Photo Safari to Timbavati Game Reserve 2012 Jun 3-6

The animal of the trip was decidedly the leopard...

Hello again after a few months hiatus!  Once again, I've let work get in the way of my personal life but I suppose gainful employment is a good way to guarantee future travel.

Timbavati Private Game Reserve: Located on the west side of Kruger Park in South Africa.  Near the Orpen Gate entrance to Kruger.

Red arrow shows route from Hoedspruit

We stayed at the Rock Fig Lodge, a peaceful cozy lodge with a real bush feeling.  If you like being "in the bush" close to nature, you would love Rock Fig.  It has 5 chalets; one of which is a duplex and one a suite; and can sleep 8 people.  Be aware the entire facility is rented out to one party at a time.  The cost is about $6,800 rand per night, which is less than $900 USD.  This means slightly over $100 per night per person for 8 people.  I'm telling you this is excellent value for money!!! With this you get all your game drives with one of the best guides I've had; Martin Stone, who took all the pictures on their website: http://www.rockfig.co.za/default.htm

Rock Fig is a self catering lodge but you can arrange for a chef to cook your meals, which we did and the food was excellent.

A few pictures of the lodge by the lazy photographer:

My room

Dinning area

Sitting Room with Fireplace

My Chalet

There is also a pool on the property, a covered lapa for sitting outside, a covered viewing area overlooking a waterhole and a circular fire pit for gathering at night...all lovely.

What I really like is the fact that you have it all to yourself! Perfect for a group of friends, or in our case a "click" of photographers.  Enough gushing...

This was a 3 day trip...6 game drives in all...with Colin Mead, well-known photographer living in Johannesburg for a number of years now.  You can find him at the popular Bryanston Organic Market and on-line at: http://www.colinmead.co.za/ Colin goes on safari about once a month, rotating between Timbavati and Medikwe.  For the truely adventurous he takes a group to Antartica every year and he may do another trip to Uganda.  If interested, book with Colin early as his trips are popular and the Timbavati trip fills up several months in advance.  His groups are small and the people nice...always lots of fun and excellent animal sightings. 

Day 1 - Afternoon Drive

This healthy male leopard was spotted about 5 minutes into the first game drive about a half a kilometer from the lodge.  Our spotter, Isaac, caught a glimpse as we were driving across a dry riverbed.  I don't know how Isaac saw him.  The game drive vehicle was already nearly through the dry river when he told the driver to stop and go back...he thought he saw a leopard.  The leopard was just visible in the distance and I could barely see him after being shown where to look.  It wasn't because we were newbees, within our group we had very experienced safari people; Ray who takes a group to Tanzania every year, Maureen who has been taking pictures of animals for years and attended a Kruger's honorary guide training and Colin who has been taking pictures of African animals for 30 years, etc.  It was a phenomenal spotting.  It took us awhile to traverse the dry river bed...we actually had to drive around and come in from the other side. The leopard was given an african tribal name which means Weeping boer-bean tree because he frequently stores his kill in this large dry riverbed tree.  Once alongside we could see Boer-bean's distended stomach and heavy panting, which aids digestion.  Soon his kill, an Impala, was spotted in a tree along the river bank.

First spotted from a distance, our leopard lying along the edge of a dry river bed

" Weeping boer bean tree" resting in a river bed

What a handsome guy!

Martin, our guide, recognized the leopard. Leopards can be identified by spot patterns on their face, although I think Martin recognized him without the aid of spot patterns.  Boer-bean was extremely nice looking, photogenic and didn't mind the game drive vehicle and incessant camera clicking...very good natured.  He would be easy to recognize.

After exhausting ourselves taking pictures of Boer-bean, we finally set out to explore a bit more of the reserve.

Steen bok...abnormally still

My photography the remainder of the drive wasn't particularly interesting but I did get a photo of this cooperative steen bok.  I think it's the first picture of a steen bok I've taken that wasn't like the one below:



Typical steen bok photo...they rarely stand still for long!

There were elephants slowly making their way through the bush.

"Brave" youngster sticking pretty close to mother

In the vicinity of the  Rock Fig Lodge, there is a pride of lions containing 2 primary females, one grandmother and 6 sub-adults.  I don't recall how many males are in this pride and they didn't show themselves during the trip.  The females and sub-adults, however, had been following a herd of 600 cape buffalo and we caught up with them at around sunset.

Lions resting as usual

Young male with his short life's roadmap etched on his nose...

If you are a bird lover...and I am...it is always a pleasure to see an owl.  Taking a picture of an owl, however, is another matter.  Why, you may ask?  Easy answer...you have to be pretty close to get a half decent shot in the pitch black of night!  I was delighted to get the pink eyelids of this Giant Eagle Owl.  The largest african owl.

Giant Eagle Owl searching for dinner

Day 2 - Morning Drive

The next morning we spotted Boer-bean again just after leaving camp.  He was in the tree with his left-over kill.  Apparently he slept there during the night for protection.

We pulled up very close to watch. Suddenly we realized a spotted hyena was lurking nearby.  Apparently it had smelled the kill and was looking for a free lunch.  Boer-bean had placed the impala carcass high in the tree where it was quite safe since hyenas can't climb.

Hopeful spotted hyena

Boer-bean was well aware of the hyena and soon after we arrived he got up, stretched, and climbed out as far as he could on the tree limb.  From there he entertained us by making a tremendous leap to the side of the river embankment.  Below is the picture I got with my Nikkon 300 mm fixed lens:  Somehow I doubt it will make the advert...

Leopard making a phenomenal jump from tree branch to river bank...

After relieving himself, Boer-bean started paying close attention to the hyena.

Boer-bean clamly monitoring the hyena's movements...

He suddenly chased the hyena back to a more respectful distance.

Boer-bean asserting his authority!

He didn't actually chase the hyena...he growled and hissed...it was very convincing and effective.  The hyena didn't run off entirely.  He retreated to a safe distance and sat and watched.  For my photographer friends...yes I realize my f-stop was set too low! (causing bluring of the hyena above)  Thank you very much!

Never, never, never give up!

I admired the hyena's perserverance.  Maybe he knew more about the leopard's habits than we did.  By this time another game drive vehicle from a neighboring lodge came to take a look. You can see the feet of the "spotter", who was sitting on the front of the vehicle.  Both vehicles were very close to the animals and it was quite exciting.  The hyena continued to move around some and I took another shot of it in the sun before we left to see if we could find the lions.

Still hopeful...

We found the buffalo and Martin thought the lions might be close.  Keep in mind this is a herd of 600 or so buffalo and they were spread throughout the bush.

Cape buffalo...very grummpy when in a bad mood...but ususally dumb looking and docile...

It wasn't long before we spotted them, first they were a ways off and not actively pursuing the buffalo.  Instead the seemed to be planned an approach and considering their chances.

Lion in the distance...looking for the buffalo

We drove around some, trying to position ourselves...looking for the perfect spot to witness and document any attacks.  I'm still hoping to one day take a serious picture of the cape buffalo...but not if they keep showing up like this!

What the!!??!

Soon the stalking lion came throught the bush with deliberation and purpose.



On a mission...

The pride was lead by this beautiful, strong and confident female...that is in the absence of the males.  The hunting party would have been strengthened considerably if the males showed up.  Again, there were 2 strong females, a grandmother and 6 young males less than a year old.  They had killed a buffalo a few days earlier. Martin said the young ones didn't play a direct role, more indirect in acting as a distraction and adding confusion.  I asked about the grandmother, who was quite thin and considerably weaker looking than the other females.  What role did she play in the kill?  Incredulously, Martin said she jumped on the back of the buffalo and stayed there until they brought him down.

The boss...

Sub-adults come on the scene...

The pride awaits her decision...

Things weren't looking too good.  The lions were hoping to catch an unaware straggler but the buffalo didn't give them much opportunity.

Sub-adults waiting sleepily with grandma...

Nothing against the buffalo, but frankly, I was cheering for the lions.  Unfortunately, they went hungry from what we saw.  We slowly started making our way back towards the sundowner spot when we came across zebra rolling in dust...can't say I've seen that before...not sure the pictures are that great but here they are:

Here's a nice place to roll!

Ahhhhhh!

That's better...

There were more animals on the game drive...Blue Wildebeest... Warthogs...nothing noteworthy in terms of pictures.  What a game drive! It will go down as one of my best, that's for sure!

Day 2 - Afternoon Drive

Just after leaving camp we checked on Boer-bean...him being so close to the camp and all...he was still groggy and not moving much.  Martin thought he would go for a drink later so we decided to check out a nearby water hole while waiting for the star of the show to gather himself together.
Elephants!!!! Will I ever get tired of watching them?  The elephant is intelligent and expressive, playful, and has a well developed social structure.  They are always up to something. Such as this young fella...
We watched him carry on for a couple minutes rubbing the base of his trunk on the crest of a small hill.



Young elephant rubbing trunk in sand...

And how about this one...can't you see the joy!

Oh happy day!

The breeding herd having a drink

Before leaving the water hole...how about a little dust bath?

The water hole was active; the entertaining elephants, a few zebra and birds.  Martin, our guide extraordinaire, speculated that Boer-bean would need a drink soon so it might be worth hanging around.

Zebra came to drink...

Shot with a 300 mm fixed lens...cut the butt off the zebra on the right...woe is me!

Triple banded plover (lapwing) with a worm

Just when things started slowing up at the waterhole guess who showed up?

Boer-bean headed for the water hole...

Looks like a nice spot...

Lekker!!!  Nice to have water to wash down the impala!!!

After drinking, Boer-bean continued to entertain us with his consumate cat behavior...lots of sniffing...territorial marking...the usual stuff.



Boer bean relaxing in the bush

Then after posing for us in excellent lighting, he decided it was time to go.

I broke the unwritten but widely accepted rule of no butt shots.  Boer bean was so nice to look at from any angle...

We followed him on a half-hearted hunting trip...first he stalked some spur-fowl...

Hiding behind a rock

Then he came across a flock of guinea fowl...


Stalking guinea fowl

I don't think the cost/benefit assessment warranted the energy expenditure...

Guinea fowl in upper far right corner...

And just when we thought we had seen everything...we were treated to the leopard roll!  Which produced cute poses of Boer bean lying on his back with his feet in the air.

After that, as the light grew dim, Boer bean strolled off into the bush and that was the last we saw of him. We headed back towards camp to the sundowner spot.

Magical full moon in the bush...

With that, we called it a day and what a day it was!! Another all time best game drive...thank you Colin, Martin, Iaasic, and the rest of the gang at Rock Fig Lodge!


Day 3 - Morning Drive

After following Boer Bean for a day and a half, we set out to discover the other animals of Timbavati.  I'm a birder of sorts and can never pass up a picture of the violet breasted roller.

Picture number 934 of lilac breasted roller

Impala

We made a quick stop at the nearby dam...all was quiet...

Peaceful scene at the dam

We wanted to find the lions and before long came across the buffalo.  Finally I might have a chance for a serious buffalo picture. What is he doing?

Cape buffalo in mud

Cape buffalo trying to roll in mud

Cape buffalo with head in mud

After a futile attempt at rolling over, the buffalo got up and stuck his head in the mud...maybe I'll get a serious picture next time.

After finding the buffalo, we soon came across the lion, who were once again stalking the buffalo.  We thought we might get lucky and see a kill but not this time.  We followed the lion for probably at least an hour...driving through bush trying to position ourselves to get the best view in the event of an attack.  It was a great adventure but by that time the sun was already quite high and opportunities for good picure




Day 3 - Afternoon Drive