Insomnia turns into something special.

Tell us about your interesting nature stories, animal sightings, questions and pictures on nature and your experiences.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dingo
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 608
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:39 pm
Town: Kempton Park
Vehicle: 95 4x4 DC Hilux, 7MG engine, EFS suspension, Home made custom off-road canopy.
Real Name: Scott

Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Dingo »

So 3am on Friday morning I'm wide awake and bored, then a brainwave hits me :shock: :shock:

Grab a couple of cold drinks, beers, some chippies and a cuppa coffee. Load up my Lux and sneak out the house around 4:30. At 7am I pull into the parking lot of Manyane gate, Pilanesberg. ( Kwa Maritane gate is closed into the park due to flood damage)

Hook the Lux into 2nd gear and begin my day of solitude game viewing. All's pretty quite and not much going on, but I'm chilled. The bush is really thick and flood damage is really evident, there are place where debris is 3-4m higher up in the trees.

Spot a couple of the usual antelopes, zebras. At the hides there's the usual water birds and the odd hippo. The animals are all in good condition after the rains.
DSC_0077 (2) (619x640).jpg
DSC_0077 (2) (619x640).jpg (36.82 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
DSC_0075.jpg
DSC_0075.jpg (62.71 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
DSC_0079 (2) (457x640).jpg
DSC_0079 (2) (457x640).jpg (43.59 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
Came across a beautiful bull elephant, with huge tusks.
DSC_0073 (2) (640x443).jpg
DSC_0073 (2) (640x443).jpg (50.19 KiB) Viewed 4656 times

Saw a rhino and calf ( quite far from the road) and a little later came across a black rhino ( also quite far for a pic)


But my day was made when:

Just past Bakgatla a fellow game seeker stops me and points to a bush on the side of the road saying "Hang around and see what comes outta that bush". I'm thinking lion, cheetah, :D: :D:

Suddenly the bush shakes and out jumps two Wild Dogs that were on a kill :yahoo: :yahoo: , well that was me. I could've go straight home after that - mission accomplished. After awhile they run down the road to meet two fellow dogs from the pack, who in turn run straight past me into the bush.

We sat watching these guys jumping in and out the bush for about 10mins and then other cars started arriving, I then moved on to allow the others to enjoy the spectacle.

About a 1km further down the road, still chuffed with the sighting, something caught my eye next to the road and suddenly about 10 dogs came out of the bush onto the road and ran past me on either side of the Lux. They were obviously the rest of the pack on the way to the kill.

A special moment shared with these beautiful animals and really lucky to have had 2 sightings.
DSC_0054 (2) (640x638).jpg
DSC_0054 (2) (640x638).jpg (50.51 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
DSC_0056 (2) (640x522).jpg
DSC_0056 (2) (640x522).jpg (53.72 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
DSC_0059 (640x428).jpg
DSC_0059 (640x428).jpg (47.3 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
DSC_0062 (640x428).jpg
DSC_0062 (640x428).jpg (48.62 KiB) Viewed 4656 times
User avatar
Dingo
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 608
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:39 pm
Town: Kempton Park
Vehicle: 95 4x4 DC Hilux, 7MG engine, EFS suspension, Home made custom off-road canopy.
Real Name: Scott

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Dingo »

Some more pics
DSC_0063 (2) (640x630).jpg
DSC_0063 (2) (640x630).jpg (39.32 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
DSC_0064 (2) (407x640).jpg
DSC_0064 (2) (407x640).jpg (21.94 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
DSC_0065 (2) (533x640).jpg
DSC_0065 (2) (533x640).jpg (31.7 KiB) Viewed 4654 times

Lekker MacDonald's tomato sauce
DSC_0091 (2) (545x640).jpg
DSC_0091 (2) (545x640).jpg (30.71 KiB) Viewed 4654 times
User avatar
Sebata
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
Posts: 1317
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:31 pm
Town: Cosmo City
Vehicle: '06 Hilux 4.0l V6 auto 4x4, Iron-Man front bumper, Ali3n Rock-sliders, Old man Suspention, Snokel, 31" Pireli Scorpion Muds
Real Name: Tau
Club VHF Licence: X125

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Sebata »

awesome, now i know how to deal with insomnia next time it hits me :thumbup:
Tau Sello
Sebata, Lion enjoys hunting with Hynas...
User avatar
4x4BEES
Monster Truck
Monster Truck
Posts: 3447
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2013 10:13 am
Town: Brackenfell
Vehicle: Hilux 4.0V6
Real Name: Kevin

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by 4x4BEES »

Wow, that looked like quite a special day.
Thank you for sharing it :thumbup:
User avatar
Samurai
LR 4WD Full Lockers
LR 4WD Full Lockers
Posts: 610
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:39 am
Town: Pretoria
Vehicle: 2008 Hilux Raider 3.0 D-4D D/C 4X4
Real Name: Stuart
Club VHF Licence: X209
Location: Pretoria, South Africa

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Samurai »

Excellent, good sighting of the Wild Dogs!! :thumbup: :thumbup:
Image

"from this day to the ending of the world... we in it shall be remembered. We lucky few, we band of brothers.
For he who today shed his blood with me shall be my brother."
User avatar
Thunder02
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 8033
Joined: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:53 pm
Town: East Rand
Vehicle: IFS Hilux
Real Name: Neil
Club VHF Licence: HC105
Location: 4x4 Direct Boksburg
Contact:

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Thunder02 »

Lekker pics :thumbup:
I see some government officials were out on lunch :laugh2:
Not all those who wander are lost!

Scout motto:be prepared....
www.4x4direct.co.za
Email: boksburg@4x4direct.co.za
IFS is like a swambo, soft, sexy and expensive!
User avatar
Mud Dog
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 29852
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:18 am
Town: East London
Vehicle: '90 SFA Hilux DC 4X4, Full OME, 110mm lift. Brospeed branch, 50mm ss freeflow exhaust. 30 x 9.5 Discoverer S/T's on Viper mags. L/R tank. (AWOL) '98 LTD 2.4 SFA, dual battery system. Dobinson suspension, LR tanks, 31" BF mud's.
Real Name: Andy
Club VHF Licence: HC103

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Mud Dog »

Nice! :thumbup:

(In case the antelope in your pic is one of those that you thought were unusual, that's an Impala. ;-) )
When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

Image
Image

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.
It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.
And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!
User avatar
Obelix and Dogmatix
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
LR4WD, Lockers, Crawler Gears
Posts: 1837
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 5:27 pm
Town: ROODEPOORT
Vehicle: HILUX 4.0 V6 4x4 named Obelix, donated to some clown, HILUX 4.0 V6 4x4 named Obelix II Onca front and rear Amade extreme Suspension and under water breathing apparatus
Real Name: Quentin
Location: Allens Nek

Re: Insomnia turns into something special.

Post by Obelix and Dogmatix »

That is the beauty of Pilansberg, close enough for a day trip.

YOu lucky bastard!!! :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick: :sick:
Rules are there to make you think before you break them!!!
God made man before
woman so as to give him time
to think of an answer
for her first question
.
COMMON SENCE IS NOT A GIFT, IT IS A PUNISHMENT!! BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT HAVE IT!!!
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Out in Nature”