I have been away for a couple of weeks on holidays, so it was very frustrating to receive so many emails with so many cool photos of the many sightings we have had over recent days and weeks. In fact I would say that the volume and quality of sightings on safaris has never been higher than these days. I am downright jealous of what our guests are seeing these days, t be honest. I wish I was more out there myself to see these stunning animals, but work and then also the fact that we are almost always fully booked means that there is no space left on the game driver for myself.
Anyhow, I am back at work now, and I can’t wait to resume sharing the best of the best we see on our game drives with all our fans!
So here some very pretty photos of a breathtaking elephant encounter a few days ago.
Mike and Uyai were out with our guests when they came across the entire herd. The male is in heat these days, so he was acting, well, let’s say he wasn’t in the best of all moods, to say the least. As a result Uyai had to move off his front hood tracker seat back into the vehicle, next to Mike, as Mike felt it was too dangerous to leave him in front and up close to a volatile and aggressive elephant.
The whole herd could be seen, and eventually the male relaxed enough and they all moved on. What an amazing sighting! Wish I had been there, I have not seen the elephants in a while, though we see them all now very regularly. The herd is also growing nicely, and I believe they must be 15 specimen now, while it was only 11 just 2-3 years ago, so it’s very cool to see them do so well on our reserve. Their numbers will probably keep on rising, as the conservancy is so large now (over 36,000 acres) and with so much plant growth that we believe the reserve could easily absorb a herd twice the size. There is still debate over this, but stubbornly thick bush seems to be answering the question in a natural way. Sometimes the proof is just in the pudding, and one should just observe and listen to nature, and it will give one the obvious answers to these complex questions.
We are also in the midst of releasing the super-rare black rhino on the reserve (and that’s REALLY exciting news!!), so as soon as the first sightings of this crucially endangered animal will come in I will spoil you with the photos of it.
I cannot wait for the day that I can proudly say that we are one of only a very few reserves in South Africa where one can see this species, of which only 3000 specimen survive in the wild at the moment. What an honor and pleasure to being able to help this beautiful animal survive in this world where all too little space is left for them!
