After lunch, getting back to the parking area at Rathlogo in the Pilanesberg National Park, we’re welcomed by a very friendly slender mongoose. Normally these animals are exceedingly shy, so this one’s unusual familiarity with humans, and in this specific location, could only mean one thing – that it is being fed by visitors to the hide (a practice that really does not do the animal any favours by the way and should be strongly discouraged).
We head north from Rathlogo towards the northern boundary of the Park, turning right just before the Bakgatla Gate to travel along a loop of the Moruleng and Korwe Drives and then back past Rathlogo to the Tau Link Road. With the rain letting up for a short while there’s a few more birds appearing in the open, though some of them are still so wet and scruffy as to be unrecognisable!
If you’d like to follow along as we explore the Pilanesberg, a map may come in handy (for a large format version click here)
Rathlogo Hide to Tau Link via Kgabo, Moruleng and Korwe drives
If you need to catch up on our drive through the Pilanesberg National Park, you can read all the previous posts here.
To be continued tomorrow.
DeWetsWild 
Another set of interesting – if rather soggy – sightings!
That’s the golden thread through our day in the Pilanesberg for sure!
Cool shots of the mongoose! Sorry it’s likely being fed by visitors. I saw one in Hawaii last time I was there. They were introduced from India to control rats but have, unfortunately, destroyed a lot of the local wildlife.
That’s so often the case when we meddle with nature, isn’t it Siobhan? Often the medicine is worse than the illness.
The waxbill is lovely and I really like seeing the mongoose up close.
janet
It was a rare treat to see the mongoose from up close, Janet, as they normally go into hiding the moment they seem people
I wished that you get a dry day, It would have made a big difference. I guess the weather wasn’t on your side. Thank you, D. 🙂
Actually the rains were beautiful to experience, H.J – remember we’ve just come out of our dry and dusty winter season and there’s nothing that smells as good as raindrops on African dust. And surprisingly the rain didn’t negatively impact our sightings at all – as Carol commented on another post in the series the animals were probably appreciating the first decent spring rains too!
That poor little lark! The waxbill is beautiful–such a unique shade of blue.
I’m still scratching my head about exactly what kind of lark it may be, Lois, but the poor thing must have a terrible cold right about now