Look All Features and What to Know

Today, variety is the name of the game. From playful wild dogs, there we go. The painted wolves, lions in the mist. We managed to connect with them, so that's fantastic. Hunting serville, baby plver chicks, and fascinating stories from behind the scenes. The wild once again proves to us why no two safaris are ever the same. Welcome to Safari Plus. And how's that silhouette? We have some of our favorite friends. And you won't believe what the vultures brought us towards. We are so lucky. They are looking adorable. Look at that.

We begin in the Eastern Cape where the wildlife, landscape and stories were all as varied as the reserve itself. All safaris begin somewhere and few beginnings are as pretty as this. Right. Beautiful, isn't it? Just look at this uh this wonderful scenery of the Eastern Cape. Right. So most of what you're seeing there is essentially Amakala all the way to the east. That's where the sun is rising. So that's the eastly direction. And yeah, to as far as you can probably see with the camera would all be Amaka game reserve. Just listening to some birds calling this morning. I actually heard a eastern clapper lock calling about 2 minutes ago, which is one of these uh these

intra-affrican migrant birds. And it's quite early. It's uh not even spring yet and we're seeing some of the migrants already slowly trickling through. It's amaz We do have some zebra here as well. Uh as well as some red hot beest antelope. I see in the way back I don't know if you can see it. It's a bit far in the back there's a bless antelope and a black vibbeist walking there as well. Nice coexisting group of animals. Always a delight to spend time with so many different species of wildlife all in the same area.

All right, beautiful morning so far. A little bit cool, little bit damp in the grass. Animals are just waiting for the morning sun. But we often see that when animals are, especially in the early morning, I've noticed when the animals are still quite cold and the sun starts to warm up, they all start to run around. Not all of them, but you're going to have some individuals start running around. Um, and there is a strategy behind that because they are cold. they are lethargic at the moment. Um, surely there could be the possibility that predators might be watching them. Um, and so to run around not only will rise the body temperature and you get warm, but it also confuses the predators.

It advertises that they're healthy, they're in good condition, and hopefully the predator decides, "No, I'm not going to waste too much time here. I'm going to go look for something a bit more vulnerable." be going back in time a little bit and to show you some of the things that are found and made from the past, the past years of Amaka Game Reserve. And just bear in mind that this environment was land of the Koi Sun Bushman. Okay, so very much a lot of history in this area. And then we find cool things like this. So this could be an arrow head that still needs to be worked. When we speak about the stone age or the stone tool making sites, um this is not just an area where someone made a tool.

It's an area where people made tools. Okay? So they would find a whole bunch of the rocks like this um that were desired. This is pebble shale in this instance. And uh they would sit for a long period of time and chip away the rock and flint it if you will, trying to get those edges off, sharpening it, working it. Sometimes it didn't quite work out that well and they just chuck it on the ground, throw it on the ground, try again. That didn't work. Try again, try again. And that's where you get those stone age uh tool making sites. Yeah, I've got an elephant to show you all. Nice bull. Yeah, he surprised us.

Uh didn't think we were going to come across an elephant here, but yeah, actually this morning we did come across a couple of branches that were on the road that actually had to move the branches off the road, so vehicles didn't drive around them. And it was obviously this bull here. Now, I'm very fascinated by elephants. They are so unique. You know, when you look at wildlife, they're they're in a category all of their own. Strangely enough to think how a hierax is related to this animal which if you look at a hierrax it looks like a ginormous hamster yet they're related to elephant the closest relative. All right this elephant bull's really comfortable there. I think most of the animals this afternoon they're feeling cold and they are already in

their hunker down spots for the evening. I have no doubt this elephant is going to stay there. The Sie Sands delivered another fantastic array of wildlife this week. From baby birds to some of their most iconic predators. In these silhouettes, these lions could have been anyone. Were they the Enzenas? Were they in the Cahooas? Or were they the torchwood males in the mist? Maybe. We'll never know. Yeah, there's been a bit of a line sighting. They've moved quite a long way. And uh it's misty. There's another one coming to our right here. But uh we managed to connect with them. So that's fantastic.

We sort of arrived at the sighting and the lines had crossed the road and they were moving through quite a thick bush. There's another one looking here. This looks I can hear that calling. So they're trying to contact cool. This looks like a younger cub. Well, it's grownup cup, but it's it's a sub adult. One, two. So, I can fool our nest. We're kind of in the middle of them, which is pretty amazing, and they're starting to just slow down a bit. It's a young boy here in the closest to us. He's eyes are starting to close, but uh the females are still moving, moving, moving. We're moving south. We south of Annette approaching the cut line. be interesting to see if they stay. Um, but yeah, what a nice way for us

in the morning to connect with these lines. Well, it was has been a hot day, so there's this awesome mud wallow that's looking pretty fresh. Um, I know the edies have been here, but there's also another culprit that's been here. One white rhino. And we had a rhino this morning. So, this is one in the afternoon. I'm not sure if it's the same individual, but uh great to see them here, feeding ever so slowly. And you can see the ears. They're always moving through. This one's got few notches there. Yeah, I agree with you. Um, it's always yeah, tricky one with rhino and what's going on with them. I just hope that uh good prevails evil on this one.

It's got quite dark and we've been trying to get into this um leopard sighting, but it hasn't been very clear. So, that's about the view we've got, but you can just hear them growling. So, you're getting a very interesting looking shot here, but these two are [clears throat] Wow. How's that audio? And how's that silhouette? That looks like the Nton's mail up there. classic. Oh, that's that just left so much to your so much to imagination. Keeping it very PG, Melissa. Um, lot left for imagination. Some stories follow us for weeks. From Cedric to Amy and now to Ian, these three banded plver chicks have intrigued us all. And just an update for the three banded plver. She has hatched two youngsters.

I love how they just bop up and down. And we just uh came around the corner and there we saw them on the road. Yeah, I think they will be proud. Um, now the work, the real work starts. Although I guess they've been sitting on these eggs for quite some time in the hot baking sun in the hot baking sand. But they have done it and uh now it's trying to raise these two and get them independent, which uh can only imagine must be quite a chore. But so cute. Yeah, Carl, it is quite open, but the nest is super camouflaged. Um, if you'd ever if you'd seen one of those segments, you'll notice. And I think that's what they rely on. They just rely on the camouflage. Um, I think it's been about what 20 days,

maybe 3 weeks, I'm not sure. Um, somewhere around there. So, and this is what they've been doing. But yeah, you would think they would move away from this road and not nest next to the road. But uh we are just watching what I think is one of the most underrated birds in the low felt, the African green pigeon. Look at this beauty. If you haven't seen one before, what's quite interesting, they fructovores, they eat fruit and they're eating these sort of flower seed heads that haven't quite started growing yet. And when they do pick, they're feeding on a tambuti tree. Um, and when they pick, you get this sort of milky latex. And um, if you know anything about the tambooti tree, it's supposed to be a fairly toxic tree. You

know, you shouldn't cook your food over. You shouldn't inhale the smoke from it. Um, you know, if you're burning the wood. And, uh, it's the sort of thing that black rhinos, they can feed on. I think porcupines and the black rhinos it said get a little bit aggro from feeding on this tree, but these green pigeons seem to be handling it a bit. Um, not sure if you can pick it up there, but every time it breaks off a little flower head there, this white sap starts appearing. Well, that picture just says it all. I can hear them polers alarming. And this is what we hope for. Words escape me. We're going with Sabuya and um her youngster. We had them in a kill couple of days ago.

Yes. Um my track number, I'll put it on. That is just unbelievable. Look at the light. Look at the shot. Look at the persuance Franklin. They're not too happy. And look at them walking in the open. Giraffle. Absolutely. I wonder where they're going to go. But uh Oh, the golden light on these beautiful golden cats. This is what I was hoping for. Might be rough to close off somewhere. Amazing. Oh, they just walked right past the vehicle. Look at that shot. It's amazing.

Mabula delivered another reminder why safari isn't always about the animals that you see, but rather the people that you share the experience with. Look at the stunning light that is coming through with the wild beast. The mulla magic has begun. You will notice because now these animals are from a very tough night where they did not have view around themselves where their vision um is limited. When they come out of the thicket they do not even allow the vehicles to come closer to them up until the sun is a little bit up where they are comfortable with their surrounding. So early in the morning when you get or come across them, you want to be careful

of the distance you keep because they still in that survival mode of not being able to see around their surrounding. We'll start with one of Africa's most charismatic predators. Judging by their mood, they were having a great day. Our search has been successful everyone. After few hours of looking for this guys, there we go. The painted wolves. We could pick up the scent before we could even see them. That's how strong the scent is. Good morning, boys and girls. Okay, we are hopeful and crossing fingers. We do have um one female at the moment with the liter, but I think yes, there is a possibility we might potentially have a new liter.

Wouldn't that be an awesome thing to actually have more puppies? What are you doing? Yeah, make making sure. Hey, we are good. Sorry, we are checking uh oils here. How are you doing there? And doing behind the scenes, eh? Ah, we good, man. We good. As TO's stunt comes to an end, this next moment is a clear reminder why the adventures are ultimately about the people that you share it with. As I sit on top of this rock and I look back to the two weeks that I

have been with Wild Earth, I guess overwhelmed by emotions. I'd like to take this opportunity and thank you to our lovely, beautiful, awesome viewers. Thank you so much for welcoming me. Thank you so much for interacting, for sending those questions, and a special thank you to the Wild Earth team for trusting me to be on this beautiful journey. Thank you to King Fisher Villa, my employers for allowing me to have this opportunity and experience with Wild Earth. It was a dream far from me to be able to reach and having to spend this few days with you has been beautiful and remarkable.

The Black Dam Pride once again featured predominantly this week. Although the elephants did try and steal the show. Here we are on the road with the rest of the Black Dam Pride. How many are here? 1 2 3 4 six. And mostly just the younger ones just moving through the grass. And it's amazing. They're now going down towards the river. Earlier they didn't. They actually came down to the edge of the river and then they came back up. What a sighting. Having a little drink in the still flowing Timovati River and the rest of the pride just kind of coming through and moving through.

Thirsty lions. They have moved an incredible amount from where we started this morning and they seem to move quite a lot on the road. So, we had a pretty accurate tracking mission and it took us 2 hours to find them. And you can still see they are very much on the move and it doesn't look like they've caught anything. The young ones are just trying their best to keep up with the females. But what a morning and what a scene. I mean, one of my favorite memories was always tracking, finding watching lions in this riverbed. And here they go. A little bit of deja vu. We've got three bull elephants here. And it's quite an interesting situation because the one that's moving off to the right

was just occupying what looks like the prime bathing spot for this afternoon. And it looks like a little bit of a mud wallow. And behind him are these two other bulls. And the three of them are in three distinct kind of categories of their life. But that bathtub looks like it's only big enough for one of them at a time. And that one on the right, the smaller one here, it's just he actually looks like he was in there first. He's covered in mud already. And following that big older bull. Let's see if this other one doesn't go It's like a little depression in the hole. And as promised this afternoon as well, elephants in the Timbarty River.

Let's see. He's going to try and cover himself in the mud. It's quite a deep depression. He's almost disappeared and we are on the top of the bank here. Wonder if we won't see some mud flying onto the top of his back. You can see where he's been throwing some sand. And he'll try and combine a bit of water into that sand and mud and kind of trap it into his wrinkles on his back. Help keep him cool on a hot day like this. Let's see if he won't even lay down. Look, he's going to put his head and scratching the front of his face. How is this a great start to the morning? Few of the young cubs from the Black Dam Pride.

This one crouching down. Is it going to try and stalk that other one? No. Lost interest. Run up the bank. So, we sitting in the Infilain River here. I'm pretty sure it's that. This is like a major tributary into the Timbart. And what a scene in the sand. Look at that little cub run up the bank. I hope the other one chases it back down into the sand cuz we're going to have a an interesting time trying to get it back up that bank. We're probably going to have to do a bigger loop around, but that's no problem. Catch up with lions early in the morning like this. They might have a lot of energy to spend. Oh, there we go.

Look at the practice of biting and playing and tackling. All super important skills to develop as a young lion. And these look like the same group of eight. I haven't counted how many are here yet this morning, but we had eight of them yesterday with these cubs. And they haven't moved too far. Must have spent most of the night relaxing, digesting whatever they caught yesterday. It must have been something small. We had two very special guests join us this week. What a unique safari experience. You should try it. We've had our lion sighting interrupted by these three elephant bulls and we've just decided to spend some time with them. We've had a great time

with those lions. I might try and loop around and catch up with them in not so long. But while we've got there are three around us, but we're looking at this big one that's closest to us just very happily moving completely oblivious to the fact that there are lions moving around not so far away. Although I'm sure he has been paying pretty sharp attention to the impalas that have been alarm calling. Jagger, have I ever seen lions hunting elephants before? Um, I have actually, but the lions got chased away very quickly. here. I've seen it once or twice and then I've seen a good few videos of lions actually hunting and taking down elephants, which is pretty

crazy. Not an elephant this size. This is a pretty much fully grown, fully mature elephant bull, maybe weighing between five and six tons, and that is a different story. To try and hunt and take something like this down, the risk versus reward is just not up there. We've come to this watering hole over here where for a change we've got more than one hippopotamus in here. And what I think is going on here is some kind of mating ritual of sorts. And I wonder if it's not because this water holder's had one hippo in it for a very long time since I been coming here. For the first time, there's more than one. And the one that has been here has been a male. And I reckon the fact that there's another lady in here. Oh, look.

You see that? Look at that. The fact that there's another lady in here has got his attention very and he is very excited. Seems like she's playing ball as well, allowing him to mount her. I mean, this very much looks like hippos mating in the water. And they do breed or mate in the water. They will so the females will give birth in the water and she will even nurse in the water. The little one will have to close its eyes and its ears while nursing under the water. The Mara delivered another wonderful collection of wildlife encounters this week. from stealthy predators to one of the most famous lion families. And there is our handsome boy.

Look at him. Look at the balloons in the background, too. Looks nice. [snorts] Everyone's up in the air. And as we're down here on the ground. Oh my. Look at him. He's gorgeous. Seems like it's a honeymoon. There was a Linus that walked right in front of us. Definitely one of the tea boys. Oh, look at his mane. It's growing in so well. It's like a scarf. Literally a scarf. But his outer mane looks like it's been trimmed by someone.

Patience is often one of the most important tools while trying to survive in the wild. We have some of our favorite friends, the spotted hyenas. Look at that. How many? Right now, I'm seeing are about 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine. So far, I know there'll be more and more. I'm I'm wondering who the female is here. The main female, cuz it is a matriarch. Yeah, look at how they're smelling. So, the smell is coming from behind us. That's why you keep on seeing them looking at us. is not saying that they can hear what I'm saying and they're looking at me thinking, "Oh, wow." Let her smile for the camera.

So, seeing a lion right there, it tells you that there is a bit of eating going on. It's a lioness just sitting in the tall grass. And trust me, the smell in this area is horrendous because what we have here is actually a dead elephant. how it did die. We're thinking that most likely it was unwell and the lions obviously they were like, "Yep, that's a big meal. That's a big jackpot for us. It's going to take some few days honestly for this to be finished." But the lions to already be sitting and kind of giving breaks that they have had their feel.

Look at that. That's a baby Thompson gazelle. Look how it's running. Oh, what's going on? Is that mom? I think that's mom. Wait, mom is being chased. Poor baby's confused. She's being chased by a male. Oh, look at that. It's so happy. It's like, "Mom, you're back." Look at the tail. Looks like it's wagging its tail. So, the mom usually does come by to kind of have some nursing breaks where she will nurse the young one. Oh. Oh, thank you, Big James. There's so much going on. feeding and fighting Thompson and Gazels.

These are two males right there. I think they're maybe trying to fight for the territory or her cuz usually it is about two things with the males. Territory and mating. I haven't seen them engage in such physical combat before. I usually see it's like very tiny. But how hilarious is that? They fight then they start eating. It's like they forgot why they're fighting. Look at that. Oh, wow. What a scene, eh? We have caught up with Lola and her cubbies are three cute little friends.

They are looking adorable. Look at that. Just enjoying the nice sun. Mom is not even at all bothered. I'm sure she's so happy. She's very pleased with herself. You have little three best friends. You cannot get rid of them. And again, I was curious to see if these are boys or girls. And I think one time we did see that two could be boys. Oh, look at that. I just like how one of them is always next to mom. I think there's a trait, a personality trait going on here. We're going to have some interesting characters developing with Lola and her cubbies.

Oh, look at those two. You see that? The swiping of the paws. This is good instincts being developed right now. I know it's a tough one, but this Ellie is feeding a lot of these animals. As you can see, many are scavengers. Our lions already full. But my oh my, all these vultures are so excited. And again, I don't know where the lapid face vulture is. And the maribou for them, they have really bigs, but they're not the best at tearing into a carcass like this. That's why again mentioning the lapid face. Vulture would have been amazing. The hyenas are really staying back. I think they've also had their feel. When you see the vultures coming in, the other bigger animals like our lions, hyena, they have eaten their shell and of

course they'll come back to have more. Listen to them. They're being very aggressive. You see, sometimes when they open up their wings also is to show a bit of dominance, intimidation, especially in such a hectic uh site like this. From wild dogs and servils to rhinos, lions, elephants, and everything in between, this week really was a reminder of why variety on safari makes it unique every single time. Thank you for joining us.