Ok it seems I have to save myself here due to my comments/observations.
@Malealea and cheetah2111…… I don’t disagree with you at all.
I support the theory 100% that the tar roads hold temperature very well,
BUT!!. Go to Kruger in June July and at 0500 in the morning take you hand and put it down on the road and feel the tar.
You will feel it is extremely cold.
Take your self being in the bush.
It’s clear sky’s, humidity is only between 10-15%.
You are cold and you need a place to lay down.
Are you going to lay down in the middle of the tar road hoping for little bit of heat coming tar?
The road is open, humidity low and there is little breeze imagine now how it must feel on that road?
Would the best option not have been to find I nice thicket with no grass cover under is but at least leave to keep a little bit of the breeze out.
There are plenty of trees and even long grass around the thicket you choice.
Don’t you think it will be hotter in there compare to the open cold tar road?
The point is not to say any body is wrong nor right.
I am one of the strong believers of be prepared to see any thing any time of the day and I have.
I have seen leopard mating at 13h00 mid day on the Berg en Dal tar road with temperature hitting 38c for the day.
We actually stop at Malelane gate to feel the tarmac and you couldn't leave you hand on it for longer than 1sec.
Now these cats decided to lay flat down on the tar mated, lay for a anther 2min in the road and then move off.
It comes down to animals are unpredictable.
Comments on my above post was what I have observed.
Ask me when I am staying at Skukuza in June, July where I will drive for the day and I will say morning time up to Diospane, S65, h1-1, S112/S113 and then the S114 back to Skukuza for Breakfast, After Breakfast I will drive down to LS and Then Back and If I haven’t seen much will turn around again and go back as far to LS as time permits and back again.
That road pumps from 0900-16h00 in Winter.
You can drive up and down that road and every time will find something else, but there is now way in hell
I am going down there early morning and not to mention in an OSV.
You will freeze you butt of and temperature can drop to -1c along that river Winter time.
Then again ask the same Questions In Jan/Des or September/Oct and every time will be a different answer. Even now it is June, if you ask the same question as to where I will drive and probably will give you also different answer as conditions for this year is different.
The changes is there to see something but we had a lot of rain and it is still raining in some part.
The river is not quite busy as what they use to be previous years as there are more water around and animals for now still don’t need to concentrate around water yet.
Best is to test any theory is to go out and see for your self.
Book 20 days from one camp In June and then 20days from the same camp in Jan.
Go out and take notes as how you find you cats and what they are doing when you find them.
This way you will see how they react to different time of the year and what they prefer that time of the year. I have done that as being a guide mostly operating from Numbi, Phabeni and Kruger gate.
Did trips from Malelane, Phalaborwa ,croc bridge and Orpen but not as much as the other gates(or camps close to that gates).
Like I said in my previous post this is what I experience.
Hope you understand what I am trying to say and not question your theory.
@Friedrich von Hörsten….Yes I am very lucky and can see myself ever moving from Hazyview.
But I am currently working in Iraq and have been since 2007, not much to report of current pride activities in that area.
I do remember from my guiding days that from November to April it was almost a waste going in that area as die red grass gets so long, if you don’t find something in the road you don’t find it at all.
But I love PK as I love my antelope species
and PK have some of the rear ones there on frequent basis(Lichtenstein’s Hartbees, Tsessebe, Sable and good number of Reedbuck and also n small group of Eland that can be seen from Shitlhave waterhole or from time to time on the Voortrekker road just before Ship mountain).
Lion We mostly find in the cooler month and mostly on the S7 where they are lying on the Shabeni koppies. From time to time did find them on the S1 and the Fayi loop.
As for staying on topic we didn’t see them much(not that I haven’t at all) on the tar road it self.
If we did find them they were normally walking or lying of the road where you almost can’t see them. We did find them many times sleeping on the S7 or the loop going around the Sabeni koppies it self.
As for me racing to get to sighting……
not my cup of tee and normally like finding my own sighting, but if sightings are difficult and the hours are getting less then you have no choices as to go with the crowds. For oversee tourist it different then those of us living in SA or close to the park. 90% of them can’t come back en if it means seeing a lions ear or have to wait 45 min in a traffic jam
to see them, then they don’t mind.
Us SAFFIEs tent to forget that same time and normally would fume like grazing when there are to many others around, my self included but my guest don’t care as long as they can say they saw Africa’s biggest cat in the wild.
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