SAFARI ChEy IS IN THE HOUSE!: Sunrise Safari-July 8, 2016

Sunrise Safari- July 8, 2016

Good Morning to everyone from James who has David with him this morning on camera.

James is driving Maggie the Mahindra.

Jamie is out in the other vehicle assisted by Bryan.

James is hoping to connect up with the Nkahuma Female and her cubs this morning.

Over to Jamie with a large Waterbuk Bull.

Jamie is at Tree House Dam hoping that perhaps Karula might be around.

Jamie sees tracks of Karula with her cubs heading our way.

Looking very positive. The cub tracks are crisp and fresh

Jamie is going to be turning around and following these tracks

Over to James

The last couple of Saturdays have been "Cat-er-days" so we are hoping for a repeat of that.

This is the coldest month right now. By end of July it will start to warm up and once in mid August it will all of a sudden be summer temperatures.

James is taking a moment to feel the morning sun on his face.

Over to Jamie and she has been checking and she is second guessing herself to see if perhaps she missed tracks that might have crossed south into little Gowrie. She thinks still that the tracks she saw are too fresh so she still thinks she is here somewhere.

NOTE: I asked Final Control about a name change for Birmingham Males that was mentioned on a previous drive.

They quickly responded to me immediately saying " the Birmingham Males name has not been changed. Some other areas tend to call lions or leopards by other names. Gowrie Males is what Mala Mala calls the Birmingham Boys"

Back with James now and a viewer asked him if all of Africa is this cold. James gets out of the vehicle and proceeds to draw a quite large map on the road on the dam wall at Buffleshoek.

Map of Africa and Global warming

Here is a Map that was kindly shared on Twitter to me that I thought would be interesting to share with all of you. It shows the massive size that Africa is.

Over to Jamie with a Crested Barbet , Some Blue Waxbills and a Greater Blue Ear Starling.

Crested Barbet, Blue Waxbills, And A Greater Blue Ear Starling

Jamie just received a call from Herbert on the radio saying that he has found Male Leopard tracks which would make sense then as to why Karula up and disappeared so quickly. She would move out of the area to protect her cubs

There is a Vervet Monkey in the tree.
It is quite common for a single Vervet Monkey to stand guard high up in a tree to keep watch.

We attempted to link over to James but he is a frozen screen for the moment so we gratefully return to Jamie.
And now we are back with James who has walked quite a distance from the vehicle.

He walked all this way to obtain a piece of Bracket Fungus

James Walks A Long Way To Get Bracket Fungus

Heading to Twin Dams now.
We arrive at a completely dry Twin Dams

James gets out of the vehicle and picks up a stick. He answered a viewers quick question and then said he cannot remember why he got out of the vehicle so he gets back in. LOL

One of Jame's favourite smell memories as a child is of wood smoke. From family holidays. He has a memory of a girlfriend when he was 21 and she was............................. LOST SIGNAL

Back with Jamie who has not found Karula so she is heading towards Cheetah Plains.
Jamie says it has been relatively quiet animal wise this morning.

News from Cheetah Plains is that there are Male Leopard tracks.
Jamie comes across some Elephants who casually are crossing and eating from all sides.

Surrounded By Ellies

Over with James who has a Raptor to show us
A Bateleur is preening away high up in the tree.

Bateleur

James says it is getting warmer out now. James says driving through Elephant Dung is like driving through lightly scented potpourri

We hop over with Jamie on Cheetah Plains and she sees no Mammals yet.

We are at the furthest pan in 3 in a row pan. The Elephants had pulled out the pipe used to pump water into it and is obviously has been repaired because it now has water.

Jamie Can Find A Needle In A Haystack

Look what Jamie just happened to notice!

Quarantine


Quarantine

Quarantine at 3 in a row pan on Cheetah Plains

Quarantine is neatly tucked in the shade and appears very comfortable.
And he has a nice tail too

Over to James

With 2 Egyptian Geese

And a Grey Heron who is sitting right in the water which is unusual for them to actually sit in the water.

Back to Jamie

Quarantine is in a perfect spot to watch for potential prey coming to the pan for a drink.

Quarantine Is In A Perfect Hiding Spot Waiting for Prey

Quarantine stands up and sees a herd of Elephants coming to the pan to drink.

Elephants on one side and Leopard on the other

Ellies Meet Quarantine?

The Elephants have moved off without having noticed Quarantine who remained very still the entire time the Elephants where here.

We move over to James with his creaking boat called the Mahindra (vehicle). He is heading to to the Hyena Den.

Quarantine is up and has a playful roll in the sand, a drink and off to find something to drink

Quarantine Plays In The Sand, Drinks And Goes On a Hunt

Over to James

The Hyena Cub is out.

Back over to Jamie as we say goodbye for now to Quarantine. He is scent marking.

Back to James with the Hyena and baby
James can hear the other cub making sounds further inside the den.
Both cubs are out now and are suckling