I would love to say that spring has sprung, but with another week of warm weather, it almost felt like we had jumped straight into summer! That being said, the mornings were still fresh, and jackets and hot water bottles were still the order of the day. The heat meant that the waterholes remained very busy, but even the pumped waterholes across the area were starting to look dry! Tanda Tula had multiple herds of elephants visiting daily, along with zebras, impalas, ostriches, wildebeests, giraffes, buffalos, and most amazingly, a black rhino! Sometimes we didn’t even need to go out on a drive to enjoy the wonders of nature.
Luckily, we still managed to get out on a few drives.
The leopards gave me a headache for the second week in a row, and I probably went on my longest-ever run of not seeing a leopard! That is not to say they weren’t being found, but I was either in the wrong place, or if there was a relaxed leopard, she somehow disappeared into an inaccessible area. Fortunately, as the week drew to a close, the viewing picked up. The highlight was a two-for-one special when both Marula Jnr and Rihati were seen at a duiker kill. Based on Marula Jnr’s belly, the kill was likely hers, but she was uncomfortable with Rihati’s presence. Marula was up in the tree feeding, but after noticing Rihati, she descended, scent-marked in front of her, and promptly walked off. This gave Rihati the chance to finish the kill before heading off in her own direction. Nyeleti left tracks for us most days but remained frustratingly elusive. Even when she was found with an impala kill at the end of the week, she wasn’t quite playing ball for me! Hopefully, next week will be better!
Luckily, our other large cats cooperated well! The River Pride spent yet another week anchored around Machaton Dam, east of Tanda Tula, and provided us with the sighting of the week. A Vuyela male was spotted north of camp and followed past Machaton Dam towards Tortillis Plains, but since the lionesses were not there, he wandered into a thicket and went to sleep. Later in the morning, the lionesses returned to the four cubs with a joyous reunion. Their vocalizations must have caught the male’s attention because he sauntered over but stopped about 50 meters away. The lionesses watched him and soon got up to “greet” him, or at least that’s what both he and I thought would happen. It turns out the ladies had other ideas, and for reasons we can only guess at (a prolonged absence and time spent with the Sark Breakaways being the most likely), they took exception to his presence and launched a fierce attack! The roars and vocalizations were something to behold, but what impressed me most was how the lionesses stood up to him. After he retreated and the lionesses made sure the cubs were safe, they set off to chase him again! The Vuyela male sprinted at full speed across the clearing and, unsurprisingly, didn’t reappear! In fact, the pride did very little in front of us this week, and we only saw them a couple of times despite their roaring and leaving tracks across the concession. Tristan encountered one during a bush walk, but we couldn’t relocate him afterward.
The Sark Breakaways were a little more active in the area this week, being spotted several times, mostly along the western boundary. We saw the mother moving the four cubs one afternoon, but the next day they were back in the Klaserie. At the end of the week, we enjoyed an evening with 12 of the members as they lazed near a dam after a warm afternoon.
We caught up with the wild dogs only once this week. I was about to stop for a drink when a steenbuck came sprinting past, and I immediately knew there was only one predator they would run from at that speed. A little searching led us to the pack of eight, and we followed them as they hunted, but in the fading light, we soon lost sight of them.
A major highlight this week was when Steven found a black rhino one afternoon! He was semi-relaxed and allowed for a good view before moving off into the thickets. Sadly, despite visiting our waterhole, we didn’t catch up with him again.
The buffalo herds stayed away from the area for another week, but we had the constant company of a herd of ten buffalo bulls around the camp.
For yet another week, the elephant herds were very active across the area, and on hot days, they could be found at one of the waterholes. We were also blessed to have Apollo return, basing himself around one of these pans. I know I say it all the time, but he is just such an amazing animal – to spend time in his presence is a gift. There cannot be many larger elephants in Africa than he is!
Add to this, we had very good giraffe sightings, groups of up to 50 zebras, ostriches, my first Wahlberg’s eagle of the season, honey badgers around camp, and plenty of kudus, and I think it’s safe to say we had a pretty good week here in the central Timbavati!
I’m off for the next couple of weeks, so I’ll catch up when I’m back…with the mandatory cheetah sighting no doubt certain to occur in my absence!
Until next time!
Cheers,
Chad
