All images on this page were taken by clients on this workshop
September is supposedly the beginning of spring in southern Africa with many of the trees starting to bud their leaves with bushels of green. Up in the Tuli block though, its still very dry; the season seemingly a few months behind the areas in the south and east. Arriving at the border, the only green to be seen was that along the riverine areas and on the evergreen shepherds trees. Due to the drought like conditions (it is looking almost worse than the drought of 2005) most of the plains game had moved south to the Limpopo, away from the central areas where we spend most of our time. The local Mojale River too was only interspersed with small pools of stagnant water and our first afternoon drive didn't inspire us with anything very exciting. We did come upon some very well fed spotted hyenas in late evening light; our only real photographic subjects. This however, was the last of our quiet drives...
The next morning, driving along a dry riverbed, we turned around a bend to find a breeding herd of elephant digging in the riverbed for water. We spent 45 minutes with these relaxed pachyderms as they performed beautifully for us. We ended up about 7m from them; the cameras filling the memory cards to capacity with images of drinking, digging, rolling, dusting and play: a memorable experience.
That afternoon was to be a highlight. After spending time with some plains game, we discovered a 2-year old male leopard lying in the shade with his impala kill in the Mashatu tree above. Leaving him, we drove 1 km further to found four cheetah lazing in the late afternoon sunlight. They decided to perform for us-walking right in front of our private vehicle, the open ground making photography that much easier. After showing us how beautiful they are, we headed back to the leopard, in the hope that he would wake up. We arrived just in time. He woke up, gave us a few yawns before climbing up and down the tree to proclaim his kill. It was a sighting to dream of. Excellent light, a gracious cat presenting us with many opportunities and a car full of dedicated photographers. The cards were once again filling up fast!
That was how the rest of the weekend proceeded. We watched three cheetah hunt steenbok (different to the four the previous night), a leopard feeding on its kill in a Mashatu tree, lions and their cubs, cheetah scent marking a shepherds tree and then trotting across the plains; it was a predator feast for the eyes! The other special during the weekend was the activity of the birdbath at camp. It attracted birds all day, within photographic range from the lounge. The highlight being a little sparrow hawk perched just above ground. Allowing for some lovely portraits.
The weekend came to an end with a lion sighting and before we knew it, we were off back to civilisation, the weekend a memory of cats and spots. This weekend wasn't intentionally a 'predator' weekend but with the brilliant sightings we had, all participants were in happy to rename it the Mashatu 'predator' weekend!
