The South African Predators Safari: Day 10

Unfortunately, every great safari has to come to an end, but luckily, no great safari need stop end in disappointment! What a final day to end off with! A pride of 8 lions were out and about early in the morning, moving around and playing with each other. The beautiful morning light didn’t hurt one bit, as the cameras started off on the right note. Shortly after these lions, we found a female leopard and her 2 young cubs, around 12 weeks old. She was moving them from the site of her last kill, to a new, safe den site. We were lucky enough to catch them on the move, and got plenty of opportunities to photograph them out in the open. What a privilege to see these little balls of fluff and spots running around, trying to keep up with mom. We then decided to stop for a civilised cup of tea and coffee, and a couple big male elephants came down tot he river for a drink. It is awesome when it all comes together. It really was an amazing safari, with a great group of guests!

Major sightings of the day:

Pride of 8 lions

Male rhino

Female leopard and 2 cubs

2 male elephants

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 9

The day was all about leopards. Starting out early on the mornings safari, we set off on the trail of a female leopard, but found a male leopard instead. We stayed with him for a while, but having eaten his full (of what turned out to be the females kill), he was not going to be moving anywhere soon, se kept on the female leopards trail, and found her, having recovered what remained of her kill, lying up in the shade of a tree. She too was well fed, and needed some rest. We headed straight back to the same spot in the afternoon safari, and found the female leopard balancing quite superbly on a tiny branch, feeding on the impala. The wonderful setting was washed in glorious afternoon light and the cameras went crazy! It was a great scene to photograph.

Major sightings of the day:

Male leopard

Female leopard with a kill in a tree

Male elephant

Male rhino

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 8

Another great day filled with elephants, rhino and a female leopard dealing with 6 hyenas that had stolen her kill! Hyenas are not always the crowds favourite, and it doesn’t help when they are wolfing down a young leopards kill, but the interaction around the feeding was quite special. You never know what you will see on safari, and this was certainly a nice surprise that gave the cameras something to think about. Earlier in the day, we also stumbled upon a large herd of buffalo, around 300 strong, going about their business. There were no lions around, so they were peacefully grazing all around us.

Major sightings of the day:

Two herds of elephants

Male leopard

Male rhino

Herd of +300 buffalo

4 rhino

Female leopard and 6 hyena with her kill

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 7

The day was dotted with elephant herds throughout, so we had plenty opportunities to photograph them, which is always great fun. There were several big moments between the elephants though; a leopard and her young cub feeding on an impala high in a tree, a pride of lions lying all around us and a very quick look at the very difficult to find honey badger! It was a great day on safari.

Major sightings of the day:

Several herds of elephants

Spotted hyenas at their den

Honey badger

Leopard and cub feeding in a tree

Pride of 7 lions

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The South African Predators Safari: Day 6

After a great few days down in the Cape, we were welcomed to the wilds by some very warm weather, and several herds of elephants. We spotted quite a few animals from the plane before even landing, which seemed to set the tone for the day, because we got off to a flyer! Two male rhinos having a serious disagreement meant the cameras were put to work early into the first drive, and a male leopard kept them clicking. You couldn’t ask for a better start to this leg of the photo safari.

Major sightings of the day:

Several herds of elephants

Hippo

4 male buffalo

4 rhinos, 2 males fighting

Male leopard

White tailed mongoose eating tortoise eggs

To join us on safari, click here!