Lions of Timbavati

[BA0701]

(10-13-2023, 01:35 AM)Potato Wrote:

(10-12-2023, 07:24 PM)BA0701 Wrote:

(10-12-2023, 11:28 AM)Potato Wrote: Tanda Tula update

Driving away, the guests couldn’t believe our luck and commented that the giraffe sighting was even better than the lion sighting the night before…and that is saying a great deal, as we had an awesome sighting the night before.  With gloomy, windy weather around, we knew that the nine members of the Sark Breakaway pride were likely to hunt.  We arrived on a large clearing near Nkhari as the pride was eyeing some distant wildebeest; some lions had split off to do the chasing while the others waited in ambush.  Sadly, for them, the distance was too great and the area too open, and they were eventually spotted, and the wildebeest ran off.  Carrying on, we followed the pride for a bit before they stumbled upon some impalas in a much better hunting area – it had cover and the pride got down to business.  We turned our lights off and waited.  The nervous energy of running hooves soon broke the silence, and although a slight bellow came from the darkness, it wasn’t enough to trigger a reaction from me.  It was only when the first growl emanated from the same patch of darkness that we realised that the lions had caught one, and we made our way to that area to find the sight of all nine lions fighting over their hors d’oeuvres for the night!  What a sight, and what a sighting to kick off the week. 



In between all this action, we were treated to all-around good general game viewing.  The lions were once again quite active this week.  The best part of the week was having the Sark Breakaways and their cubs set up base just outside Nkhari Homestead.  The pride had made a buffalo kill in the area, but due to the fact we hadn’t driven there for two days, we missed it!  Following the good feed, the pride spent three days in the same spot (anchored by the young cubs), but after that, they moved around and hunted in the area.  We ended the week with 15 members of the pride lazing around a drying pan on Nkhari as two of the Vuyela males joined the pride, with one lioness seemingly coming into oestrus…maybe we will get more cubs soon!  The only thing more impressive than 15 lions together this week was 20+ lions together!  The Giraffe Pride spent a few days in the eastern part of their territory, which meant we didn’t have to travel too far to see them.  They ended up finding the remains of a dead sub-adult hippo at Sunset Dam that the hyenas had been enjoying until that point.  The next day, the three small cubs were seen with the pride, but we did not venture out west to see them.  The Mayambula Pride visited our concession twice this week, but on both occasions, they walked around the eastern sections all night, but returned south on both occasions – this was no doubt due to the vocal nature of the Vuyela males.  Only one lioness of the River Pride showed up this week. 

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@Potato , did you mean to embed that war video in your post?

What war video wtf?

I meant to post that video:

I thought that might be the case. I'll PM you a link to what I removed from your post. No worries my friend, that is why I asked. Reply