October 2009
October has arrived and with it summer! We are informed that the wild life viewing is currently at an all time high with some truly great sightings everywhere. Wild dogs – leopard kills and matings – Lion matings – new prides being established – exciting elephant encounters with a number of mock charges (all very adrenaline pumping stuff!) – baby cats being born and much more.
Hilary, Sandie and I are going over to Africa early in November to check out some new destinations and to give Sandie an update on all things African. She will be heading for Victoria Falls – both sides –to approve some hotels then to some lodges in the Okavango delta, on to the Limpopo province to evaluate some other lodges in the Timbavati Game Reserve and finally we will all meet up at Savanna for a couple of days of R&R before we return home. Sandie has not been to Savanna so it will be good for her to experience first hand why our clients all rave about this lodge!
Hilary and I will be visiting some family and friends before we head for Zimbabwe to re-assess what are now reputed to be first class game lodges. This will include a night at Victoria Falls at Ilala lodge, then to Hwange – The Hide and Little Makalolo - then a light aircraft flight to the Matusadona Reserve on the banks of Kariba dam, a short flight to Ruckomechi at Mana Pools on the banks of the Zambezi River and then a night in Harare with friends. We then go back to South Africa and meet up with Sandie at Savanna. We expect to be there when the Impala give birth and will enjoy the sight of hundreds of lambs across the bush.
I am looking forward to seeing how the game has fared in Zimbabwe and to assess the entire situation there, hence my going to Harare as well. I will let you know the outcome in December’s issue!
News from Savanna Private Game Reserve
(With thanks and acknowledgement to Paddy Hagelthorn and the staff of Savanna for photos and text)
August has not shown the normal winds that are expected at this time of the year. Some would predict that this is a sign that we are not going to have a very good season with regard to rain. However, the glorious weather we have had with temperatures going from 14 – 30 degrees has been outstanding from a game viewing point of view. This time of year is also renowned for its sunsets, owing to the dry harsh conditions and all the dust in the air. This year is no exception and our sunsets have been exquisite.
In the early part of this month Mambiri and her cub have stolen the show. For the first 20 days we saw them on almost a daily basis. With exposure to the Land Rovers, the cub has become exceedingly relaxed and at times the vehicles have had to reverse to prevent this young cub from physically jumping onto the Land Rover. Mambiri is continually under pressure from her daughter Metsi in the west and Makubela in the east. All three leopards are now vying for territory and Mambiri’s territory lies right in the middle. However, she has been able to hold her own and has still been able to protect her cub against all adversaries. We are now almost 100% sure that Makubela has lost both her cubs. She has been seen patrolling her territory and calling the males. This is a good indication that she is coming into oestrus again.
As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, Shangwa and her cub were under pressure from a new male leopard, the Ravenscourt Male. This saga continues and the male is still pursuing her on a regular basis, but fortunately her cub has not been harmed at all.
The Shikavi female has been mating with the Tegwane male and while this was happening, the Hippo dam female, who is normally very shy, emerged and the two females had a major confrontation on two occasions. Each time the male ran in and intervened to split up the two fighting females. What was interesting, however, was that after the male had split them up, they both sat there, shoulder to shoulder, growling at each other, but no further contact took place and the Hippo dam female retreated into the undergrowth and left the honeymoon couple to get on with it. This was the first time we have ever recorded a male interfering in the territorial dispute of two female leopards.
The Ximungwe pride has killed six wildebeest and one reedbuck in a period of nine days. Individual Mapogos have ridden on the back of these kills and have come in once the Ximungwe pride have made the kill and dominated. The Ximungwe pride is looking exceptionally good. Mating continues to happen, so we are not quite sure how many, if any, females are pregnant yet. We wait with bated breath and look forward to the time that we can see small cubs in our area again. In the last few days, the Ximunwe pride, with the help of three Mapogo, killed a big male buffalo very close to cheetah flats. This gave us tremendous viewing for two days while these lions gorged themselves on this massive beast.
The Ottowa pride that spent the last two months on our property has now moved east and it will be interesting to see if they will continue to use our area within their territorial plays.
The large herd of buffalo has been making regular sorties into our traversing area. Our water points that still have plenty of water due to last year’s rains are obviously the draw card in this respect. Certain cows within the herd give them direction and take them from one water point to another. This has on occasion created conflict between the hippo and the buffalo, as the hippo are trying to protect their patch and the buffalo are just trying to get a drink and a wallow. Fortunately, no actual physical contact has taken place and it is wonderful to see this interaction.
We have not had a hyena den on our property for some time now and as a result our hyena viewing has been limited. Early one morning, however, we found two female hyenas having a dominancy clash in the middle of cheetah flats clearing. What was amazing about this incident is that no actual biting took place, but there was butting of heads and shoulder pushing until one finally became subservient. This was another incident that was a first for us and made extremely interesting viewing.
Our groups of rhino are splitting up into smaller groups and, as they become sexually mature, these males are also having conflicts over territorial boundaries. The young males are constantly fighting with each other and the bigger territorial bulls are also trying to remove these young males from their territorial boundaries. The older bulls are also pursuing the young females in the hope of mating, even though these females are not yet sexually mature and on a couple of occasions the old bulls have actually attacked the young females in pure frustration. We continue to see large numbers of rhino on Savannas’ property, drawn in by the copious amounts of water in our pans.
Some of you in the past may have seen an old bull elephant that frequents our traversing area. This bull has now returned and he is easily recognisable by having only one very large right tusk. We don’t often see elephant with tusks this big in the Sabi Sand. This bull is now getting very old and was seen a few days ago feeding off one tree for at least eight hours. If only a bull like this could tell us the stories of his encounters over the last fifty years!
The large breeding herds of elephants continue to frequent our waterholes and provide us with the most outstanding viewing, because they have become so relaxed with the vehicles.
News from The Hide in Zimbabwe
Barry in Camp
Warmer weather has arrived, the grass is drying out as well as some of the waterholes filled by the rain. Although there is still a fair amount of water left in the Park, this will dry up quickly. Sable, roan and kudu are slowly reappearing out of the bush to drink at the pumped pans, a sure sign the natural water is drying up.
Our resident male lion, Mpofu has finally made his way back to the concession / Kennedy 1 waterhole area after a month away. He was involved in a huge fight at Ngweshla and we are all surprised he has pulled through. He was there for 2 weeks before slowly making his way back to Broken Rifle where by some miracle he managed to kill a buffalo calf which seemed to kick start his will to live! He still looks thin, but hopefully he can get the lionesses in the area to do the hunting and eat his way back to health. Three lions were killed in the fight, they have now been found by Jungle Jane, so it just shows, the Old Boy still has some hammer at nearly 12 years of age. His sons seem to sense there is no love lost for not being at his side in battle and scattered the day he came back to the concession! Judah is currently back at Ngweshla with a few girlfriends and the other two are hiding down at Mbiza.
The elephant have started to filter down to the waterhole in front of camp every night allowing guests to sit and enjoy a refreshing drink and watch the "bush tv" in style. Biltong, the resident buffalo "Dagga Boy" and a few of his mates have graced us with their presence, munching the green couch grass, a few meters from the teak deck in front of the A Frame, a wonderful sight.
The best drives continue to be along the Kennedy vlei and to Ngweshla, where a variety of plains game, a few large herds of buffalo, lots of elephants and graceful giraffe can be seen. Kennedy 2 is as always very good for elephants in the afternoon, and the sunsets at Mbiza are as spectacular as ever!
Sinanga has started to attract elephant herds and will be very good for afternoon drives in a few weeks time.
The concession is full of wildebeest and zebras at the moment, as well as the shy waterbuck, giraffe, bat eared foxes and impala. The resident bushbuck can be seen almost daily sneaking out from the area around my house for a quick drink at the pan, before running back to the safety of the camp.
CIRAD are currently involved in darting and collaring a variety of animals including elephants and buffalo. We wait with interest to see the results of how far and where these animals travel to. I do not think we really have any idea the distances these animals move, one of the lions was measured last year by Lion Research at having travelled 3550 km in one year!
Never a dull moment .....
Game viewing in August was brilliant. One evening we had 9 lions drinking at the pan in front of The Hide. Interestingly they all drank on the A frame side of the pan fairly close to the trough. Gary, from Friends of Hwange, says he has not seen this since he has been at The Hide. They have always drunk on the other side of the pan. All our guests in camp were treated to this amazing sighting.
The first baby eland was seen at Kennedy 2, not much bigger than an impala. Two baby roan antelope were also seen at Kennedy 2 so we already have some youngsters out and about.
We have about 150 wildebeest on the concession that have just moved up from Ngamo. There is no water there now. Last year we had a maximum of 45 on the concession. The lions have capitalized on this , we hope they change their diet soon or the wildebeest will move on to safer pastures.
Daffy and a few clients got to see 3 painted dog chasing a herd of about 350 buffalo at Mbiza. They were after a calf in the herd. The buffalo would stampede for a while and then stop to face the dogs and then chase them. This pattern continued for a while without the success of a kill.
A young leopard drank at the pan a few nights ago. A couple of guests got to see it but being shy it was not there for long before it disappeared back into the bush.
We have also had rhino on the concession which has been wonderful to see again.
News from Rekero in Kenya
As I sit here on the camp lawn I find myself thinking that one animal we should perhaps take less for granted is the giraffa camelopardalis or giraffe to you and me. I say this not just because Twiga (Swahili for giraffe) is how the guides address me, but because they have become one of my favourite animals since arriving here a few months ago.
With such a large body they are in need of around 25 litres plus of water per day and that perhaps explains why they are an almost permanent feature on our riverbank. This afternoon is no exception, and I am watching a lone male gracefully going about his business, seemingly without a care in the world. However, although he may appear relaxed, the truth may be quite different after a recently completed study showed that of all animals in this wonderful wilderness, our 15ft neighbour has suffered one of the largest population declines.
This peaceful animal troubles no one and provides a wonderfully high warning system for some of the more preyed upon species. As he glides away across the plain, I am reminded that this really is an important part of our existence and not one that I would want to lose. So, with that in mind, I am vowing to pay a little more attention to our tallest of friends.
Botswana: Savute Channel's First Birthday
August 2nd was the first anniversary of the waters of the reborn Savute Channel reaching Savuti Camp for the first time since 1984; this 'birthday' was duly celebrated in camp with dinner and a candlelit performance by the Savuti choir. A year ago, the water in front of Camp was a metre wide and 5cm deep. Now the water below the fire deck is 1 meter wide, and the log pile hide will soon be on an island! A few days later, the Channel crossed the Chobe and then the Linyanti cutline’s and shows every sign of continuing all the way to the Savute Marsh.
Namibia: A warm welcome
Wilderness Safaris Namibia has opened a beautiful Airport Support office at Windhoek's Hosea Katako International Airport. This kiosk will be used for Arriving and Departing Wilderness Safaris Guests for Meet & Greet, plus general airport support, for pre-departure briefing and/or itinerary reviewing and is a great space for guests to kick back and reflect upon or anticipate their journey. Full credit is due to Cate and the team for completing the facility which is strategically located in the International Arrivals Hall.
Zimbabwe:
Ruckomechi Camp is now complete with its full complement of ten spacious en-suite tented units, including a honeymoon suite, all of which overlook the Zambezi River. Each tent has both indoor and outdoor showers, and the camp boasts a favourite amongst guests: its outdoor 'bath-with-a-view' in a secluded, scenic spot. Following on from our Zambian camps, Ruckomechi Camp has aimed to be as environmentally friendly as possible - hot water and lighting for each unit is provided by solar power.
EXPLORATIONS NEWS
All detailed itineraries of Explorations have been updated and tweaked to get the very best out of the areas in which they take place. Please contact your dedicated journey specialist for more information on these. In addition, the Parched Kalahari has been renamed to the Wild Kalahari - a name that better describes this amazing place. "Wild" connotes the remote, pristine and untamed desert land that is seasonally filled with myriad creatures, such as herds of springbok and gemsbok and the iconic black-maned lion.
Meanwhile, guests on a Great Namibian Journey were amazed at the rare sighting of some black-backed jackal hunting - and taking down - a springbok.
CONSERVATION AND COMMUNITY NEWS
'Eye of the Leopard' Published
Dereck and Beverly Joubert's latest book, 'Eye of the Leopard', is to be released in September. They're thrilled with the way the book turned out and say: "... most of all we hope that the book does justice, in its small way, to the delights of sharing the world with animals like this and in particular like Legadema, the leopard character of this book. That fact that there are places like Mombo, where big cats can live out their lives free of the threat of hunting is a miracle that perhaps this book and the associated film can highlight." The publishers have committed a percentage of the profits to the Big Cat Initiative, a trust the Jouberts have set up with National Geographic.
CITW Zimbabwe - Food distribution programme
Over the past few months, CITW Zimbabwe has been working amazingly in the face of many challenges to bring food and water to a number of villages on the outskirts of Hwange National Park. A total of 432 children are fed at three schools in the Hwange area, with food supplied by the Children in the Wilderness programme in conjunction with donations from tour operators and guests.
A letter from a recently returned Destinations Africa traveller
Home at last. Only arrived back in to Perth yesterday as we went to Europe for 2 weeks after our African adventure.
You will be pleased to hear it was all absolutely fantastic for both of us. All of the travel arrangements went 100% smoothly. Every transfer, flight, pick up etc occurred without fault and on time and given the short amount of time you had to organise all of this we were very impressed.
It was the trip combination though that scores 11/10! The Botswana safari was an incredible start to our journey. 5 in our group and we all got on very well. The comfort aspects of this safari made it perfect as it strikes the ideal combination between remote bush camping and the creature comforts of a WC and hot shower each night. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the camp assistants were all really great. We saw and experienced so much more than we thought we would from the very start and our cruise on the Chobe River was an incredible commencement to the safari. The only thing I would have done with the benefit of hindsight is to spend an extra day or so at the end of the Botswana safari on/in the Okavango as opposed to the edge. Perhaps a night or 2 at Chief's Camp or similar, plus a scenic flight, to travellers with a budget enough to afford it, would be a perfect end to the adventure as this trip does not experience the Okavango.
The 3 days we spent at Vic Falls was also well worthwhile. After 8 days in the bush we (James in particular) were ready for a change of scenery and some adrenaline adventure. A swim in Devil's Pool, white water rafting and a bungee jump certainly ticked that box. The hotel you chose was ideally situated for the purpose and the facilities and service was excellent. We both commented at the end of this leg that we think it was ideal that we did the safari first and Vic Falls after and would recommend other travellers to do so if possible.
Then Sabi Sands and Savanna. What can I say? We both had high expectations given the rave reviews you gave both the park and Savanna. Nothing could have prepared us however for the amazing experience we had there. Savanna is truly one of the loveliest places I have ever stayed as much for the staff as the incredible location and lodge. We felt at home within hours of arriving. Our guide, Johnno, was brilliant as was our tracker Lawrence. All at Savanna provided a friendly and professional service second to none. We were quite lucky that Dave and Dee were there at the time and they made our stay even more special with invites to their suite for pre dinner drinks and a very special bush breakfast that took us by surprise. The game viewing there was so much more than we expected. Within an hour of our first drive we had seen rhino and mating lions. That was just the start of it. We had a truly special 3 days in Sabi Sands and will definitely return again one day.
So, as you may have gathered, we are absolutely thrilled with the trip you put together for us. You lived up to your website promise and created an individual package for James and I that suited both of us and so much more. The variety was great and dealing with Destination Africa could not have been a more satisfying customer service experience. Thank you Sandie and John, I will certainly be recommending you to anyone travelling to Africa. Dave said to say hello by the way John.
Please feel free to publish any/all of the above comments on your website etc if you so desire. I will certainly be in touch next time I want to visit Africa and feel fairly certain that a Namibia trip will be in the offing next year,
Kind regards
Lianne and James
Well thank you Lianne and James. We are of course delighted that you had such a wonderful safari and look forward to many of our readers sharing a similar experience in the very near future!
Happy Safaris!
John
61 (0)2 4984 9747
61 (0)411 749 627
jma@destinationsafrica.com.au
www.destinationsafrica.com.au