Buffalo Bull by Ryan Johnston
Sunday
We had a great drive in spite of the rain we had in the early hours of the morning, which just made things a little trickier for us. We received word that a female cheetah had been spotted close to the Kruger National Park boundary, so we slowly made our way in that direction. We were about halfway there when we bumped into Thandi, one of our female leopards, and her son, Wabayiza (meaning attitude). They were moving with intent, and it was clear from the tracks on the road that Thandi had come to fetch her youngster, most probably so she could lead him back to a kill. We weren’t able to confirm this however, because after a while they cut off into some bush where we weren’t able to follow. When we eventually arrived at the female cheetah she was in some very long grass, but before long before she was up and moving. Unfortunately we lost sight of her a short while later, as the wet conditions made it impossible to follow her. Shortly after leaving her, we bumped into the young Styx male lion who was resting on one of the open areas, just enjoying the cooler weather. A super cat morning!
The day had warmed up considerably by the time we left on the afternoon drive, so we headed off to some of the waterholes to see what we could find. We were rewarded with a herd of elephants and a small bachelor herd of buffalo. The elephants drank for a bit and then moved off, while the buffalo spent the afternoon wallowing in the shallows. We then managed to find a small pack of three Wild dogs resting on one of the roads. As soon as the afternoon started cooling down, they were up and on the move. They looked keen to hunt, but unfortunately didn’t came across any prey species while we were with them. We left them soon after sunset.
Monday
Monday morning got off to a bit of a manic start, with a nice sighting of some Arrow-marked babblers divebombing a Silver-cluster leaf tree. Closer inspection revealed a Pearl-spotted owlet perched on one of the branches. These babblers are notorious for ‘sniffing out’ owls and snakes in the trees and then divebombing and harassing their victim until it moves off. From there we headed west in search of the lions. We drove past some great general game en route, coming across majestic kudus and graceful giraffe browsing on Knobthorn acacia trees. The lions in question turned out to be the Kahuma pride, and we arrived to find the two adult females resting in the shade of a Marula tree, whilst the two youngsters played with a small branch. We didn’t think anything could top such a fantastic sighting, but then we got a call on the radio that Tingana, our south-western territorial male, was spotted nearby. We raced off in a cloud of dust to find him, and enjoyed an equally spectactular sighting of this relaxed leopard strolling nonchalantly up the road scent marking his territory.
This afternoon we set out in search of elephants. It was hot again, so along the way we passed by some of the smaller waterholes to see if anything was happening. Just north of the lodge we came across three buffalo bulls relaxing in the shallows. These massive herbivores enjoy spending their time in or close to water during the heat of the day. We eventually found two huge elephant bulls browsing on a Marula tree. The pair would occasionally show off their brute strength by quite literally head-butting the fruit laden trees! It is always so fascinating to watch them use their trunks to find the fallen fruit. We then received word that some Wild dogs had been spotted far north. Racing off in hot pursuit, we eventually found these master hunters chasing impala all over an open plain. It was quite something to see how the alert and clearly frightened buck jumped considerable distances in order to evade their pursuers. What a way to end off the day!
Elephant cow by Ryan Johnston
Tuesday
We found the four young Tsalala lionesses resting in the middle of the airstrip soon after setting out this morning. From the look of their nice big stomachs, it was obvious that they had eaten during the night. It became even more apparent when a herd of impala and zebra wandered past and they showed no interest whatsoever. After leaving the lazy cats we came across Karula’s young female cub, Xivindzi, resting on a fallen over tree. She posed obligingly for us, so everyone was able to get some really nice leopard photos. From there we headed off for a much-needed coffee break (game drives are thirsty work!), bumping into a rare little African crake in one of the swampy areas on the way. A herd of elephants joined us while we were having coffee, and we watched as the herd grazed through the large open area, keeping their distance from the likes of us. Just as we finished packing up we heard the unmistakable sound of leopard mating! After some brilliant tracking and really great teamwork, we managed to find Lamula and Kwatile. We sat with the pair for some time and were lucky enough to see them mate twice before they moved off into a drainage line where we couldn’t follow.
The afternoon started off with us finding a small herd of elephants on the airstrip. While the adults fed around us one of the youngsters amused itself by chasing a family of warthogs all over the show. This set the piglets off, and pretty there were just youngsters running all over the place. We then came across four old buffalo bulls resting at one of the pans. Once it got dark we headed back to see what the Tsalala lionesses were up to. We were in luck because soon after joining them the females began stalking a herd of impala. Unfortunately their cover was blown by a wildebeest that they hadn’t seen. They soon lost interest and headed up the airstrip, where they bumped into Nduna, one of our young male leopards.. The leopard wasn’t taking any chances though, so before the lionesses even had a chance to decide what they were going to do, he shot off into some very dense vegetation.
Female leopard 'Salayexe' by Ryan Johnston
Wednesday
The morning dawned nice and cool, so the drive looked set to be a pleasant one. We passed some very relaxed elephant bulls enjoying a drink at a waterhole in our eastern sectors, and from there headed north, where we were extremely fortunate to come across Karula’s youngsters, Xivindzi and Xivambalana. These two fast growing leopards are spending lots of time away from their mom these days. We watched as they stalked one another, honing their hunting skills in preparation for the day when they’ll need to hunt for themselves. On the way back to the lodge we were treated to some amazing acrobatics, as a pair of African-hawk eagles used the thermals to float and dive to their hearts’ content. Yet another great morning in the bush.
In the afternoon we headed north to check on some roads that are still in the process of recovering from the floods. En route we passed one of our northern waterholes, where we found four massive Cape buffalo bulls. These males have notoriously bad tempers, and as if to drive home the point, one of the bulls got up out of the water and thrashed his heavy horns in the grass. These powerful herbivores are very similar to lions in this regard, employing wanton displays of aggression as a way of saying, “Watch out! Look what I can do!” Needless to say we viewed them from a safe distance, while at the same time enjoying the last of the late afternoon sun. We received word that Salayexe, our western territorial leopard, had been seen on the firebreak in the far north, so we immediately headed off to find her. We arrived in time to witness her hunting impala! Leopards are masters of stealth, so it was a real treat to see her in action. Salayexe lay low in some tall grass, while an unwitting impala ram fed about 30m away. We immediately turned off our lights so as not to hinder the hunt, and settled back to watch this huntress carefully calculate her every move in the stillness of the night. Leopards have endless patience when it comes to hunting and can sometimes wait for hours before they finally make their move. Unfortunately rumbling tummies reminded us that it was time for dinner, so we had to leave Salayexe to carry on the hunt without us.
Thursday
This morning started off with a lot of cloud cover and some scattered mist clouds here and there. We headed out with the aim of finding rhino. Soon after leaving we came across some fresh rhino tracks, which we immedaitely set about following. We knew we were getting closer when we came across the still steaming droppings. From all the scent marking spots along the road, we knew it was a bull we were following, and one moving at quite a clip. Two more vehicles arrived in the area to assist with the tracking, and an hour later we finally located the rhino, who was enjoying a well-deserved “cat nap” after a hard morning’s scent marking. We then decided to stop for a much-needed and equally well-deserved coffee break, so that we could take a moment to congratulate ourselves for a job well done. While we were enjoying our coffee break, we could hear elephants breaking branches east of where we were. So after packing up we set off to find the noisy pachyderms, and discovered a small herd of five elephants feeding on some Round-leaf teak saplings.
Believe it or not, the aim for the afternoon drive was to find giraffe. These long-necked wonders have been scarce ever since the floods, so it requires a fair amount of tracking to find them at the moment. We realise how ridiculous this sounds, but we’ve even passed up on some leopard sightings, rather than miss out on seeing a giraffe or two. Luck was on our side this afternoon, because as we drove up to the airstrip we found seven giraffe standing in plain sight. We spent almost an hour with them, and during this time a herd of elephants popped out to joing the sighting. The calves were their usual entertaining selves, running up to the vehicle and then racing back to mom trumpeting loudly. The one youngster even chased after some of the giraffe, which was gave us all a good laugh.
Yellow-billed stork by Ryan Johnston
Friday
This morning we left in joyful anticipation, the cool crisp morning air rushing past our faces as we headed off to find the lions we’d been told were at a waterhole in the far north. There was much excitement when we arrived, as all four members of the Kahuma pride were feeding on a waterbuck carcass that these highly experienced lionesses had brought it down in the night. What an awesome sight it was to witness them dragging their prize into some thicker bush, so it would remain hidden from the vultures, which in turn attract the unwanted attention of other predators. Not far west from the scene of the crime, we spotted Salayexe with an impala carcass of her own. On our way back we bumped into three buffalo bulls grazing close to the lodge. We also came across two elephant bulls splashing around in the mud near our airstrip. What an absolutely superb morning for everyone lucky enough to be with us.
Our first stop this afternoon was to check the airstrip, and much to our delight a parade of elephants came walking across it with some very young calves in tow. We watched as they tucked into a Round-leafed teak thicket, and were also well entertained by the young calves playing with and throwing some fallen branches left by their mothers and aunties. Heading further east we found another herd of elephants, and they too were doing what ellies do best: feeding. Elephants can spend as much as 16-18 hours of the day browsing and grazing, and since the recent heavy rains, there is a vertiable smorgasbord of new grass, leaves and fruit for them to feast on. We got a call on the radio that there were two leopards mating not far east from where we were, so we immediately rushed off to see if we could find the honeymooning couple. Seeing one of these elusive cats is a treat in itself, so to find a pair mating is something truly special. They mated repeatedly in front of us, which with the fantastic afternoon light, made for some incredible photos. They weren’t in the slightest bit put out by the fact that they had an audience either, and casually mated again and again, leaving us to capture the event for posterity. The pair in question was Ntima, our eastern female, and the handsome orange-eyed Lamula. Mating can last as long as five 5 days, and sometimes even a bit longer than that, which must require a fair amount of stamina when you consider how often the couple copulates. We eventually left them to themselves, happy in the knowledge that we’d been privy to something one doesn’t often get to see.
Saturday
We kicked the morning off with a large breeding herd of buffalo resting on one of the large open areas. We noticed that one of the cows was in a lot of discomfort, and on closer inspection discovered that she was trying to give birth. Unfortunately there were obvious complications, as the calf was coming out all wrong. She lay down after a while, and not wanting to add to her distress, we decided to leave the area. We then had two incredible tracking sessions. First we managed to find the two Kahuma lionesses with their two youngsters. Still full from their meal the day before, we managed to find them on foot just by following their loud panting. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get the vehicle close enough to get a good visual, as they were lying in the some very dense foliage. Next we picked up on some female leopard tracks, and after some more expert tracking we discovered Karula, Nduna, Xivambalana, Xivindzi and three hyenas together. Nduna was up in a tree feeding on a male impala kill, while the rest of the group sat underneath watching his every move. There was no chance he was going to give up on any of the food however, and every time one of the other leopards looked as if they might try and join him, they received a barrage of loud growls and snarls for their efforts. They eventually gave up and just waited for scraps to fall, which they then snatched up before the hyenas had a chance to steal them.
This afternoon we found our regular four old buffalo bulls resting at their usual hideout, where they were still enjoying the cool mud. Shortly after leaving them we picked up on tracks belonging to a rhino bull. After following them for some time we eventually managed to find the big guy just before he disappeared into one of the large drainage lines where we weren’t able to follow. After sunset we went to check on Lamula and Ntima, who were still in the same place we’d left them the night before. They’d moved into a more marshy area though, so we had to watch from a distance as the two carried on with their mating.
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
