Arathusa Safari Lodge blog

Rangers Diary 6 – 12 May

Arathusa — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:51:59 +0000

African Wild dog by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

It is quite apparent that winter on its way, and a lot of mornings started off very misty this week. This morning was clear, but chilly. It didn’t take us long to come across a large herd of about 300 buffalo resting on one of the crests. It’s a little warmer on the higher ground, and the herd was [...]

Rangers Diary 29 April – 5 May

Arathusa — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:03:35 +0000

Styx lion cub by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

This morning turned into a busy morning quickly, as animals appeared all over the place! The great news was that all the sightings were in close proximity to the lodge. First we found the female leopard, Ntima, walking around our airstrip and scent marking her territory. As we left her a radio [...]

April Sightings

Arathusa — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:33:19 +0000

Lion was seen on 22 days Leopard was seen on 27 days Elephant was seen on 24 days Rhino was seen on 19 days Buffalo was seen on 19 days Wild dogs were seen on 6 days Cheetah was seen on 3 days

Rangers Diary 22 – 28 April

Arathusa — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:20:00 +0000

Karula by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

This morning the mist was lying thick in the bush. We set off to follow up on the two Kahuma females and the two cubs that were on a buffalo kill, as we had heard lions roaring earlier this morning. We were hoping to see the Majingilane males, but when we arrived it was still only the two Kahuma females and the two [...]

Rangers Diary 15 – 21 April

Arathusa — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:05:08 +0000

Two elephant bulls swimming by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

This morning we spent a lot of our time tracking, and it was only later in the morning that we finally managed to pick up one of our female leopards, Salayexe. She was walking along marking territory when she came across a grey duiker. The small antelope had no idea [...]

Rangers Diary 8 – 14 April

Arathusa — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:50:57 +0000

Female leopard Salayexe by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

This morning we saw the three Styx females and their five cubs walking around quite close to our lodge and followed them for a while as they played around. We then found two old buffalo bulls resting. After that we went looking for Mvhula and found him at his kudu [...]

March Sightings

Arathusa — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:36:58 +0000

Male leopard "Lamula" by Ryan Johnston

Lion was seen on 25 days Leopard was seen on 25 days Elephant was seen on 27 days Rhino was seen on 17 days Buffalo was seen on 22 days Wild dogs were seen on 14 days Cheetah was seen on 5 days

Rangers Diary 1 – 7 April

Arathusa — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:33:06 +0000

Hyena cub by Ryan Johnston

Sunday

The morning drive was a fresh and cool, and we went straight to an area south of the lodge. It was still dark out, and out of nowhere we came across a very relaxed herd of elephants! We had awesome sightings of them as they moved right close to the vehicle, feeding around us. We were thrilled to see a young elephant calf of only [...]

Rangers Diary: 25 – 31 March

Arathusa — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:54:44 +0000

Rhino Bull after a wallow by Phillip Wessels

Sunday

This morning started off with plenty of general game on the open area in front of the lodge. There were zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, impala and, of course the hippos in the waterhole. A great way to start a safari – when there is so much general game right at the lodge, it often promises a great drive. Then the radio call came through [...]

Rangers Diary: 18 – 24 March

Arathusa — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:34:42 +0000

Majingilane male lion by Phillip Wessels

Sunday

This morning we could hear lions roaring to the east of the camp, so we made it our mission to try to find them. We headed east, and before long we had tracks of a whole pride of lions, and that is when the work for the morning started. After a very long tracking session we found the lions – it was the Styx pride; [...]