongooses warming themselves in the sun
Vervet
monkey
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
07:10 Cheetah
Woo-Hoo. James has found the same two male cheetahs that are regulars to the
area. We get to watch them walk into Cheetah plains with their long slanky
bodies and a basketball size round protrusion that is there belly. They are
very full and in the belly region very round. So exciting!! The radio communications
get a bit mixed up because James can't hear all the guides in the area, so
after a few minutes he has to leave the sighting and let the others that were
on standby in and get back in the stand by line. The cheetahs have laid down in
the shade so we get great views before James has to leave.
When
James leaves the cheetahs we go to a nearby pan to view Elephants drinking at
Cheetah pan yes on Cheetah plains.
A domestic
house sparrow lands on the vehicle hood (bonnet).
An approximately
fifteen year old elephant bull tries to get cheeky, with the vehicle, several
times in fact. He just seems to not give up. He is not big enough to scare us
but that doesn’t stop him from trying, which makes for a cute sighting. Sorry
little guy few more years before you can scare us off.
Jamie,
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Is
still searching for the lions again they seem to have separated
She
comes across a couple impala rams but they don't stay long.
She
shows us a porcupine quill she found
Impala
herd
She
runs into Sam in one of the guiding vehicles who has been out learning the
roads, they have a short chat and we move on.
African
hawk eagle pair
James on Cheetah Plains `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Back
with the Cheetahs and they are up and walking back towards the open areas
James
tries to follow them into a thick area but it is just too thick so he goes back
out and finds them lying under a bush.
Funny
seems more normal to me to see big cats in bushes then just out in the open.
We
had a great amount of time with the cheetahs so James is pulling out and
heading back towards Djuma.
Jamie,
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Jamie
has FINALLY found us a lion, I only say finally because she said it; I couldn’t
track a lion on a flat surface with ink on its paws. Oh it's not a lioness it’s a MALE, Someone
else called her on the radio to say he has found the females. So she is
thrilled she was right there was a male with the females, and the elephants had
in fact chased the lions. It just took them awhile to come out of the thick
block. She is right on the Buffelshoek boundary with him, he is sniffing the
ground intently seems to be following someone or something. If he continues that way he is out of our
traversing area. He is pacing and searching but does end up going north into
Buffelshoek so Jamie heads to find the females.
And
there they are the Nkuhuma lioness pride well four of them. They are all awake
but lying down with heads up. We spend the rest of the drive watching them all
with heads up looking around.
Jamie says all her thank
yous and goodbyes for the afternoon.
James and the Thumb as well
as Bryan say goodbye for the afternoon.
End of Drive
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