Posts Tagged ‘predator’

Website update

Just a short message from the bush

Been a while since the last update posted, but much has happened in that time, almost too much for me to remember all the details. Have moved from the last lodge to one that is based inside the Kruger borders, have started here with the beautiful distraction for the last three weeks. Had a little gap off day during the move from the last lodge to our current home in the bush.

Exciting would be an understatement, there has been oodles of excitement and new things happening. goes with out saying that the sightings here at the new lodge are also truly awesome, from lions on tap, leopards in trees and buffalo herds of note, wildebeest eating cheetah, dogs on the road and many more.

Let me go a little deeper, the lion pride that abound around our current lodge are easier for us to locate, the reason being …we cheat. One of the females in the pride has a satellite collar attached that is used for research and only for research purposes, part of an ongoing study on lions in the Kruger. Bonus for us, we have access to that collar and can track there movement history and estimate where they may turn up. Yes not the way things are done and we do not abuse the system, but if that technology is there, why not use it. The rest we find with luck and hard work.

The dogs have been amazing; at only starting here for the last few weeks, I have already racked up more than 9 different sightings of different wild dog packs roaming in the area. Let me remind all that this is a massive area and that wild dog’s sightings are rare. So bully for me, love those guys!

Leopard density in the area is very very high, and still they are hard to spot, spot the spotted cat…ha ha sorry had to try. When we came in to start our new potion, on route in with my vehicles packed for the move in, and an awesome male leopard right next to the road? This must be an omen, a good luck sigh if you will

cheetah sighting, one of my best cheetah sightings yet, noticed a herd of impala running for there lives across the plains in the distance then crossing in front of me(here your live does depend on your running)  decided to wait and follow up and sure to believe it, three male cheetah emerged on the horizon, at first they were far and resting often, a binocular sighting, not too much to report, but p[patience in this game pays off, I sat it out and they came closer, however a herd of wildebeest close to us had other ideas, and decided to get closer to the cheetah and then promptly chare them? prey chasing predator around the three cheetah got separated from each other as the wildebeest ran amok, chasing one here then there, then in front of my vehicle and back across. the cheetah started chirping like birds to relocate each other when the dust had settled , very cool.

same stretch of road a few days earlier, saw a crash of rhino (yes a group is called a crash) and was observing and discussing them when another crossed the road in front of us, with one in tow 50 meters back. The big male at the far back then out of nowhere and for no reason charged and started to engage the other, a few meters away from us. Vicious and serious this fight was. Cruel to witness by great to record.

Well I am back in the saddle so to speak, and this was just a taste of my first two weeks at the new lodge, I promise to update and post photos soon, when the animals allow me.

The sightings have been pumping, really well in the bush of late; can not even decide where to go on drive. We may plan a rough route to take, but within half an hour of game drive, the radio is buzzing. An awesome week to be out on game drive.

Shhh…crackle…pop..lions have killed… or 4 cheetah brothers next to the road..static..crackle… relocated on leopard cubs at…static

Really all the cats have been out and active, rhino, elephant, antelope and giraffe are all begging to have there photos taken.

Wanting to head north for a birds and trees drive, to relax and enjoy the smaller less talked about parts of the African bush, but the sightings keep calling us back, and we head off south or east to find again a beautiful creature.

At this point I must stress that these sightings and conditions is not the “normal”, the bush has just come alive this past week, and we rangers are taking full advantage.

There have been 6 male lions, a strong coalition of 5 young males along with a older and wiser male, they were first sighted and heard at the water hole outside our camp late at night, the next morning we tracked them down they had covered a considerable distance, about 10km from our water hole over night and still had time to kill a old buffalo bull, we converged on the scene as they were lazing about there kill with full extended stomachs. An awesome sighting

The two leopard cubs around the river road area, were hanging around the same patch for a few days so we could relocate them and view them on a few different occasions, one such occasion I took a chance in the morning and headed to that area, the reward was to witness the young female leopard execute a stalk on a herd of impala, we sat patiently for about a hour as we gauged her progress, in the end she failed in the final charge, but for that hour we had her, the adrenaline and excitement were palpable. Such a beautiful young lady in stalking mode, I was reminded again how hard it is to keep with them as she would stalk in and out of view as she used the local vegetation as cover. After having a good look at the leopard thru my binos,I explain that this female is still very young and  inexperienced, and may be punching a little over her weight class. Awesome morning

Our four cheetah brothers are back in our area of operation after not being seen for a month or two, they have returned from Kruger and are scent marking there old stomping ground, next to a leopard the cheetah is as beautiful and graceful. We may be lucky and they may stay in our area. Awesome again to see

Duikers, steenbok, stately giraffe, noisy zebra and other antelope are around, with the dry season not broken as yet, they are a little more few and far between but still there. And as much as the cats, predators and other big 5 are the most sought after, these others can not be ignored. We bumble thru the bush, me happily throwing a piece of information or two about the fauna and flora found here. I try to depart a piece here and there, but honestly the bush has spoken for itself and my guests are happy to simple drive around and enjoy the sightings.

We rangers have a little knowledge on the bush and always wish to share and show off, at the same time, the more we guides find out the more we need to find out more. A good guide will recognize that he/she does not know it all and learn everyday.

would love to have all the answers for the bush out here, but nature simply does its thing and we are the observers, who sometimes wonder and ask why…sometimes it is nice not to have natures answer and simply say ”Nature does as nature does”

Awesome week

To coin a famous line, it was the best of times it was the worst of times, actually it has been a great couple of days. I have had a tour group of travel agents visit our lodge for two nights, a great bunch of Australians, and from now on ,travel agents in a herd or bunch will be referred to as a

 ”tour” of travel agents.

We had great game sightings, only missing the leopard of the big stuff to see. But most others we did manage to get a close look at, including a fantastic cheetah sighting, I am lucky in that were I conduct my game drive’s ,there is a resident coalition of four cheetah brothers we see fairly often.

Four full grown adult, in there prime, lean and mean cheetah that have slowly become habituated to the vehicles. One can not drive over there tail so to speak, but can get about six meters from them with out them spooking and galloping off.

Cheetahs are sleek, sexy and beautiful. Built like a Ferrari, built for speed. Reaching speeds of a 100km to 110km, depending on the individual. However there is a drawback, they are over-specialized for speed and so are defenseless against larger predators like lion, leopard and hyena. Even vultures can push a cheetah off a kill. That is not saying much for a predator of this size.

Back at camp all is as is, not too much to report. Other than the amount of rain that has fallen in the last few weeks. The grass is summer green, and no we are not in summer. The bush around is lush and bursting, trees and grass competing for space. And with all this foliage around, not so easy to see far ahead, this is what happened the other night, my girlfriend who from know will be referred to as “the beautiful distraction” was front side of the lodge waiting for I to return from drive, when past saunters a LEOPARD. 

Now this is at night, alone and on foot, a few meters away is a big leopard tom (male). Funny thing is instead of panic or retreat back to safety of a building, the beautiful distraction got exited and wanted to follow it down the pathway, see where it goes. Lucky good sense prevailed.

At the end of it all, I have a few more good drives, good memories of genuine and interesting people and a nasal cold. Thanks to all that moist rain and all. Everybody has checked out and I am going to grab a few beers, sit back and nurse my cold. Wait for the next tour to come in.

Cheetah brothers