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Only caught up with your stunning report.(Dont know how I missed it )
You had a great time with superb sightings and images
You were so lucky with all the Wilddog sightings and you capture them perfectly
So many great images!!!!

Kaapsedraai,

Stunning TR with super sightings and stunning pics of All

Buffs, Ellies and Lions very ..and all the birdies.

Thank you Philip1.

Well, we were enjoying the time at Tihongonyeni waterhole with lots of animals around, esspecially lots of elephant coming from different directions. They were continuously coming and going, seems like annual get together. We had lots of different poses and sightings and thought that it be appropriate to dedicate today's report only to these gentle giants.


Whilst the ellies moving in, the zebras were still busy to get their fair share of the water in a very dry north.


This tsetsebe had no chance as the elephant was on a mission


But the others thought the dam was a better proposition...


Then there were a few poses - first the 'water spray'-pose...


...followed by a 'dust spray'- pose...


...and then a 'rubb'- pose against the 'no entry' concrete sign.


What about this family...with the cute little one in the middle...


And while all these activities were taking place, 'The elders' were standing under a tree montionless - seems like a very important meeting...


An important point to highlight is that they were well behaved and no car chasing took place, but must say, we also behaved by respecting their space and keeping our distance.

Amongst all of this elephant activities, the other animals were going about their own ways and this will be the focus of the next posting ....to be continued.

Beautiful Photos Kaapsedraai stunning to say the least LOL absolutely love that ellie pic with the serious itch you caught that beautifully

as for the horns I wish someone could explain it to me as we do the same in the car we also always try to find the one with the biggest horns but lol fact is are we right as you said most of their horns come in different shapes straight, curled, twirled it could be an interesting story My grandfather used to always look for the kudu bulls that was his treat to see the horns maybe thats why I inherited the fascination lol

Ì

Thank you, Jan. I hope I am on the right track with quality, but guess the key is practice, practice.
Yes we were very fortunate with quality wild dog sightings and there are more to come - Shingwedzi/Red Rocks pack.
Your comments are really appreciated.
Talk again in a week's time. Enjoy every minute..

Thank you, Trip-trrrrrrrrr.
The north was very kind to us sighting wise and hope I can keep you smiling.

7

Sheenaugh-Lee, thank you for kind words. I should have set the camera on video mode to capture the itching bit, but the mind needs some training when playing with other toys. Your question 're the horns is a very good one and will do a bit research.

Such awesome Ellie photos really capturing the personalities of these giants

Kaapsedraai,

Awesome of the Ellies doing what they do best, by capturing their daily activities with great action shots.

Just love the "baba" Ellie they are just the cutest..can be so entertaining.

Wonderful shots of the waterhole. Love the little ellie. We were there in December and I could not believe the amount of animal activity.

Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories.

Just caught up with your last two episodes Kaapsedraai! Absolutely superb! Tihongonyeni is a wonderful place to sit and relax and enjoy all the animals coming and going!

That Ellie seems to be very agitated by the poor Tsessebe! Shame on the Ellie!

The other Ellie pictures are gorgeous, especially the little baby! So cute!

Thank you for sharing!

Just stunning sightings all around .
Just love the baby ellie, walking like a Bigshot on the tar road .
Thanks for sharing .

Cape of Storms - thank you, and I agree, one will never get bored of watching the ellies.

Trrp-trrrrrrrr - appreciate the comments . The little ones are cute, but some of them could be a handful and quite arrogant in their own way.

Meandering Mouse, this waterhole has been good to us and really enjoyed the open plains. Still love to see some roan in this area . Thank you for feedback.

hilda, I guess one could spend the whole day here at the waterwhole, just now and then move the car as ellies got right of way and one do not want to compete with these guys. I appreciate yourr comments.

barryels, agree, the "baba" is the 'man' with trunk up in the air. The photo was taken close to the intersection with S50 and still gravel road, although it loos like tar. Thank you for comments - appreciate it.

Still at the Tihongonyeni waterhole and observing the other grazers while the elephants making their way to and fro from the waterhole.

Dec is always a good month for one good reason and that is most of the grazers had given birth and every where you can see little ones. Here are a few of them - first up the blue wildebeest. Notice the one's horn is broken.



This baby zebra was practicing his back-kick on his mother - poor mother. SO managed to get this action shot.



Then the other grazers, the ones with the yellowish socks - Tsetsebes.



Whilst observing all the different animals on the open plains around the waterhole, I took a shot at what appears to me a 'sparrow'. But only now looking closely at this bird, I discovered that it is in fact a Chestnut-backed sparrowlark (Rooiruglewerik). This is another lesson to be learnt when in Kruger, do not underestimate the bird species and thought you got a photo already or assume it is a common bird as you might just be surprised.


Nearby, this Martial eagle (Breëkop arend) was also scanning the area for food.


It was time to head back to camp and get ready for the next day's trip to Punda Maria. The road presented us with an abundance of beautiful bird sightings, but before we can do this, we had to ask permission from the 'king' at the Mopani gate who was patrolling the area early the next morning...to be continued.

Beautiful Kaapsedraai, Love that pic of the martial it is such a mejestical Bird, the zebbie kicking mom is quite a caption NICE! And now im wondering what king was blocking your pathway?? Hmmm