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 Although sad to see Phinda in such a dry phase, bluntly the end result is that game viewing becomes hugely circulated around watering holes. The pipeline pan is one such hole which had a little bit of remaining water to share between the majority of the animals in the north. The north pride was stationed there for about a week and everyday I would get to...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 16 September 2008
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With just over 4000 black rhino (bhejane) left in the wild it is a rare and special moment to find one of these prehistoric animals. Fortunately the Mziki Marsh is saturated with them. A late afternoon sunset illuminated the beast as we watched it unceremoniously mark its territory. To the left sat 4 cheetah on a termite mound, quintessential to say the...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 14 May 2008
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It was hot, the maputoland humidity drawing out the sweat and the sun draining the pride. It was around 5 PM when I arrived, the northern phinda pride was neslted in a small shady thicket, close to a dam, panting heavily and lethargically struggling to keep their eyelids open. The day wore on as the sun fell and the tepid shade inched closer still. Just...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 26 February 2008
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Sheldon and I had set the challenge. Walk the length of Phinda in a day from the elephant alley in the northern corner to poachers corner in deep in the far south. "Top to bottom in a day" people whispered in hushed tones, "its never been done before, its madness - they shall surely do so at their own peril." Silently we left early one Wednesday morning...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 13 February 2008
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The cheetah and her 4 cubs had disappeared...tracks heading straight into the thick bush and leaving not a trace. Dan and I took a drive around the block our eyes searching for any signs of life. It was only when Mike Karantonis talk a walk in did we know that the cubs were still there. Not for long however as the mother took an opportunity to slip by...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 24 September 2007
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On a leisurely but very serious morning drive, the hunt was on for elephant. Having left tracks and debris criss-crossing the reserve, 3 elephant bulls were teasing us and playing a small game of hard to get. Luckily our sharp-eyed tracker Dan combined hs many years of experience to navigate the unfathomable terrain which resulted in a storybook sighting...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 10 July 2007
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The vast african land had just surrendered itself to the eery darkness as the spotlight came on. A pride of 3 large male lions had been savoured just before the drinks break and as the luminescent glow now scoured twilight terrain the nocturnal creatures came out to greet us. A nightjar switfly escaped the front end of the bonnet before fluttering away to...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 9 July 2007
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The cheetah was silently stalking an nyala in the broadleaf woodlands. A momentary pause before it sprinted out the lush grass and chased the nyala through the dense terrain dotted with tree trunks and thickets. The visual was lost and the sound of the bleeting nyala and a crash of bushes signalled its demise. Pip and myself relocated the vehicles to the...
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 6 July 2007
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The previous 5 days have been an epic experience of joining a birding safari with Mike Karantonis and guests in which a myriad of star birds and southern african rarities were seen
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Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 8 May 2007
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The search for the cheetah cubs had been fruitless...a hint of wind and they had disappeared with their mother into the thick subtropical coastal bushveld. The focus was shifted off of them as we came up the old airstrip and soon spotted a male cheetah restlessly turning in the grass. He was not complacent and began a frantic trot around the open plain....
Posted: &BEYOND Phinda by Rich Laburn, Date: 18 October 2006
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