Photos from MalaMala and a few from Namibia
 

I finally processed a few of the pics from my trip to MM and Namibia (June 22 to July 9) I won't be writing a trip report because who on earth could compete with Julian. (Just kidding - there have been some fabulous trip reports here!). But Julian should be getting to MM before long in his report so I'll just let my pictures tell my story.

We did see so many quality leopard sightings that I couldn't believe it. On the first game drive, I told the ranger, Leon, that I had never seen leopards in trees. That game drive we saw two different leopards in two different trees. And saw more leopards in trees before the trip was over. Amazing!

We saw leopards mating one night. Of course, my flash was in my room and not in my camera bag. An ele and her baby came along and chased the mating leopards off. That was pretty cool.

I saw LBR's mating. I have pictures but they aren't great. I'll see if I can find them and post them.

We saw some lion cubs with a fresh warthog kill. I'm not sure if those pics turned out because they were in thick brush. I'll look for them too.

I do have pictures posted with three 1 year old cheetah cubs (and their mom) with a duiker kill. And a leopard in a tree with a duiker kill. And a croc with an impala kill. We (my 2 kids, 9&11, and I) didn't see any kills. Just the meals. There were 2 leopards in the tree (there are photos) where the one was eating the duiker. The male was eating it and the female was much higher in the same tree. The ranger thought the female had probably killed the duiker and the male had stolen it from her.

We also sat and watched a female leopard that wanted to mate. The male just wanted to sleep. She would walk circles around him and then just plop down at his feet. Or at his head. She really was being a pest and the male got perturbed several times. We watched them for quite awhile and it was pretty amazing. They were so close to us (we were parked and they moved closer to us). The ranger said she probably wasn't in estrus yet and that's why the male didn't respond (other than growling at her).

We also saw a porcupine at night. Just a quick glimpse and he was gone. I really wanted to see a porcupine but that was so quick I still want to see one.

If I think of other good stuff we saw, I'll add it here. It was an amazing trip. I was there 6 nights in 2004 and I think these 5 nights were better. Great rangers both times, great food, rooms, staff etc. There are photos of the room here - just click "next" to see the rest of them http://www.pbase.com/cjw/image/64701459

The animal pictures are here http://www.pbase.com/cjw/africa_2006&page=all

Sundowner,

Thks for sharing this amazing collection!!! Lots of great shots, however, if i were to pick one....it would hv to be that big fat male lion at the water hole.

Hari

Yeah baby, I'll be there 4 weeks from today.
regards - tom

Great pictures. Liked the captions too.

STUNNING PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great pictures - thanks for sharing!

How did your 2 children enjoy the trip?

<font color="green">Cyn</font>

Thanks so much for sharing those! Enjoyed them all but have to say the toilet signs gave me a real smile!

Great photos! Those baby elephants were too cute!

Great pictures! Thanks

Hi Cindy,

Great photos! It is a crested barbet and a genet. Who were the leopards that you photographed at MM? The male lion drinking I am guessing is the older male of the Split Rock Males (or Male now as his younger companion died 8 July) so I do wonder how he will go, but easily recognizable by that growth near his mouth. Seeing Leon in the vehicle without his beanie or hat made me smile. It is sad to think that he is leaving, I think I read that from Napamatt.

I need to wait until end of December before I return to MM, although I had a dose of some of MM's cats while I was at Londolozi in July.

Kind regards,

Kaye

Sundowner,
What camera did you use?
Your pics are excellent.

Sundowner,
Excellent pictures! Thanks for letting us see them.
Where did you stay while in Namibia?
Cheers

Kaye

Leon has now left to run a new reserve in the eastern cape with his wife Jenny. As he said, it is sad to leave MM after 15 years, but he is over the moon to be spending all his time with his wife.

When are we going to hear about your trip?

Hi Matt,

It is sad about Leon leaving as the niece coming with me in December was looking forward to seeing Leon again from July 2002. I will really miss seeing him in that green wig for New year's eve as not everyone can get away with wearing such a wig!

I am finishing off my photos and I am not living my usual carefree life as a sister and brother have gone to Canada and left me with a child each! They are wearing me out but I will get to the trip report asap, but I finally got my relaxed serval sighting, not with kittens as I requested at MM but I will take it as it was for 50 minutes with 2 kills! It will bring a smile to my face for a long long time just thinking about how lucky we were!

Kind regards,
Kaye

sundowner: Are the cat pictures from Mala Mala? Also where were the elephants? We are wait listed there for June 2007 and I hope we get in. Otherwise we are at the Sabi Sabi Bush Camp which I am not sure about.

Thanks for the comments! Here are answers to some of your questions. I'm happy to answer any others.

Cyn - the kids had a great time. They've been talking about the trip alot since we got home. They did fall asleep on some of the game drives but I woke them if we came across anything exciting. And I don't remember them complaining about getting up so early either. Nor about not having TV to watch. I did have my laptop for pictures and they never turned it on to watch movies. They never got the video games out.

Kavey - those toilet signs made me laugh too. I'm just glad I thought to get the camera.

Thanks for the ID, Kaye. I forgot that I was going to write down which leopards we were seeing! I don't remember who we saw. Sorry. I didn't realize the lion had died. He was walking very, very slowly and looked in very sad shape when we were there. It was really apparant because he was next to his healthy buddy.

I didn't know Leon was leaving until I read it here so I am doubly glad that he was our guide. We had him &quot;privately&quot; for 4 game drives and saw some amazing sights. Leon took his beanie off for the picture.

Max69 - I used a Canon 10D and 20D. Two of the pictures were with the Canon S2IS. The camera is written under some of the pictures.

TheMac - my husband (J) is in the cattle business and thru mutual acquaintances, he was introduced to a cattle rancher in Namibia. So we were on his cattle farm for J's part of the vacation. J's business partner and his family were there also.

spiegelcjs - yes, all the cat pictures and elephants were at MalaMala. I have even more pictures of different sightings that aren't even on the website. We saw so many leopards and quite a few lions also. And the cheetah family. We were joking with our ranger that we were disappointed because we only saw 2 pairs of leopards on the afternoon game drive. I hope a spot opens up for you!