Part 9…Cape Buffalo Day!…If you think the Big Five is something…How about the “Ridiculous Nine!!!…Day spent in Kruger with friends!

A group of cape buffalo may be called an “obstinacy.”

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This is an African Hawk-Eagle.

What a fantastic day we had yesterday! We spent the better part of the day in Kruger National Park, had lunch at the Mugg & Bean, and continued to the Sunset Dam for more spectacular sightings.  

“Buffalo herds can have a significant ecological impact on the veld. Being a bulk grazer, they are responsible for converting long grasslands into harsh grassy environments conducive to other browsers with more selective feeding habits.”

After finishing the day’s post utmost on my mind in the afternoon, we headed back to Marloth Park by 1400 hours (2:00 pm), arriving about an hour later. We planned to arrive at Lisa’s house in time for “sundowners” (happy hour) and to see her adorable rescued bushbabies. 

In the next week, we’ll be posting photos from our visit to both Wild & Free locations at the main facility in Hectorspruit with Deidre and Marloth Park at Lisa’s house. Both experiences were such a delight to share with Tom & Lois. 

“An inhabitant of woodland savannas, large herds of African Buffalo are encountered in the Kruger National Park, with smaller herds in Zululand and the Eastern Cape.”

By 1900 hours (7:00 pm), we were returned to the house, hustled around preparing great leftovers for dinner, and did the usual “night on the veranda” thing with many visitors arriving throughout the remainder of the evening.

“A large and powerful bovine, the African Buffalo reaches shoulder heights of up to 1.5 m and a mass of 750 kg. Both sexes have horns. Those of the bulls are characterized by a heavy boss and upward curved horns.”

We’ve spent this morning on the veranda, with fewer visitors than usual due to weekend holidaymakers and the drizzling rain. Once we upload today’s post, we’ll be heading out for a drive along the Crocodile River to see what we can find.

This morning Tom and I went to Daisy’s Den to pick up more handmade placemats and linen napkins for tomorrow night’s exciting dinner party with Louise and Danie coming and a special couple we’ll tell you more about after the party. It’s quite a fantastic story we look forward to sharing next week with considerable enthusiasm.

“Buffalo are inherent carriers of viruses fatal to domestic stock, and for this reason, disease-free Buffalo are specifically bred in areas such as the Eastern Cape in South Africa and fetch very high prices.” 

After I typed the above paragraph, Tom noticed a posting in Marloth Park Sighting Page on Facebook that a pride of lions had been sighted at the Crocodile River.

We all drop what we were doing and took off for the river within minutes. Following where all the cars were driving and eventually parked near the “Two Trees” location, it didn’t take more than a few minutes to spot the lions.

“Mainly preyed upon by lions. When a herd member is attacked, others will rush to its defense. Collectively several buffalo are more than capable of staving off an attack by an entire pride of lions. A wounded buffalo bull is regarded as most dangerous by hunters and is one of the reasons why this animal is included in the so-called ‘big five. This trait is the origin of many hunting adventures, myths, and legends.”

We were all enthralled by the sighting, taking as many photos as possible. Our one camera can’t zoom to the distant locations of the sightings, but as always, we did the best we could.

We’ve decided to wrap up the “Ridiculous Nine” sightings from last Friday with today’s post. We haven’t included elephants, but after many stories and information on elephants over these past months, we’ll surely bring up elephants shortly.  

“Mating occurs between March and May. The gestation period is 330 days. Single calves are born between January and April, with a distinct peak in February. African Buffalo are strongly gregarious. Stable herds of up to several hundred are often observed, but which fragment into smaller herds in times of drought.”

Tomorrow, we’ll be sharing today’s photos of the stunning sightings on the Crocodile River, including a lion cub that took our breath away. Please check back then.

Enjoy your day and evening!

Photo from one year ago today, October 20, 2017:

This pair of Inca Doves returned for another visit at the villa in Costa Rica. For more photos, please click here.

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