Beautiful photos, how can you not be delighted with them!

Consider me another Mashatu groupie, we loved our visit there, but in drier times, and the lush vegetation looks like a different place.

Did the guides mention either of 2 young leopards called Oubert & Boetie? We saw them when they were still with their mother who was killed shortly afterwards and have always wondered how they got on.

Would love to hear more details about your whole trip.

Kaye
your photos are wonderful.
Not yet having been on safari (i go in May) i can see from your photos how wonderful the wild dogs are. and i just adored the eles in the mud, what fun! What kind of lens were you using for all your wonderful bird shots.
Thanks for posting, glad you kept trying to get them on.
amy

Hi Kaye,

thanks for those wonderful photos, I really enjoyed them. Mashatu looks very different in green finery, totally different from the brown dusty environment I saw last July.

I was so happy to see those Mashatu cubs. When I was there the rangers thought the males were not mature enough to father cubs, and were expecting to wait another year or so before cubs were born at Mashatu. Fantastic news.

Thanks for sharing,


Pol

Hi rickmck,

Thank-you and we may have crossed paths but I was not aware of any of the guests name in the other vehicles.

Hi skibumette,

Thank-you and it was incredibly green. We had 90mm of rain in the first 24 hours at MM. The river level would go up 2 metres then down a metre then up 1.5 metres. Yes, the Styx cubs have really grown since I saw them in July and we were extremely lucky with our dog sightings at both MM and Mashatu.

Hi Shellcat,

Dec/Jan is very green and for the past 2 years also very wet and sometimes very hot - not surprisingly as summer and the rain season! Every season has its +'s and -'s and I do love seeing all the impala lambs. Jeanetta was fabulous and as you say, a wealth of information! We were supposed to fly from MM to Mashatu Jan 5 and it was cancelled due to weather, same for Jan 6, but this time we also had a car transfer if required. We left MM at 7am and arrived at the custom crossing at 3.45pm, so a big day! It was quite a scenic trip but way too long to be sitting in a car! I would not be doing it that way again! I have had no luck with charter flights, so am at a loss as to what else to do so that I do not miss a gamedrive. Yes, we returned to MM after Mashatu for another 9 nights. Have booked a similar trip this December except we leave about 2 weeks earlier. I enjoy working with the photos and I do the Fodors photos first and then do Becky and my albums next and it could be that some of the Fodors photos will not make either album. I bought home 4681 photos and I did delete as I went over there, so a lot need to go!

Hi Carrie,

You are welcome and I now love the combination of MM and Mashatu. We did have many fantastic sightings at both places and I am sure you will be just as lucky. It may not be as green when you go there, but with less water the animals generally do not wander too far from water so they tend not to be so widespread.

Thanks GrannyJoan and Michael,

Mashatu was wonderful - the scenery was magnificent and I absolutely loved all the huge Mashatu Trees. It is very open and you think that you can see for miles. I was initially attracted by the thought of seeing some different game to MalaMala, Eland and Ostrich for example. It is owned by the same owners who have MalaMala. There are two camps, Main Camp and Tented Camp. Going there in January I decided on Main Camp (mainly for the air conditioning)and it was great as they are busy to New Year's Eve and then they have a quite period. We were 5 guests for a while, then we were down to 3 guests, then 5 again. Tented camp did seem to have a few more people in it as more vehicles were out. The staff were all wonderful and the gamedrives were fantastic! I would have liked them to identify leopard and lion either by a territorial name or number, as when I go back I like to know if I am seeing a leopard I have seen before and some of its family history as it makes the experience a lot more memorable! I joined up with Carla and Sundowner at MM for four nights last July after they had been to Mashatu and they loved it. I had already booked by then, but having similar gameviewing tastes, I knew that I would love it. I also know other people from MalaMala who have been to Mashatu and they also know my gameviewing tastes and said that I would love it! MalaMala is a lot of thick bush and very few open areas of any size so I have always thought that to be really in the wild and in the bush as you never know what is around the next corner or the next bush. Mashatu has huge open areas with shrubs dotted here and there with some very old and large trees growing along the riverbanks. I have seen huge herds of ele in Chobe, but here there are many herds, not large in individuals, but from every little hill you could always see ele coming and going all over the place and they were all very relaxed, mainly due to the fact that they could see you coming and decide if they were going to walk towards you or around you - most times it was towards us and then around us! Anything I might be able to tell you, please let me know.

Thanks Lynn - we were very fortunate with what we saw. The rhino and hippo seemed very curious and after a good long look seemed content to go back to their daily activities. We had our rain suits (as attractive as they are) on nearly every day.

Thanks Amy - I am both a dog and cat person so watching any animal having fun is joyful to see as most of their lives are pretty much life and death from day to day. The dogs playing and the eles in the mud pool are perfect examples and I love seeing them have some carefree time where there are clearly having a great time. The camera is a D40X Nikon and the lense is a Nikkor 70-300mm. I use photoshop but mainly for cropping. I take so many that by the time I finish I hope to keep no more than 500-600 photos from the nearly 4700 that I took. I only got it there with help from my computer wizard who is married to my good friend one door up, so he came down to help me out, yet again!

Thanks Pol. The young males must not be too bad as the older lioness had two cubs born in October and one of her daughters, also has cubs, but didn't see the cubs only the mother. We never saw the males.

Kind regards

Kaye

I am sorry Lynneb and Aknards - I hope helpful Tom's link works for you! Tom, the weather was annoying, but what can you do? You have to work with what you have and take large numbers of photos and hope some look pretty good!

Thanks Cybor. I am not a great sharer (comes from living alone) but photos is one that I will happily share!

Hi Tockoloshe - firstly I have to say I knew a little white maltese terrier named Tockoloshe and his big brother, a Rottwieler, was named Sharka. I actually thought there was a big difference in my lush green photos and the photos by Carla and Sundowner from July. It stormed most afternoons and they had good rain before we got there so everything (except us) looked lovely and fresh. Very little grass for grazers but lots of shrubs and all the new growth is quickly demolished by eles and antelope so nothing is now getting the chance to get very big. We had a ranger/tracker team of Fish/Aaron and they never did mention those cubs. We did see 3 males and 1 older female leopard. One of the male subadults was the leopard who had a squirrel run into him when he was lying near a bush.

Hi Kaye,

Looks like a very wet summer with a lot of rain!!!

Great luck with the wild dogs on this trip for you!!!

From your photos - i'm not a 100% sure with my memory, but, as I recall we shared a sighting last year of the Ngboswan leopard one evening.

Regards,
Hari

Thanks Tom, I can open them now.

Kaye, the photos are great. I'm so glad to see that the dogs are still around (we were there in September and rangers were worried they were going to cross into S Africa).

I love the pictures of the dogs, especially the one of them sheltering under the tree together. You were so lucky with your dog sightings!

My ranger had recommended I visit again in the rainy season to see the big herds and the scenery changes and now I see why. I'll have to figure out if I can afford a March trip...

If only we humans, individually and collectively, could act more like that rhino and hippo--a little posturing and then on about their business.

Glad Mashatu was such a hit for you. You may become a two-destination traveler now.

Kaye these photos are stellar. I love cats of all shapes and sizes and you have some wonderful photos of the lions and leopards but I really like the pics of the wild dogs - some great moments. I really like the one of the giant eagle owl too!

thanks for sharing.

tom,
thank you, i was finally able to open the link.

kaye,
your photos are terrific and, wow, were you fortunate in the wealth of sightings you had! thanks for sharing them.

Oh Kaye - you are bringing back such wonderful memories!! I too loved Mashatu and thought it was a great Mala Mala pairing! We sadly didn't see dogs at Mashatu, but had very long conversations with (Craig?) the young man doing research on them. I was fascinated to learn about his research on how the urine and feces of other dog packs acts as a natural border or wall. It seemed to be helping with farmer conflicts. The dogs were about 1 1/2 - 2 hours drive away by four wheeler! I am glad to see they are back on property!

Do you think we could do a Mashatu group buy in the future?

Maybe if we could get discounted rates for an entire Fodor's group....

Thanks for the pictures and the memories of both MM and Mashatu.

Scott

Woof!
Thanks for the leopard update, I shall examine your photos more carefully to see if we can recognise 'our' leopards. I agree with your thoughts 'I would have liked them to identify leopard and lion either by a territorial name or number, as when I go back I like to know if I am seeing a leopard I have seen before and some of its family history as it makes the experience a lot more memorable!' - we get quite protective of 'our' sightings, and like to know how they are faring! Glad you enjoyed Jeanetta's drives, she's a terrific ambassador for the ellies! We saw bush pigs at Mashatu too, but our photos just showed retreating piggy behinds!

Thanks lynneb - the dogs looked in good condition so they do look to be doing well. We were very lucky with so many good dog sightings at both Mashatu and MalaMala.

Lynn, I could even forgo the posturing, just go about your own business! Yes, I hadn't thought about it, but I have doubled my destinations.

Thanks Whiskey and aknards - we did have some wonderful gameviewing and if I take a lot of photos, the chances are good that some will turn out to be OK.

aowens - I think his name was Andre and he came back the afternoon before we left so we did not get to go out with him.

Thanks Scott and I am happy to provide good memories of the wildlife at both MalaMala and Mashatu.

Thanks Tockoloshe - I really do like to keep up with both leopard and lions and I do not take it well when anyone is negative towards them! Jeanetta was great and I would easily do another drive with her when I return this December. She is interesting on subjects besides eles related ones.

Kind regards

Kaye

Kaye - Andre is doing the leopard research and I found him quite interesting and very easy on the eyes - but I can't remember the name of the guy doing the dog research. Both of these young men were fascinating to talk too, and not too painful to look at! They had some amazing stories to tell!

Hi aowens

Sorry I was unaware there were two predator men. I know Jeanetta took some photos for predator researched and I guess I thought she meant Andre, but obviously not. I was only aware of one predator and one ivory drive available. I find most people that live in the bush have interesting stories to tell as I suppose many city people do as well. Can't say I have ever really considered how easy on the eye they are!

Kind regards

Kaye

Your photos are wonderful Kaye! I am slowly reading each and every one. So many great sightings you had I don't know where to begin to comment. It was terrific to be able to follow your adventure. It still amazes me how you know the names of all the critters at Mala Mala. I am sitting here with my leopard photos and yours both on split screen trying to see if any are the same. How do you do it? =)

Hi Carla

Thanks. I am working on the last lot now but am only up to the 9 Jan for my first of many deletions. I really don't know them all but some are very distinctive not to mention where there are found. They are also a passion - I just love seeing the same leopards and lions each trip plus a new one is also very exciting!

You and I were in the same vehicle in July, so you must have the same as me. I also keep a record at the end of each day, though it is amazing how I can remember the leopards of the day, and at home my mind seems to work about 50% of the time!

Kind regards

Kaye

Kaye

Wonderful photos as always. We just missed each other and I think I got the best of the weather, until a huge storm hit on our last night.

Everyone says hi, particularly Leon who wanted to be remembered to you.

You really are too modest, we agreed over dinner that you know more about the Leopards than anyone, except maybe Nils!

Lastly, thanks so much for the generous gift, it was very thoughtful and we toasted you as we enjoyed it.

Matt

Kaye

I've had chance for a better look at your pictures. I agree with your Dwarf Bittern call at Mashatu.

Where did you see the Lesser Moorhen?

Wow - the river!

BTW as of Saturday, all the Styx pride cubs were healthy, though a little stinky having spent some time inside an elephant carcass!

We also saw the Ngobswan cub who is quite the show off and a real delight, we'd seen her and her sibling in April.

Hi Matt

Thank-you for your kind words. When you speak with Leon please tell him that he is not easy to forget, especially in his loincloth with the lime green hair at Xmas/New Year 2005. Also did a great impression of a German tourist. He was always a memorable ranger and he was a wealth of knowledge of many subjects of the bush.

You are also welcome for your gift.

The Lesser Moorhen was in one of the smaller pans in Picadilly, and I have never seen one before.

The river was massive. I have never seen it so full though I know in 2000 it was considerably higher. I am thrilled with regard to both Eyrefield and Styx Pride cubs that they are doing so well. Lastly, that little female cub of Ngoboswan Female has the spirit of her mother. We saw her up a tree with a kill made by the Ngoboswan Female but stolen by the Bicycle Crossing Male. She watched him very carefully and sniffed him when he came up the tree at speed and then he had a real problem on his hands as she decided to fight him for the kill. He did eventually win, but it should not have been as hard as it was for him.

Will look forward to your photos though the cubs probably didn't grow too much in a week or so!

Kind regards

Kaye