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A little vitamin D. Very majestic. Look at this guy. Welcome to Bush Tech Safari Plus. From cubs exploring the wilderness, elephants roaming the landscapes, and predators waiting for the opportunity. This week was a fascinating look into the wild. Let's take a look at the moments that stood out. Our journey started here in the Sabi Sands, where Biba and I were fortunate to spend time with some of the reserve's characters. From familiar leopards to young cubs that were starting to explore the wild. Um where she goes from here, she goes to room 11. Um and then up probably onto the deck of the room, um which is not ideal.
Um because from here, like I say, we can't follow her. But if you ever come to Chitwa, this is the leopard room. Um this is where they all end up going. Uh it's the one that's the furthest away from the main lodge, uh right on the edge. And so the leopards like to walk here. I don't know why historically it's always been for many, many, many different leopards. Um Safari and Teema, you know, there's the cats that probably a lot of you won't even know. Um, and then like I said, Tandy, Tamba, Husana, Tingana, Vula.
Kichaka, all of these leopards of the past have used this room um in the past. Um, you can see that she's actually turning now and going she's going to probably go around the back of the room. And the reason being is I saw just now that housekeeping is actually in the room doing their thing before while the guests are on drive. So, I wonder if she hasn't actually just heard the people there and so she's decided she's going to go around rather than over the deck like she normally does. Um, it's uh one of those things that uh leopards do if they see somebody and they know there's something not quite right then they just go around um and position themselves where they don't get seen.
Isn't this cool? Just coming straight around us now. So, you see how this one has just stopped. It must have just smelt a fruit on the ground. There's the tree that we're talking about and you see how delicate they are when they pick them up. They'll just use their trunk and slowly one by one they'll pick them up. You'll also see that there's some elephants that are going to come past us on the back here. So, there's one that's there and then the rest will be on this side. Um, so we're absolutely surrounded by them now, but they're very chilled. Um, big females are just on their own little mission. They don't seem to be too worried or concerned about things at all even the little ones are walking through.
It is difficult to count at this stage. These cubs have just appeared out of everywhere. Initially, there was only three and then as soon as the one female made a contact call, they all came rushing out. So, currently I can see 1 2 4 5. Um but when it all kind of calms down and each cub finds its mom and settles in for a bit of grooming and care and maybe tries to suckle, we'll be able to then balance the number of cubs and see exactly how many are here, but I'm sure most of them um are with us. If they're not here now, then they are somewhere else because with the amount of noise these cubs have made, um you know, the rest, if they were close by, would have come in pretty quickly. So, um let's see how many we see as they start
emerging. There's definitely five that I can see currently. I think all 10 are here. That poor female at the back has just been surrounded. Isn't that cool? It's amazing when they all come bounding along. We got you just at the perfect time. It's always the best when you find the lions coming together and the cubs get to come and see moms and aunts and like I said, they get so playful and in this kind of misty weather, it even adds to it cuz they have lots of energy. It's not like they're hot in an afternoon and kind of settle down pretty quickly.
Um when they're like this, they like to play and jump around and tackle each other and like I said, try and suckle from the moms and so, it just becomes this complete um ball of lion cubs that just goes all over the place. It's very special when you get them coming together. Well, we're just back for a quick little glimpse of the lions hoping that they were going to wake up and the cubs were starting to play a little bit. You can see one's going to come running in now. Um so uh we have a few minutes before it gets dark um to spend some time with them. Um they obviously as soon as the sun starts to set then it becomes a closed sighting while the little ones are still small like this. Um you can see the adults are
starting to put their heads up um and we've got a lot of play that is taking place with these little guys. I'm sure they're going to cross into Djuma tonight. I would be very um surprised uh if they're still here in the morning. Uh you know, if you look at how far they walked yesterday and the route that they took, the chance of them still being here would be very slim um given how hungry they are and there's not a lot of food around Little Gariep. I mean, I drove around a bit this afternoon and this morning and there was very little um odd impala here and there, but otherwise not much to report.
Every location has its own unique stories. And so, leaving the Sabi Sands behind, we head to Mabula where the team had some of the most iconic animals of the African bush. We have mom and her little baba. It's all very cute. Um it's nice and warm. It's nice and warm here, so they baby actually was lying down when we arrived and then actually jumped up as uh as soon as we arrived. Well, not jumped up, but put its head up. But, it basically looked completely uh dead to the world. That was probably one of those really deep sleeps. I think match else on the open plains here.
Um and uh Yeah, usually there's a couple of uh antelope in the background there. This morning there were blessbuck. I don't know the blessbuck here. There is something in the back there. I think it's a piggy. Probably it all depends on mom. I think, you know, mom and her wanting to mate with another male potentially. Um we were talking about this morning where we saw a pretty big baby with mom. Um and uh that baby looks to be between 3 and 4 years old.
Um usually it's rhinos will have babies. They have the ability to have babies uh every 4 years or so. And uh that obviously includes caring for their past baby. But, you know, after 2 years I'll say after 3 years, that rhino baby is able to survive on its own without the help of mom. Um but I mean a baby like this right now would never be able to survive without mom. And uh we've got a mom and her calf, not so little. Um pretty big calf actually. I would say this is maybe hm And uh actually, you know, I'm thinking of looking at the size of this calf. This calf is almost the size of a female black rhino.
Um They generally maybe a little bit bigger than what he or she is. But, yeah, black rhino are not They're not large creatures, you know, they're not large rhinos. Not definitely not as big as mom. Mom, I mean, even for a white rhino female, she's pretty big. Um but she is gorgeous. I mean, she's got a magnificent horn. Absolutely impressive. Which is uh really cool to see. And I can see that she's feeding just on the edge of that thatch and grass. She's not quite going into the thatch and grass. She's feeding around it. Wow. Hello, kitties. What's happening? Awaken from your slumber. I feel like you're going to yawn. Please do it. Do the yawn. But uh this is the only movement that has happened in the last 20 minutes since we've been here.
Oh. But mom in the back there is up. Aha. Do you have your kids with you, madam? Please, can I see one? I don't need to see all of them. I just want to see one. I've not seen them yet, but I've seen their tracks. Mhm. Their tracks are all up and down this road. So, I know they're here. Starting to yell the nightlife or the night or all the birds uh that are active in the daytime starting to close down, you know, letting everybody know this is my resting spot for tonight.
Um and uh you know, I think now everyone is slowly starting to shut down. Hello, Fitty. How are you? There, I know don't do that. You still got meat on your lip there. Yoh, these guys have eaten an awful lot. Look at them, indeed. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Um You can have a little drink of water there. You probably need it with that fat belly like that. These are now pot belly cheetahs.
I wonder if they go around the corner, there's an awful lot of water. Cheetahs are not really too fond of water, but if they need to cross it, they will cross it. Um They're not like lions that don't enjoy the whole um whole water thing there. I mean, they'll do it if they need to. But deep water, it's just a couple a series of puddles. If they go off the road, there'll be lots of mud that they have to negotiate, so they're probably best stay on the road. From rhinos and big cats at Mopani, we then headed north where timing, patience, and opportunity all came together to provide one of the most exceptional sightings of the week. And who better to tell the story than
David himself? Jongwe and Mambo, I have been away home in the village for about a month and on coming back tomorrow I found that a new camera guy and honey bees. Shive? How are you doing, Shive? I'm good. How are you? very grateful. We are going out for the drive with her for the first time and I cannot wait to see how it will perform the camera.
Thank you very much. Let's do it. And if you look at her carefully you notice the trunk doesn't come between the tusks. It cannot fit. The angle is very tight or the gap is very small. And what would happen? Look at the other one just passing there and you can see the distance between the two tusks. Now, for this particular female, maybe for once I'll be requesting Shive we give this particular girl a name and I'm sure she is greeting Shive and not me because she knows me. There's definitely something she is enjoying from the ground there.
Definitely a couple months old and very stretched to the mouth. But I can't see what she's speaking. My name is David. What is your good name? From a distance, I saw grass moving and she tells me, "It's not grass, GG. That's a lioness." And I'm like, "One minute." And then just watch her through the grass. I like seeing her whole body. I'm sure at one point I'm going to do that. But as it is, it's like she is in a small bedroom and that is her window. Just to get in fresh air in her bedroom. Now, we have Ooh, she's standing up. Very good. Excellent. Jelani, I'll tell you for a fact, we have one of the females that has a cub. When I was living here, uh this is a about a month ago, I saw a very, very
young cub. Not sure that the mother was Keto, but there's a very young cub that I saw and I guessed the mother could have been Keto. Now, we know Keto is the oldest girl in this particular pride and this definitely uh could possibly be it's not Nasurika. Nasurika is always very She doesn't have to have any sac marks. Could be Nasirian. Just trying to guess because Nasurika is always very nervous when it comes to vehicles. And I was here doing something different last week and Nasurika was mating with Moiya. Now, this boy, not sure now from that we can be able to ID him and find out whether this is Okingo, possibly, or Jojo. Those are the two possible candidates I'm thinking of. And the female with him, there she is,
putting her head up. Not sure that's Nosurika or not. I mean, last week I saw Nosurika mating with Moja. And now to see her, or to hear she was also mating with Vuli, it's quite interesting. I mean, that is the first I have heard. But I do not understand because I've seen Nosurika mating with Kiongozi. The other day I saw her mating with Moja. And now to see her, or to hear she was also mating with Vuli, it's quite interesting. Now, Nosurika is the youngest. Uh is the youngest particular female from the Marsh pride. She is the youngest, and maybe the same age like Kiongozi. And we have always thought the pairing of Nosurika and Kiongozi would be wonderful.
This one is having a good time here, enjoying every minute in the puddle, cooling off the belly, bit of scratch. But at the Governor's Camp, the rest are not very far from where he is. And he is not worried to be on his own. Helps them cool off. Standing up. You better turn up and go join the rest. All of you herd members. You're fine. And you can see half the body now without the black cotton soil mud cooling off. Some very nice skin lotion insects or parasites on the body. Now, I think she's happy to go. Come on. Hello. You look different.
See how almost two tons on the trunk. This particular eagle just caught a snake which I guess possibly could be a butter snake and just swallowed it. And how cool was that? I mean, my guess was that was a butter snake and [snorts] again, as I am saying or saying, I was looking at a male impala that looked very, very nervous and I was telling Shivan camera most likely that male is seeing a leopard somewhere or is sensing a leopard somewhere and we see this eagle fly up in the air holding a snake and she landed where she is. I've had many highlights out here, you know, while doing safaris.
Even look at yesterday and today is a highlight. I mean, all we've been seeing, you want to have a poop? Yes. That makes you feel better because she did not murder the snake. She swallowed the snake while still alive. You look carefully there, We got a lioness. The lion or the lioness is looking towards the Mara River and in the river you can see loads of hippos. And there's one maybe half submerged walking back. The lioness here is not interested in the hippos because further up we may not be able to see from where we are, we got some a dazzle of zebras who may be wanting to cross the river and that is what this particular lioness is waiting for.
And she's definitely focused to jumping any zebras if they start crossing. He could jump onto one because as they cross the river they are always very nervous. Patience here is not only to the lioness but even to ourselves. Melanistic Mambo a very big jumbo for myself and Shiv and thank you for joining us on this members day this super 20 Tuesday and she just looks gorgeous. Now she is very patient again as I said even like us we only have to be patient here until we see what happens. I think I do not have relaxed zebras here because either they can sniff or smell some danger because if you look carefully at the lines we got a dazzle
of zebras walking but crouching close to screen are two lionesses. Maybe three. Maybe four. But look at carefully there. There's one Every time the two get real close and there's one already off. There we go. Missed that. Another run. And oops. There she goes again. Oh my word. And the timing was not right. This to me looks a very young lioness and they were not patient enough. And definitely they are learning the ropes. The last I checked with this pride, they had nine I would say sub-adults. And I think the parents are giving them a chance to go and try their luck. After the intensity of the Mara, it's time to slow things down a little bit
and look at another side of safari. The quiet moments, the changing landscapes and the behind the scenes stories that make every safari unique. Beyond the wildlife, there are always stories unfolding behind the scenes. And recently, Sean and Empo met up with the latest Tracker Academy students. We really look forward to seeing them progress and go on this journey through the course of this year. Hey, so we are here at uh the Tracker Academy. And uh there are the guys there.
All lined up perfectly. Um all dressed to the hilts. I love it. Really cool. Man with the plan is over here. Is he setting up? And we have a really nice uh nice morning with these guys getting to know them. And um yeah, it's going to be it's going to be very cool. I'm looking forward to this. Going to be lekker. Hey, we've got a giraffe that have come closer. They're very interested in us, busy feeding on the bush willow trees and combretums around here. And we are on our last interview. And now it's going really well. These cars are so awesome, honestly. Um and I've got to say passionate. One thing I've picked up this morning is they're so passionate about what they're doing, so. And we've got a small breeding herd of elephants
that are slowly feeding their way towards us. And getting ready for to settle down for the evening. We actually we were lucky we heard them. Um that was how we realized where they were, so. Sometimes it's good to keep the ears open and figure out where they are, but it's just so nice to actually have them here and be able to sit with them. Like I said earlier, I can sit with elephants for hours. And you see that little one there? Coming in behind mom. Peeking over the grass. Aw, cute, man. He's just living the dream here, feeding on all this nice grass. In fact, he looks like he's having such a good time. He's actually making me hungry, boy.
Although I am hoping for dinner that I get a little bit more than just some grass. So, I'm not going to lie. Using those big molars too, chew down the vegetation. This is such an amazing sighting. My issue is this is phenomenal and he is such a gentle way that um this almost when he walked past us was almost morning, guys. Sorry, just want to get past. Just get to the vegetation. He's got such an amazing energy about him, this guy. This is such a um Yeah, I just an amazing experience. I'm actually I've lost words.
We have got some of the black damn members here. We've got the two big males. Old Uniorny son over here. And uh a few of the females just off to the right, but um I'm going to maintain low tones uh currently because one of the females is um giving us the death stare and I have been married long enough to know what that means. So, imagine that's a good question. Um you will see things like who feeds first at a kill. So, if they kill something, who gets uh who feeds and um they get quite aggressive at a kill. Um and uh the males will fight amongst themselves to get first uh first bite, so to speak. Uh the other time you'll see it happening as well is um if a female uh wants to mate, she comes into estrus.
Normally, the more dominant male will mate first. And so, the males will fight, and the more dominant boy will then get first mating rights. So, yeah, it's not all the time. Like at the moment, one is kind of moved off to our right, to the right of what big boy here. Um Most of the time, they look pretty happy and fresh. But, yeah, every now and again, they have to exert their dominance on each other. And there's always a dominance hierarchy. From the Mara, Sandringham, Mabula, and here in the Sabi Sands, it's been an incredible week of amazing sightings. Thank you so much for joining us on this edition of Bush Tech Safari Plus.
