Winter has hit us hard. The morning drives have been cold, but at the same time very productive. The FIFA World cup in full swing and we’ve enjoyed many a late night spent watching football. We’ve also been treated to some awesome sightings, especially in and around the lodge.
One morning in particular comes to mind….
Our phone lines were down for a couple of days, which meant having to wake the guests for the early morning drives the old fashioned way – by walking from room to room and knocking on their doors.
While I was waiting to start the wake-up calls, I stood on the deck at the swimming pool watching the Macinghilanes (the four new male lions) as they chased an injured buffalo cow around the waterhole.
I eventually headed back to the rooms to start waking everyone up, only to discover that I wasn’t alone. As I reached the first room I came face to face with one of the young male lions.
Given that it was only 05h30 in the morning, neither one of us was expecting to see the other. Needless to say we were both quite taken aback. It took a fair amount of negotiating, but I eventually persuaded the our uninvited guest to leave.
Now wide awake – thanks to the adrenalin coursing through my previously sleep-addled body – I set about my original task of waking everyone up.
After a quick cup of coffee we set off on our game drive. We decided to follow up on the lions I’d been watching earlier, and with the help of our expert trackers it didn’t take us long to find them. In the time it had taken to wake the guests and usher them onto the vehicle, the lions had succeeded in taking down the young buffalo they’d been chasing earlier. This had all taken place not too far from the waterhole, which meant we were treated to a great sighting of the four new males feeding right on our very doorstep.
Aside from this, we’ve also had a number of other great sightings during the last two weeks.
Mafufenyane (the big male leopard) bagged himself an extremely large female warthog, and we were fortunate enough to witness this as it happened. The fun started when the warthog began squealing so loudly during Mafufenyane’s attack that it alerted some nearby hyenas to the possibility of a free meal.
When they arrived on the scene we immediately assumed that we’d see a proper standoff between the two parties, but little did we guess that the ensuing ruckus would also attract the attention of Emsagwen (the new male leopard that is making a name for himself in the area) and Safari (our resident female leopard).
Three leopards and four hyenas all within a forty meter radius of each other!
In no time at all the hyenas had ‘lifted’ Mafufenyane’s kill.
While Safari contented herself with eating the scraps the hyenas had dropped as they beat their hasty retreat, Emsagwen went looking for a fight with the older Mafufenyane. The anticipated altercation never amounted to anything more than a lot of hissing, growling and scent marking. And in the end they both walked off unscathed, but suitably disgruntled.
Leopard sightings have been good over the last two weeks. We even caught sight of Whitecloth’s young male cub, who is thankfully still alive after Emsagwen killed his mother a while back. He seems in good health and when we left him he was stalking a herd of impala.
We were lucky enough to find Salayexe and her two cubs up a tree with a large male impala kill. We’re happy to report that all three look to be in excellent health. She is leaving her cubs more often and for longer periods now, which means it’s almost time for them to say goodbye to Mom.
Karula was also seen recently. We watched in amazement as she expertly took down a little duiker, which she then dragged it up a tree and polished it off over a period of two days.
Rhino sightings have been good. We’re finding them at the waterholes more and more often now that all the smaller pans have dried up.
There have been a couple of herds of elephant and buffalo roaming around. They’ve been frequenting the waterholes on the property, which always makes for good viewing.
As we approach the windy month of August, we hope that the winds of change won’t blow too hard. With all our lions at war, we’ve had about all the change we can take right now.
We hope to see you soon.
Warm regards from the team at Arathusa Safari Lodge.
