There is no better way to start a virtual safari than with a male lion roaring. We spend an evening with one of the Ndzhenga Males as he lets off several full-blown roars into the darkness. But the highlight of this sighting was the setting in which we found this male lion roaring. Watching him roar as he was walking through the backlit inflorescence of grass then settle right next to the vehicle and belt out a few more roars was incredible.
To bridge the gap between that and an incredible sighting of the wild dogs crossing through the river, we spend some time with a herd of elephants gracefully moving through a clearing and get an appreciation for the size difference between a male and female elephant.
After rounding the corner to find the Toulon Pack of Wild Dogs on the move, we were entertained literally for hours by their antics. Beginning with them toying with a herd of wildebeest that put up a front, not letting their guard down until they had driven the pack off. All while a few hyenas and giraffes stood by watching.
With their general movements being south towards the Sand River, we tried not to let our hopes down after previously waiting for hours for wild dogs to cross only to be let down. This time it was different, the male super intent on crossing eventually takes the plunge a while after playing around on the bank.
Hoping that the pack would follow his lead and leap into the water, all it did was spur on some excitement and playtime amongst them all. Which, not complaining about it as it is so entertaining watching the pack race around chasing each other, eventually they all of a sudden launched into the river and bounded through together, what an amazing scene to watch.
To top all of that off, once the dogs had crossed through, we looked upstream and saw an otter climbing out of the river, a surreal moment as otters are such amazing animals to see and this was the little cherry on top of a phenomenal morning.
Enjoy this Virtual Safari…
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Hi Sean,
Very powerful video this week – Thank you. We have a quick question we will be spending 7 days at Varty Camp 2 of which are full days of a Photography Course and we are curious to know if we will have the pleasure and honour of those 2 days being spent with you? 59 days and counting.
Regards David & Lana O
Hi David and Lana, sadly I won’t be the one running the photography sessions with you but I will do my best to pop down and see you at some point during your stay if it all works out. As it stands I only return back from leave on the 10th of May so hopefully we cross over for a few days.
Hello Sean, Thank you for a fantastic Virtuel Safari!
It was amazing to see the lion and the wild dogs!
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, Ann.
Sean, thanks for the incredible lion sighting. It’s amazing how powerful those males are! The wild dog adventure is over the top and we’re so glad that you finally got to see them cross! Bravo!
Thank you so much, Michael. It was an action packed week. I am so glad that we eventually got to see them cross.
Sean, as always an amazing video. I really enjoyed seeing the wild dogs finally cross the river.
Thank you so much, William. Watching them cross the river was awesome.
What a surprise, Sean, to see that otter coming out of the water!
The whole video was, as usual, really great. The roaring lion, the impressive elephants and the playful wild dogs!
Thanks for another wonderful video.
I was so surprised to see the otter as well. I am glad you loved the video.
Hi Sean, this was a stunning video, firstly seeing and hearing the Ndhzenga male roaring right there by your Land Rover is so exciting. Then having the Toulan Pack all geared up and ready for a take down, but decided it would be better to cross the river instead. That in it’s self is an amazing view to see them all crossing so swiftly through the river. They have so much energy and it shows in all their playful acts and ever lasting dipping in the puddles. When you were chasing after them to see where they were going, looking at the bush and the other animals that were there grazing, they looked so flabbergasted to see the Toulan Pack there. Blue wildbeast where not having them there.
It was such a good week and we were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Great way to begin this virtual safari highlighting the Ndzenga male in the beam of the spotlight as he roared into the night. Hopefully he will have met up with his brother later on. The real entertainment in your video were the wild dogs, playing joyfully in the beach seemingly without a care in the world, after their encounters with the hyenas and the wildebeests. It was fascinating to observe the male take off, bounding across the river, yet the females just watched and went about their play. Then, for whatever reason, together they sprinted into the river, crossing over to rejoin the Alpha male and go off into the bush. Ending with a quick peek at the otter was the cherry on top. Thoroughly enjoying to watch this week. Looking forward to hopefully seeing you out and about in a couple of weeks when I’m back at the reserve…..
I am glad you enjoyed it, Denise. The backlit roaring lion was amazing and then to eventually have the wild dogs dive into the water topped it all off.
That is a roaring of the lion, nature pure. It is interesting how long all of the wild dogs needs to cross. thanks for that video
It was interesting to see how long it took before the wild dogs eventually crossed.
Fabulous safari! Do you know what happened to the other two pups? We were fortunate to see them with Kate and Equalizer when they were still part of the pack of three
I believe one was killed by the Flat Rock Male Leopard and not too sure about the other one.