Sibuya Game Reserve

Eastern Cape, South Africa

By Jon Mountjoy

January 18^th, 2020

While this camp was far more inland than other game reserves I've visited in the north, or in Zimbabwe & Botswana, I nevertheless got the feeling of being away, and in the wilderness - almost certainly because the camp we stayed on was on the other side of a lovely winding river - and we had to take a boat every day to get to the land cruiser.

Day 1: Arrival

The first thing we saw after unpacking, was this beautiful beast. A baby nyala.

We had time for an excursion before sunset, and found some lovely elephants, giraffe, zebra, and a brown hooded kingfisher.

Day 2: Morning sun

Breakfast was had in the sun, in this lovely, open, location - where you can while away the hours, listening to the birds.

The morning drive yielded an African Hoopoe, a buzzard of some sort, terrapin, and a very glossy glossy starling.

It is amazing how quiet elephants can be. I saw a little movement, heard a little rustle, and that was it. And then suddenly, hiding in the trees, only meters away, was this lovely beast.

Not long after, we came across this lot. All feeding. Majestic.

All the zebra here are Burchell's Zebra.

The evening yielded giraffe, zebra, a lazy lion, and a black shouldered kite.

Heading into evening, we came across a group of elephants. There's no other word to describe what they were doing, but "playing". It was wonderful to see, as was the waterbuck, nyala, rhino and kudu.

The sunset was spectacular. The quietness on the river, after a good day out, and the wonderful contrasts.

Day 3: Rhinos, and a look down

We saw some lovely rhino this morning, en route to a lookout post where we could get a better idea of how the camp was laid out.

I'd say this river most definitely wends.

The evening brought on a lonely vervet monkey, crowned plover, some rhino, blue wildebeest aka gnu, buffalo, impala, and some little bird hiding in the scrub.

Day 3: Giraffe and a lot of lion

You've got to love seeing something like this, looking at you from over a tree.

Looking at me, looking at you.

I think I got a shy cape jackal pup here.

Day 4: Red Billed Wood Hoopoe

I've only ever seen the Red Billed Wood Hoopoe once, so naming the entire day after this sighting feels like the right thing to do. Despite it not being a very good shot.