Message Stick > April 2011
April 2011JMA’s Musings! We have been frantic this month as we have received an unprecedented number of requests from prospective safari goers! I guess the A$ has at last had a positive effect and people are now taking advantage of it and taking their holidays. The terrible happenings both within Australia and around the world have an impact. We have had a number of clients who have had to postpone their travels as a consequence of the devastating floods, fires and droughts that have hit us. We wish them every success in re-establishing their lives and homes. May is Indaba time in Africa. Indaba is the largest Travel Expo in Africa. We usually attend every second year but Hilary and I will go again this year as there are some exciting new “products” – a strange term for new lodges and activities – that we want to check out. Besides the Indaba we are also checking out the Commodore Hotel in Cape Town and revisiting Franschhoek Country House just to make sure they have maintained service standards and quality. We then head off to Savanna for a couple of days R&R and then to Makalali, Motswari and Shumbalala game lodges to ensure that they continue meet our exacting standards. As you know we do not send clients to places that we have not personally checked and placed on our recommended list. Interestingly about 70% of lodges fail to do so for one reason or another – usually because they are too large and “hotel like” or the Guides/Rangers and staff are not good enough. The quality of the guides is paramount on our list of “must haves” as no matter how fancy the accommodations if the game drive experience is not superb then the whole safari is a disaster. We welcome Myra Espey to our staff this month. Based in Port Stephens (Anna Bay) she is a South African expat who has travelled extensively throughout Africa and we are sure that she will be a huge asset and give our clients great guidance in planning their safaris. There are heaps of good reasons to send your clients to Savanna PGR in the Sabi Sand Reserve, part of the Kruger National Park. This relatively small region is very rich in terms of South African wildlife viewing: both the variety and the numbers add up to a quality safari experience that is difficult to top. Despite the fact that there is little actual savannah ... the topography here is mixed woodland ... the Big 5 are large and in charge and pretty relaxed about being seen by humans, since hunting has been off the menu for the past 40-odd years. As luxury lodges go, Savanna (there is no H, note) PGR does not have much bling. So why would someone spend the extra to go there? For the record, it is a lovely camp, with all the comforts. But what it really comes down to is a guide called Paddy Hagelthorn. Paddy is something of a legend, like the game rangers and trackers who feature in Licensed to Guide. He is your quintessential wild guy, perfectly attuned to his habitat and huge fun to be with. And that's why Savanna is the well-loved camp that it is. I came across just the right description of such a person in Ian McCallum's book, Ecological Intelligence, in a poem by Rumi called Has Anyone Seen the Boy: Has anyone seen the boy who used to come here? Have you heard stories about him? (With thanks to The Safari Times) News from Savanna.With acknowledgement and thanks to Paddy Hagelthorn and the Savanna Team This week the wild dog sightings have continued and we have been spoilt with them staying on our concession for the whole week. Two of the females look pregnant and they have been looking for a suitable den site, so hopefully they may den in our area! There is still some time to go though, so a lot may change before then. One of the sightings was at Dam six, where some of the dogs tried to chase two Buffalo’s from the water. Unlike most predators, wild dog actually enjoy water, and often lie in it to cool down from all the running. The following morning we had the pack stalking a herd of Impala on Mackenzie Airstrip, but unfortunately missed. They eventually lay down in a drainage line which was extremely difficult to get into, and we had to put our land rovers and guests through some tricky off-road driving to get a view!
The good news with the Ximungwe pride is that the second cub of the middle litter was ok, and both are still doing well. The female with the older cubs is still hanging around the Mabrak, and were slightly further east, near Cutline Dam with one other female and one male from the Mapogo coalition. The moved into the drainage line in the heat of the afternoon, and lay on the cool sand, before slowly heading east. The large herd of Buffalo have been seen regularly. We watched them as they entered Mackenzie Windmill Pan, and as always, a large number of Red-billed Oxpeckers are close by to feed on the ectoparasites and get a quick drink of water at the pan.
The Mapogo's have been seen throughout the Western sector. Sataan seems to have accepted the cubs, although we still have not seen the youngest set of cubs again yet. They should only be about 6 weeks old now, and we normally only see them when the mother starts moving them to kills between 6 to 8 weeks old. Hopefully we will be seeing them in the next week or two.
Kashane is establishing himself within the Southern Section of our area. We are seeing him on a weekly basis and it is always a treat to see this leopard as he is by far the largest in the area.
Small herds of Burchells Zebra are appearing on Savanna Big Clearing on a daily basis. One female is very pregnant, and we are hoping for a new born foal very soon! European Rollers are plentiful at this time of the year. They are one of the last of the migrants to arrive in full numbers in middle February, but they will shortly be migrating northwards to North Africa and Southern Europe.
Tlangisa is still exploring her territory which she inherited from her mother, Mambiri, who died a month ago. She is still treating us to some fantastic sightings. She still seems intent on pushing further north, and we have had her on two occasions north of Mackenzie Cutline. On the first, she was intently stalking a herd of impala. She very quietly leapt into a marula to get a better vantage point, before dropping down just as quietly and moving on. We had to leave her during the stalk, but she was unsuccessful in the end.
We also followed her along Simons Loop where she climbed onto the large rocks and posed beautifully! One overcast morning she was found on a termite mound, scanning the landscapes while catching the odd catnap! Later, she eventually moved south, heading back into Mambiri’s old territory. We have been having great sightings of White Rhino lately. A mother and calf were enjoying a mud wallow at Nkombe Dam, when the calf decided to take over the mud wallow.
After following up on a large number of vultures near White Dam, Greg and Lybon found the male cheetah with the normal lip with a fresh impala kill. He remained there for the rest of the day, and moved off the kill that night.
David was fortunate to not only get a female Grey Duiker standing still long enough to get a photo, but also to have her calf nursing! Not something that you normally see.
We had an incredible sighting of Hlabankunzi on the 19th, where she was initially found relaxing as only a leopard can, on a low fallen over tree. Very few vehicles showed interest in joining the sighting, so we were able to spend a very long time with her!
After a yawn and a stretch, she was off, patrolling her territory.
Another leopard must have been in the area recently, as she was scent marking, and ‘grabbing’ trees and bushes excessively!
The patrolling suddenly stopped when she noticed a herd of impala coming toward the road she was on. She quickly went into stalk mode, sneaking as close as possible to the herd before they crossed the road. Unfortunately they reached the road before she could get into the perfect position, so she had to flatten herself against the road, completely exposed when the impala started to cross the road!
She turned out to be just too far to make a dash, and the impala crossed without noticing her on the road! She continued to stalk the impala, and on one occasion sat up on her haunches, like a meerkat, to get a better view above the long grass, after which we left her to hunt in peace.
The giraffe viewing has continued to be good, and two young giraffe were seen on the clearings at Tree-house Mackenzie. The adult females were feeding along the tree line in close proximity.
On the way back to camp from one of the drives, the male cheetah with the normal lip was again spotted on an elevated tree trunk near Cheetah Flats. It was surveying the area for possible prey, after which he decided to head in an easterly direction. A single wild dog running in a westerly direction bumped into the cheetah, had a brief encounter and went their separate ways.
At Nkombe Dam we found a large herd of Impala stotting across the clearing. They do this in order to ’advertise’ to possible predators that they are in good health, and they should not waste their energy chasing them! It was fantastic sighting, to see the females with their offspring, running and jumping together.
One of the Mapogo’s and a Ximungwe Lioness were found south of Dam Five. We were trying to find them for some time but without much success. Fortunately they started roaring while we were on the dam wall and they were located south of the dam. Both were vocalising on a regular basis. For a video clip, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/SavannaLodge#p/u/6/AHolyLNQCOE.
On Marius’s road, the Shinzele male was lying in a Marula Tree with the last scraps of an Impala carcass. It seems that has taken over the territory that Tegwaan used to defend. We have not seen or heard of Tegwaan for some time now, and we are not sure what has become of Tegwaan.
Autumn is fast approaching, although two very late rain storms have lengthened our summer just a little. Game viewing has been fantastic, and we look forward to bringing you the updates from next week! Early in the week we headed out of camp along Main Mac to follow up on the large herd of Buffalo. As we approached Cheetah Flats we noticed the Kashane male lying up inside the tree line. He was intently focused on a few Buffalo. He attempted to stalk a few but soon lost interest when a large male wondered his way. After that he went to lie up on a termite mound. The herd size was approximately 300 and we still noticed a large number of newly born calves. Not far from the buffalo and male leopard, we found Makamisa resting in the long grass just off Jackal Alley. Interestingly he also started stalking the Buffalo, probably hoping for a small calf to wonder away from the herd. He too, however, lost interest when another large bull wondered towards him after picking up his scent. He slowly moved away from the herd, and again lay down in the grass. This month we have had unusually high rainfall with 115 mm falling this week! Sunsets have therefore been relatively scarce! After one particularly fantastic African sunset we continued into the night, and were treated to some of our nocturnal species. Some of these include Fiery-necked nightjars, Bronze-winged Coursers, White faced Owl and a Bibron’s Gecko.
The Xinzele male and the Hippo Dam female were also seen this week. She is quite a skittish female, but she seemed interested in mating with Xinzele, and so did not run off. Interestingly, she has a few nasty wounds on her hind legs, but we are unsure of what caused it. The good news is that these animals have an amazing ability to heal and she is not showing too much discomfort. She is also keeping it very clean, and we expect her to make a full recovery.
The two younger cubs from the Ximungwe pride seem to be doing very well. They were found again in the Mabrak drainage line, west of Pump house Pan.
The elephant viewing has continued this week, with breeding herds being seeing frequently, and a number of bulls scattered around. David was fortunate enough to get this great photo of a bull drinking at Fig dam.
General game viewing has also been good, with good sightings of rhino, giraffe and vervet monkeys being seen regularly. News SnippetsNamibia was ranked 3rd in Sub-Saharan Africa by the 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitive Index, beating countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. Namibia’s “rich natural resources, fauna and a pristine natural environment” along with prioritised environment sustainability and “well developed ground transport infrastructure,” awarded Namibia this significant placing. You can 'sense' this from the stunning photograph taken on a recent flight over the Sossusvlei region. TRUTH ABOUT LIONS The Governors' Camp Collection is delighted to announce that the BBC's documentary the Truth About Lions will be shown on BBC2 on the 23rd and 30th of March.
lion cubs courtesy of Chala Cadot Governors Camp in the Masai Mara, Kenya hosted the BBC's Truth About Lions film crew and these two programmes were both filmed in the Musiara area of the Masai Mara and the main characters are the famous Marsh Pride of lions. Warren Samuels one of the BBC's team had the following to say about the choice of location; "we could have gone anywhere in Africa to find a pride of lions and film them to match the behavioral science that we have gathered from leading lion experts, but the Musiara Marsh stood out as being one of the prettiest locations to film lions in and the Marsh Pride were the obvious choice as the films main characters, as they are so well known by audiences worldwide." The Governors' Camp area of the Masai Mara is one of the best places to see the spectacular wildlife of the African savannah in its natural environment. We hope you enjoy watching the Big Cats of the Masai Mara on the Truth About Lions and hope to welcome you and your clients on a Governors' Camp Collection safari to see the action live out on the great plains of Kenya's Masai Mara. The Safari TimesCommen Sometimes, shocking events become less shocking after you see them on TV over and over again. Before long, our senses are dulled, our focus changes, no matter the size of the catastrophe. It is different with printed media, for some reason. I still have the magazine. It's dated August 23, 2004. Time magazine's lead article waved a big red flag concerning the falling numbers of wild lions and all big cats. Lions, it suggested, were slipping quietly 'towards oblivion'. The big cats, it revealed, are threatened as much inside the protected areas (game reserves) as outside them. Shocking as this was, it simply announced what we now know to be true: if we want to show wild lions to our grandchildren's kids, we must start thinking creatively and quickly about how to conserve them in the wild.
This is a theme that Keith and Beverley Joubert bring to light in their beautifully filmed newest work called The Last Lions. It is narrated by Jeremy Irons (remember Scar in The Lion King?) and shot on location in Botswana, where the couple live and work. Happy Safaris! John 61 (0)2 4984 9747 61 (0)411 749 627 You are receiving this email because you have subscribed, been a guest of ours, requested an itinerary, are an agent or an associate or friend of Destinations Africa. To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to jma@destinationsafrica.com.au with the heading “Unsubscribe” Our mailing address: 10A Bayview Street, Nelson Bay, NSW, 2315, Australia |
|
(+61 2) 4984 9747 |
 |
 |
 |
| For the very discerning traveller Pink diamonds are worth approximately 20 times the cost of the same size white diamond. |
 |
Search
|
Let’s Discuss Your Upcoming Trip: (02) 4984 9747 |