Trailcam Safari

I've recently returned from taking a party of guests into 'Big 5' country for an African safari experience as well as some camera-trapping - obviously!
We had a great time. The lodge was wonderful, the game viewing was sublime and our guide knew just when to back away from boisterous elephants. There were plenty of 'aaah sweeeet' moments with baby animals and also a few heart-stopping minutes when a large bull elephant gate-crashed our sundowner drinks. But it is experiences like these that make for a great safari.

Here are a few photos to illustrate what I mean:

......and his Dad:

One of the many elephants that caused some discomfort on the back of the open game-viewing vehicle....

.......and some that didn't:

This cheetah sadly didn't stay for too long......

......but this young Plains Zebra (Equus quagga) did:

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CAMERA-TRAPPING?.. I hear you all ask.

 Sadly, the images weren't quite of the same quality. Nevertheless my camera-traps certainly attracted the interest of a few mammals:

A curious Kudu bull (Tragelaphus strepsiceros).......

....and an African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) giving my camera a sniff:

A Waterbuck cow (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) drinking at the lodge's waterhole....

.... a Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) that passed by during the early hours........

and a beast that was just too close:

Overall, I think my guests had a wonderful safari that they will never forget. I, too, had  memorable trip - but for other reasons. That will be the subject of another post!

R.I.P. brave little Bushnell.

Bushnell Trophy Cam serial # B101214948 has probably taken its last image. Having withstood the fiercest Cape storms, ignored the biting ants that invaded its battery compartment and photographed Africa's beasts without flinching, my trusty camera-trap was taken. The culprit is unknown but could either be a lion or a hyaena - there were tracks of both where the camera last stood. I guess 'taken by a lion' has a better ring to it but the odds must favour the hyaena. Either way, the last image it took probably looks something like this:

It could either represent the inside of a lion's mouth or the gloom of a hyaena den. Expert trackers have had a go looking for the camera but to no avail. I would love to find it though. However, I guess its not so much the camera that I'd like to see again - but rather those last images on the memory card.