Arathusa Safari Lodge blog

African sunset by Ryan Johnston

Note: Although we have used this photo before, it seemed a fitting image to head up our last post for the year!

Sunday

First off this morning we happened upon two elephant bulls feeding on the eastern side of our airstrip. We spent some time watching as they tucked into the dew-laden grass, before moving west across our airstrip. A little further north we came across another five elephants also enjoying their breakfast. Heading northeast, we were treated to a wonderful sighting of Xivambalana and Xivindzi, Karula’s two sub-adult leopard cubs. The siblings were playing a game of tag on a fallen Wild teak tree, providing us with some amazing photographic opportunities in the process. We looked on in delight as the youngsters showed off their agility and balancing skills. Xivindzi put an end to their antics when she spotted some Dwarf mongooses hiding under a bush however. She dove into the bush in an attempt to catch them, but the lucky critters managed to escape unharmed.

From there we went south and came across the herd of buffalo that has been hanging around our sectors for the past few days. The bovines were slowly coming to life, and after a good stretch headed off to a nearby dam for a drink of water. There were a few very old male buffalo bringing up the rear.

In the afternoon we came across a small herd of buffalo bulls seeking respite from the heat in some smaller pans of water. A little way south we saw a small group of elephants also enjoying a much-needed drink of water. Some of the younger elephants decided that it would be a good idea to have a wrestling match in the middle of the waterhole, which was really entertaining to watch.

We stumbled across the Styx pride just as the sun was setting. With the perfect afternoon light, and younger pride members in a playful mood, the guests managed to take some great photographs. The adults lay on their backs with their white bellies facing skywards, oblivious to what was going on around them.

On our way back we saw two rhinos enjoying the cooler evening temperatures, as they grazed peacefully on some lush green grass. We were almost home when we spotted the lone Tsalala lioness stalking a group of impalas just east of the lodge. We sat in the darkness and watched as this young lioness stalked after her quarry with great stealth. She made her move, but this time the vigilant impala spotted her in time to make their getaway. What a fantastic way to end an amazing day.

Monday

We kicked the morning off with a breeding herd of elephants feeding down in one of the drainage lines. Unfortunately we couldn’t follow them for long as the rain from the past few days made the soil very wet and difficult to traverse. We watched them until they moved away, and then headed off to see what else we could find.

Three rhinos in a mud wallow right next to the road were busy caking themselves in fresh mud, which was good fun to watch. After our coffee break we found the remains of a female impala up a tree. We eventually managed to locate Jordaan, one of our large males, resting in a thicket. He looked well fed and decidedly pleased with his shady spot, so we decided to leave him to rest and rather come back again in the evening when there’d be more chance of finding him feeding.

The afternoon got off to a quick start. We found a large elephant bull on the airstrip, and watched as the big guy all but inhaled the short sweet grass growing alongside the strip. Hearing baboons alarm calling, we immediately set off to investigate. We discovered one of the young Tsalala lionesses stalking a family of warthogs! But before she could get close enough a waterbuck bull spotted her and sounded the alarm, sending everyone except the predator scattering in different directions.

We found the three rhinos from the morning drive wallowing at another pan, this time accompanied by a couple of buffalo bulls. After sunset we decided to see if Jordaan had woken up. When we first arrived all we could see was that the kill was gone. We eventually found the big guy, but he didn’t seem too happy and soon moved away. We weren’t able to follow him up the steep bank, so instead we decided to see if we could find out what had him so disgruntled. It turned out to be Ntima and an unknown male, who were both at the base of the tree where the kill had been. The male showed no interested in Ntima’s advances, and promptly went up the tree and went to sleep.

Tuesday

This morning we watched the sun rise in the company of four large elephants feeding quietly around us. We then received a call that the two male cheetahs were close to the Kruger National Park boundary. By the time we arrived the boys were lazing in their favourite resting spot, so we had ample opportunity to view them. Next we were lucky enough to find Mvula and Ostrich Kopjies together. When we first got there Mvula was taking a well-deserved break in a tree, while his energetic lady friend waited impatiently below. As soon as he came down she began flirting and presenting herself to him, and before long the two were mating.

In the afternoon we headed in the direction of a few waterholes. Pretty soon both rhino and buffalo arrived to enjoy a wallow in the afternoon heat. Moving on from there we came across a warthog family. Only once we’d stopped did we notice Jordaan stalking them. He burst from cover and managed to grab one of the smaller piglets. As soon as she heard the distress calls of the youngster, the sow turned and charged the leopard. She hit him at full speed, the jolt of which sent him flying. He managed to hold onto his kill though, and quickly disappeared into the dense bush. Leaving behind one angry warthog mother and a vehicle full of gaping onlookers.

We decided to break for sundowners to calm down, and then headed off to see the two Kahuma brothers that had been found on a female buffalo kill.  When we first arrived only one male was feeding, but the other soon joined him at the dinner table. We sat and watched as the lions tucked into their dinner, and then returned to the lodge to enjoy ours.

Wednesday

A wake of White-backed vultures resting on a dead Knob thorn acacia was our first sighting of the morning. We watched with interest as the large raptors waited patiently for the thermals to pick up so they could look for food from a more convenient vantage point. Heading east to check our airstrip, we came across a large obstinacy of buffalo lying smack-bang in the middle of it! The Red-billed oxpeckers kept us engrossed as they picked the ticks off their free rides. Unconcerned, the buffalo ruminated lazily in the cool morning air.

We received a call over the radio that Salayexe, our western territorial female leopard, had been spotted. We headed west and found her casually strolling between the Marula trees, scent marking to demarcate her territory. Fork-tailed drongos and Yellow-billed hornbills sounded the alarm with gusto when they spotted her.

A roll of thunder heralded the start of the afternoon drive. The clouds were dark and ominous when we set off, so we prepared for the inevitable by carting mounds of rain gear along with us. It seemed as if the thunder had made all the animals disappear, as we hardly even saw impala on our way north. A short while later we came across three rhinos, and at that moment the heavens opened! We were just in time to see the large herbivores grazing, before the low visibility transformed them into ‘wet statues’. The rain pelted us as we raced back to camp.

Thursday

This morning we found a herd of about 150 buffalo resting on the airstrip. We decided to stay and watch the sunrise with them, although they just ruminated through the entire event. We then ran into a large herd of elephants, and straight away noticed that something was amiss. The herd stopped and listened for a moment, before rushing off at top speed. About a minute or so later two huge bulls in full musth came bursting out of the bush, one chasing the other. The females had obviously heard them coming and decided to get themselves and their calves out of harm’s way.

Next we came across Karula’s two cubs, Xivindzi and Xivambalana. The two were full of energy, chasing and stalking one another for quite some time. Xivambalana eventually found a small tortoise, and that’s when the fun and games ended, because he wouldn’t let his sister anywhere near it. They eventually dropped out of sight into a deep drainage line, so we left them to their sibling rivalry.

The afternoon got off to a quick start when one of the rangers spotted Thandi and her male cub on one of the large open areas. Tracks on the road indicated that she was backtracking, so we were certain that she was leading him to a kill. We followed, and just as we’d suspected, she finally came to a stop at a young impala kill. Unfortunately it was down in a deep eroded section, so we decided to return again in the morning to see if she’d taken the kill up a tree.

We then tracked and eventually located the two young Kahuma male lions resting in the shade of a large Marula tree, their stomachs still bulging nicely from the buffalo they had finished off the day before. We spotted rhino, buffalo and elephant, and then decided it was time to stop for sundowners. As we got going again we received news that a pack of nine Wild dogs had been seen. The hunt started just as we arrived at the sighting, and we watched the dogs kill and devour two young impalas right in front of us. The speed of these animals is quite something to behold. It soon got dark though, and as we don’t use spotlights on the dogs at night, we headed back to the lodge. Everyone was very happy with the afternoon’s viewing.

Friday

The weekend could not have gotten off to a better start. We saw the two Kahuma males fast asleep near a crossing just a few hundred meters west of our lodge. The pack of nine Wild dogs was spotted in our eastern traversing area where they were causing havoc in the impala herd, chasing the lambs and catching a few here and there. Not far from where the Wild dogs were, we noticed Jordaan, our northern male leopard, patrolling the southern part of his territory. Thandi and her one-year-old male cub were feeding on what was left of the impala kill. They were both at the top of a Jackelberry tree, which provided guests with an awesome opportunity to snap some decent pics of the leopard pair. We ended the morning off with a humorous sighting of three rhinos blocking the road. They looked like massive concrete blocks with three horns sticking out! The diversity of the morning’s viewing was complemented with some fantastic sightings of the endangered Saddle-billed stork.

Friday afternoon saw the mercury rise to a whopping 34 degrees Celsius! It was HOT! We watched with envy as an elephant bull splashed in the shallows of pan, which was nice and full after all the rain. Fixated on the task of building their respective nests, the Lesser-masked and Red-billed buffalo weaverbirds were completely oblivious to this grey giant splashing about in the cool water.

Not far from there, a small herd of six elephants were lunching on the soft green grass, as well as pretty much anything else that lay in their path. The elephant bull left the waterhole to join up with his herd members, and as soon as he did ten old buffalo bulls came through the Red-spike thorn thicket to have their turn in the water. The evening came quickly, bringing welcome relief from the heat. We ended off the day watching the two Kahuma males grooming each other in the cool summer evening.

Saturday

The last morning drive for 2011. A year filled with much joy, and sadness too, as is so often the case in the bush. Hopefully we can end this year on a high note! While we were having our ‘wake up’ coffee in the lounge this morning, we heard lions roaring east of the lodge. We decided to see if we could locate them, and were in luck because we soon came across some tracks to follow. Before long we found three Styx lionesses with one of their cubs. One of the Majingilane males was walking along the road, and they all appeared to have full bellies. We moved from there to follow up on some tracks of a big buffalo herd that had moved in from the north. We soon spotted the bovines resting at a waterhole. But by then we’d run out of time, and just like that our last morning drive for the year came to an end.

If this morning was anything to go by, the afternoon was sure to fly past. We decided to follow up on the lions from this morning, but thought that would be best left for later when the day had cooled down. And so we set off on our last afternoon drive for 2011. The guests were keen on seeing some rhino, so we spent a fair amount of time following fresh tracks. We eventually discovered three very relaxed rhinos feeding in the shade of a dry riverbed. After viewing them for a while we decided to move on and enjoy a celebratory sundowner. With a picture perfect sunset to marvel at, and a cold beverage to sip, we listened to hyena calling in the distance. A Side-striped jackal soon joined the chorus, creating a typical late afternoon African scene. From there we headed off to see if the lions had roused themselves from their afternoon siesta yet. We were in luck, as we arrived to find all five quenching their thirst at a nearby waterhole.

Moving south, we were alerted by some impala that there was some sort of predator in the area. We soon found the ‘orange eyed’ male leopard stalking some newborn impala, albeit without success. Eventually it was time for us to move on and let the old year be. We hope 2011 has been good to you, and wish you everything of the best for the one ahead. For those of you planning to visit us, we look forward to welcoming you.

And that brings to an end yet another spectacular week! Remember to visit our Facebook and Flickr albums to see more photos from our game drives.

Until next time,

The Arathusa Team