Being back at Kirkmans is like putting on an old pair of 'vellies'. Seeing all the staff has been wonderful. It really is a special place. Game drives have been nothing less than spectacular with a guide from Phinda - Mark Deacon. We followed up on monkeys 'alarming' in the Msuthu River yesterday afternoon hoping to find a leopard, but instead saw a breeding herd of elephant - this little ele belongs to the matriarch. The guests were very excited to hear that one of the Charlston lionesses with her litter of 3 cubs had been found (see picture below). There is a good chance that it is the same lioness that attacked the male in the photographs "lion fight" at the beginning of this blog.
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| Little ele showing off - not quite sure what to do with its trunk! |
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| Inquisitive little male cub exploring while mother sleeps. |
Sundowners out in the bush with a true African sunset - can you get better than sipping on a G&T, snacking on biltong and listening to the Afrrican sounds.
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| sip...sip sigh...mmmmm! |
Our drive this morning started with an incredible female leopard that I have not seen before at KK. She was relaxed and seemed to be on the scent of something - we watched her for about 30 minutes performing for us - climbing in, and around a Sausage Tree (Kigelia africana) and then sawwing* twice of us (see bottom of posting) up in the tree before she contiunued up onto Nipple Rock below camp where she sawwed another two times! This young female was more than likely coming into oestrus and hence her calling for a male! This has to be one my better leopard sightings that I have experienced!
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| New female leopard on rocks below Kirkman's Kamp |
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| Nats & Mal just north of Boomer's Crossing |
* sawwing or rasping is one of the sounds leopards make - it sounds like a long-toothed saw going through wood backwards and forwards. They do it as they mark territory or to attract the opposite sex.
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