June 14, 2010

The hunt continues

The hunt for leopard continued as we went in search of the ever elusive leopard. We went to the best spots for leopards and searched every road for the signs that there may be any feline life. Nothing! Eventually I said to Solly that we should just take it easy and go have an awesome sundowner. We watched the sun set over the Drakensberg from Koti view and discussed the in and outs of the bush. It was a great stop and was about to get even better. As we packed the vehicle up I heard one of the other rangers call in that he had found two honey badgers wondering along the road a stones throw away from where we were. As I rounded the 3rd corner there stood a honey badger in the middle of the road! It was incredible, notoriously shy animals we were even more surprised when he started posing and paid no attention to us! We followed him for a while and then lost him in some really thick bush. This seemed to cure my frustrations about the leopards for a little while.

We hadn’t driven another 2 km when leaping out of the bush jumped a majestic serval. With his long legs and spotted coat he hopped across the road and we followed him with the spotlight and he stopped briefly to have a look at us before he moved off.


What a night this was turning out to be. On the way home we saw a side striped jackal and a cheetah which REALLY put the cherry on top! Unfortunately we not allowed top view diurnal animals with the spotlight so we stuck with him for about 5 minutes and had to leave him be.


The next morning we went on the cheetah hunt and after an hour and 15 minutes we only got a view of his tail as he made his way into the property next door! We then went to view the lions, which were sleeping as usual. On our way home we were enjoying a bachelor herd of waterbuck when suddenly all hell broke loose 300 metres in front of us. Monkeys alarm calling, waterbuck alarm calling so we sped off to see if we could find the culprit. We found some leopard tracks again but no luck finding the culprit. Ego bruised I took the guests back to the lodge. We would have to wait till that evening!


That evening was even more frustrating than the morning. We went gallivanting all over chasing ghosts, finding tracks that led nowhere, hearing alarm calls but never getting to see the intruders. Clearly the smell of my desperation was wafting and the leopards didn’t want any part of it. This would be the 10th drive without leopard… We eventually called it quits and went home, the guests could all sense my frustration and I had to put a smile on my face and pretend that the next morning would be worth it


SO…THEN…this morning we headed out with a fresh lead…at about 4am a male leopard had been in the lodge and we had heard him calling after that…so again we picked up the trail, following the spoor feeling slightly optimistic that my curse may be broken today. How short lived that optimism was…my smile faded as I saw the tracked crossover into another reserve…





A little later another vehicle called in bushbuck alarm calling so we went to investigate. Three vehicles looking everywhere to see if we could find the responsible cat. Just as I was about to pull out of the area one of the vehicles found her…our resident female and she had her 2 cubs with her…What a way to break the drought…three leopards around the vehicle. The cubs slipping under the vehicle for cover and playing in the bush around us! AMAZING!






We also walked up to 2 giraffe, saw and animal aggregation consisting of kudu, impala, rhino and a troop of baboons, we also bumped into elephant and a group of rhino with a young calf in theor midst. What a morning, what a day…


I am so excited to get out there again tonight and look forward to a enjoyable relaxing drive this evening, followed by some amazing dinner and a bit of Soccer World Cup 2010!

June 12, 2010

Where the cats gone???

What a dry spell....for the last 3 drives I have not seen a cat and it is frustrating me endlessly. Either they have all gone to watch the football or someone spiked the water with red bull cause there has been no sign of a leopard, not a foot print, not an alarm call...





I have been having to keep the guests busy with all the small things which is great when you have a nice cat once in a while but this is ridiculous. Even last night we went to go see if we could find the lions, that the rest had seen whilst I was madly trying to find the leopard for my guests that were leaving that day and that was the last of the 5 they needed to see, but they miraculously disappeared too. It would have made missing the Bafana game worthwhile if I could have at least wowed guests with a pride of lions. At least I got updates over the radio and when we scored my tracker and I did a little happy dance on our drive! The drive was at least topped off by some MAGNIFICENT stars and a spotted eagle owl!!


All this cat hunting...and then finally, there was hope. The lions had been found and I mode my way there. All 14 fast asleep around their waterbuck kill from the last night that was completely finished. FANTASTIC....guests are now super happy and now tonight we going to find that little leopard!!!

June 10, 2010

Back on the road again



So I am back on the road again after a restful 3 days off. Was really good catching up sleep but it is even better getting back on the road again. I went to go fetch my guests from the airport yesterday and knew I was in trouble when I met them. 4 young guests from the states, out for the world cup and looking to have a good time.

We got off to an early start and headed out on their first safari ever. I headed south to see if I could relocate the lion pride that had been seen the night before. On the way we saw lots of general game and a great sighting of 2 rhino calves and their mother. Eventually we found the big pride sleeping in the open. We watched them for a long while with one of the young females giving us the evil eye and threatening to charge us. After about 20 minutes, as it got darker they started to get up and stretch, then played with one another and then moved off. We followed them to a small pan where they all had a drink and then moved off to do their nights hunting. After following them for another 20 minutes until they got to the airstrip we decide to leave them and head home.

On our way home we saw beautiful spotted eagle owl hunting in the road. He suddenly leapt forward and pounced on a mouse. He then flew to a perch in a nearby tree and continued to swallow the mouse whole. They have an incredibly wide gape to allow for eating their prey whole and then after digesting all the usable parts they with cough up a pellet with the bones, toes and other indigestible material.

We got back to the lodge and then the trouble started, first we had a couple beers, then a couple glasses of red wine over dinner then back to beer after dinner and to add to the pain this morning we had a Mozambican Scab (a shooter with sambuca, tequila and Tabasco). Needless to say that when my alarm went off at 4.45 this morning I was not a happy camper.

Our morning again got off to a cracking start with a lioness right outside the lodge who we followed and watched her hunting wildebeest. She then lost interest and went to sleep so we moved off to go find the massive herd of buffalo that had moved onto the property last night. When we found them we were all dumbstruck by the size of the herd. There must have been 600 buffalo together. We followed them for about and hour just enjoying time in the middle of the herd. They reached a waterhole where stopped to drink where I saw the biggest set of horns of my life.


We then enjoyed an awesome cup of coffee which was much needed as the worst part of the hangover was starting to catch up with me. A rusk and some caffeine did the trick and I felt my second wind pull in. On our way back to the lodge we bumped into a herd of elephants with a young male that was intent on showing us who is boss, shaking his head in agitation and spreading his ears wide to make himself look bigger. We also bumped a huge lone bull elephant that calmly fed beside the vehicle while the 4 guys were manically taking photos of themselves and this giant. We also did a nice walk after breakfast this morning which was great, we spent some time looking at golden brown baboon spiders, talking about termites and smoking elephant dung.

Only 2 more drive left with these guys and we need to find a leopard, but first it is time for a well deserved nap to get rid of the last bits of my hangover cause I think tonight is going to be very much like last night…

June 6, 2010


Yesterday afternoon we headed out a little early to get a head start on all the other vehicles. We headed straight to the last loc of a lion and lioness that had been seen mating that morning hoping to see a little action. When we found them they looked like they had died of exhaustion. Neither of them even lifted their heads to acknowledge our presence. The male was a magnificent specimen, he had a full dark mane and looks like he could weigh close to 230kg!! There is a very interesting dynamic playing out on the reserve, as I said in a previous post, our pride male of the Southern Pride is in very bad condition, he has been following the pride around non stop hoping to get food instead of marking territory and has not even been roaring. He knows he is on his last legs and is trying to keep a very low profile. Meanwhile other males from surrounding areas have seen the gap in the market and are trying to cash in. This male is one of them and to be honest a new male would do the pride good. A new injection of genes, some new lion cubs, etc, etc....

After sitting with these two lions for 20 minutes and seeing that there was no action coming our way we headed off to find some more active animals. We found just that, a whole herd of elephants feeding along side the Msutlu river, babies playing in the safety of the herd and adults feeding on the abundance of greenery.

Next stop....drinks...and while unpacking the drinks a heard that there was a leopard sighting close by and called in for a standby.This meant that we had about 15 minutes before someone left and we could then move in...how wrong I was, it wasn't even 5 minutes and I was called in to the sighting, so I chased the guests back in the vehicle with their still full drinks, packed up and sped of down the road. The guests clung on to their drinks trying not to spill but failing epically. At one stage I thought it started raining but soon realised that in actual fact it was gin and tonic from the glass of the guest behind me...

When we reached the leopard he was just lying down taking in the last bit of light and I noticed a herd of impala no more than 100 metres from him. We watched him for a bit and then he got up to move, so I moved the vehicle in anticipation of his movements and got it just right....he walked right next to my door, so close that I could reach out and touch him and the guests were gasping at the proximity of this magnificent animal.

As he rounded the first bush he went straight into stealth mode, slowly moving closer to his desired targets. These cats are have the ultimate patience and he lay down just observing. This time instead of having to wait in the dark, one of the rangers had a red filter with him. Animals cannot see the spectrum red so the light does not interfere with the hunt in any way. As we watched he stooped into a pounce position and all our hearts started beating faster...little did we know or could we seen that a hyena was approaching. This put an end to the nights hunting as the leopard would never waste the energy of catching a meal and then be pushed off by the hyena. Hyena out weigh most leopards bar the really big males, but seeing as though this guy was just a juvenile there was no point in taking the chance. He just got up and moved off and we followed as far as we could until he went over a particularly sensitive area where we do not drive due to the irreparable damage that it would cause. That ended the nights activities and we headed back to camp.

As we neared the camp we saw another hyena very close to the camp and stuck around for a bit to watch him. Once we got back to the lodge I escorted the guests to the rooms to get ready for dinner and then went to get an ice cold beer to quench the thirst built up by a successful drive. Solly dropping off the cooler box from sundowners at the bar mentioned in passing that there was a hyena at the door, so I went to go check. As I walked around the hyena was inside the building about to walk into the office...I duly shooed him off with some 4 letter words that I dont care to repeat here and as I ran out after him I saw that he had taken our nguni cow hide from the front entrance and dropped it on the lawn. We have already lost 2 skins to hyenas that apparently enjoy the taste of chemically treated cow hide.

This morning I got to have a lie in, as the guests were not going on drive but I did end up taking one of the guests on a walk later, which was brilliant. We discussed all the small things, enjoying the fresh morning air and the bird calls. We went to the buffalo carcass that was left after the lions devoured it and chatted about the intricacies of what had happened and all the different animals that benefited from the death of this one.

Now I am chilling at home after a whole bunch of my guests cancelled and have 3 nights off...what I am going to do for the next couple of days I don't know but I will have to find something to keep me busy!

June 5, 2010

Hunting the cats


3.30pm and time for high tea, which was very welcome seeing as though I had missed lunch in order to catch up some much needed sleep. Beef sausage rolls, fruit and chocolate brownies with a caramel topping.....YUM... Belly full enough to last me till dinner I rounded up the troops and we headed out. I went to where the guys had seen our sickly male lion that morning hoping to start the drive with a high profile sighting to please my new guests.


We eventually found his tracks but after following them we saw that he had crossed over north to the next property in search of the rest of the pride. This was a big blow! With the new guests only here for 2 nights and the lions off the property there was a good chance that they wouldn't get to see lions. There was nothing we could do so we moved out of the area and went looking for something else. We stumbled upon 3 rhinos that had been mud rolling and were covered from top to tip with a thick layer of mud. They started playing with each other, pushing and jousting with their horns and running around after one another. We were all enjoying this spectacle when the one female thought she would include us in the game and started galloping over to us and stopped about 5 metres from the car. It was only then she realised that we were not another rhino and very quickly back pedalled to a more comfortable distance,


We left these guys to their fun and moved off to an open plain where we watched the sun drop behind the horizon and the guests all enjoyed gin and tonics. The sky turned an intense red and we all just savoured the moment. Due to the failing light we hadn't seen a big rhino bull that was slowly moving towards us. We spotted him 40m away from us and with no malicious intent he simply kept that distance and kept walking past us.


The night drive was very quiet and no one got to see anything. the radio was dead quiet. Eventually we found a massive chameleon in a tree and I went and took it out and brought him back to the vehicle for the guests to examine! After lots of "Oo's" and "Ah's" we made our way back to the lodge for a traditional braai and gorged ourselves on the biltong entree, 3 bean soup, chops, boerewors and sirloin with pap and sauce and baby potatoes for mains and koeksisters and mini milk tarts for desert.


This morning we were out nice and early and after hearing the lions roaring last night Cameron and I set out to track and find these guys...and find them we did. 13 of them lying on an open area, sun rising in the background and guests smiling from ear to ear. My honeymoon couple was leaving early to catch a flight so I wanted to find them hippo before they went but unfortunately we had no luck. Once they had been picked up and the rest of us enjoyed a cup of coffee and tea we went back towards the lions cause a buffalo had been seen heading their way. We found the track for the lion and the buffalo heading into the bush so we circled the block to see if they had popped out somewhere. No tracks so we knew they were in the bush somewhere and we would have to walk in to find them. I grabbed my rifle and Solly and I, with the help of my mate Allister and his tracker, set off into the bush to find the cats and see if they had taken down the buffalo. We hadn't walked 400 metres when we heard to ominous noise of lions growling at us and not more than 30 metres away stood the lions growling at our unwelcome presence. Rifle cocked we slowly backed out and headed back to the car to get the guests. We then took the vehicles in for a bundu bash and followed them for a bit before retiring back to the lodge for breakfast.


This afternoons mission is finding a leopard, so I am off to read my book and relax before the next bit of madness begins!!

June 4, 2010

Play time


Due to the mornings failure to locate a leopard, we were now on a mad leopard hunt. The only dynamic that had changed was the fact that my head ranger, Will, had decided on joining the drive to assess my abilities and provide constructive criticism. So the pressure was now really on! I also had guests that would be arriving late and would be brought out to join us later in the evening.


Heading east, we aimed at getting to the area where the leopards are most prevalent, in order to use the last bits of light to find signs of leopards and track the little buggers down. They had given us the slip that morning and it wasn't going to happen again! After milling around the area for a bit and still no signs of any cat we bumped into 3 big dagga boys (male buffalo) feeding around a dam. We sat with them for a while watching the oxpeckers picking off the ticks on their bodies, in their noses and periodically disappearing into the ears. We then headed off to meet the other couple at my planned drink stop.


As we got closer the other ranger bringing my guests called me on the radio to tell me that he had a leopard right at the spot where we were going to stop for sundowners. I put foot and told the other guests that the silly ranger had just dropped the guests in the middle of nowhere and left them there. So off we went on our Ferrari Safari to save the stranded guests. Of course the surprise of the beautiful female leopard next to the road set off the familiar sound of cameras clicking. We pulled up next to the other vehicle and the guests quickly hopped over onto my car and just as they had seated themselves, the leopard got up and started making her way down the road.


By this stage any thought about drinks had been lost in the excitement of following this leopard. As the light grew dim we watched her stop periodically to mark her territory and listen for any potential prey. Finally she spotted some kudu just off the road and began to stalk. Now in order to have as little impact on the hunt as possible we go all lights off so that we don't give her position away or blind the potential prey.


This is make or break time....everyone sitting dead quiet listening for lasts gasps of a dying animal or the characteristic bark of the alarm call....unfortunately it was the latter, she had been spotted but in the darkness we had lost her position. We went back on the hunt eventually finding her again and she had now spotted her next victim, an impala ram. Again back to lights off until we heard running. Solly shone the light and we could see her running after the impala but she was too far away. Eventually we left her still hunting madly but it was getting late, bladders were full and we had to get back for dinner.


The next morning we headed out to see if the FAT lions had decided to do something more than just sleep. We found them on a large open area staring into the distance, and in the distance we could see a herd of wildebeest moving toward the lions, unaware of the impending danger. We watched them come closer and closer with 13 pairs of now very interested lions eyes staring at them. Next thing they all started staring out away from the lions and a hyena came out of the bush. The wildebeest started chasing off the unwelcome visitor and we went in for a closer look! The hyena soon disappeared into thick bush and the wildebeest went back to their mission of walking towards the lions. Unfortunately the wind was wafting the the lions scent straight to them and there was going to be no further excitement. The Wildebeest snorting with disgust, the lions got up and started to move off. As they did there was a spring in their step and they started tackling each other. First a couple of ankle taps then full on play time! Theses guys were having an absolute ball around the car! One young female took to hiding behind a bush that was no more that 20cm high and pouncing on anyone that got close enough.


We left the lions and went to enjoy an awesome cup of coffee on viewpoint overlooking the bush. This is always a highlight, the stops allow people to stretch their legs and warm themselves with a hot drink. We later bumped into a a crash of rhinos, 6 strong, and watched them do a bit of mud rolling. One of the bulls getting a little unhappy with our distance and one calf doing the typical rhino whine that sounds like it should be coming from the birds around it rather than a youngster weighing in at just under a ton!


What a day! Lots of excitement and I cant wait for this afternoon!!!

June 2, 2010

Easy does it!!

The new honeymoon couple arrived yesterday from the South Carolina in the States and are very quiet, I almost felt like I needed a crowbar to prize open their mouths just to find out what they wanted to see. The quiet drive home was a little awkward, but peaceful.

We set off on our afternoon drive after Solly (My Tracker) and I decided what we were going to be looking for and where. We decide the lions were a good place to start as we had new guests and on the way we bumped into a huge herd of about 50 elephant...ranging in size from babies to huge mothers and of course the massive bulls following the herd waiting for one of the females to come into oestrus so they could get some action!! Two young males were testing their strength against one another while the rest fed on gwari berris and buffalo thorn. After spending about an hour with these giants we left to go see what was happening with the lions.

We knew that the lions had moved a whole 20 metres since the night before... All thirteen cats had been lying around the pan the night before and after all the game drives had made their way back to their respective lodges, a buffalo decided to go for a drink at the same pan! I can just picture the grins on the lions faces as the big buffalo emerged from the dry river bed moving towards the little pan...13 lions all crouched low waiting for the right time to spring the ambush! They pulled it down just as it was heading back into the river bed and this is all RIGHT (30 metres) in front of Selati Lodge (Which had no guests and was closed, MURPHY's LAW). By the time the vehicles arrived the next morning the buff was 80 percent finished. That translates to approximately 500kg of meat between 13 cats...which is almost 40kg of meat per cat after eating the night before... I have never seen anything like it, these cats were bulging at the seams. They were so fat that they could barely breath, panting like they had just run the comrads. We then moved to the carcass where the pride male and 2 lionesses were still feeding and the noise was incredible...these three fighting over the scraps that were left behind. The big male only now getting his turn as he has been severely weakened by bovine TB!

After the feeding fest we moved up onto a high view point for sundowners, looking out over the bush, onto the Drakensburg mountains with hues of pinks, oranges and reds filling the sky and the cold bite of the evening chill touching our skin. And here we sat enjoying the view and discussing the intensity of the lions feeding. Solly recounting a story of how previously at this spot with another group of guests, they had been snuck up on by an elephant and been charged...well as you can guess, all the guests seem to make two or three deft little steps closer to the vehicle. After drinks the bush was very quiet, we saw a few elephants and buffalo but the cats remained elusive.

The next morning the cold had gripped hard and with everyone wrapped tight in their blankets and hot water bottles being hugged tightly we headed off in search of a leopard. It was an hour and a half before we picked up the first tracks of a big male leopard and after tracking him for 15 minutes we were disappointed to see his tracks moving over our boundary into the next reserve...

We continued along stopping for little antelope and trees to fill the time and eventually stopped to enjoy a cup of hot coffee to warm up the cold start to the day! Afterwards we were driving by a dam when Solly turned and asked if I smelt the popcorn. I reversed and as sure as shit it smelt like I was at the cinema...this is a sure sing that a leopard had been here no more than 10 minutes ago as leopard urine smells like popcorn. We proceeded along and found some tracks and they headed into some thick bush. Another vehicle in the area called in some more tracks close to where we were so the two of us set out tracking this boy...30 minutes later, still no luck and it was now 9.30 and the guests were starting to get bored and hungry so we had to give up the hunt. We will have to wait till this afternoons drive to start from scratch!!

After breakfast we set out on a nice bush walk and we were not 300 metres out the gate when we saw a HUGE elephant bull feeding just off the road we were walking on. I ran through my plan for moving closer with the guests and we set off stalking closer to this enormous bull. As we reached our destination he decided that the tree we were taking cover behind was his next victim so we quietly moved back and retreated about 40 metres away behind another bush. He bypassed the bush and continued past our position as we crouched in the grass, I could see that if I didn't move us soon he would catch our scent and we would be far too close to him to get out without incident so I told the group to start moving back slowly. As we retreated the elephant picked up our scent, then picked up his head, spread his ears and started towards us, now looking larger than ever he let us know that were in his space and he didn't like it. I cocked my rifle, ready for the worst, and slowly backed out while ensuring that none of the guest were doing anything stupid. As we moved further, he again came closer just to make sure that we were in fact moving off, and then he turned to the gwari bush next to him and started devouring the whole thing. I knew then we were safe then and led the group to a point of safety far away for the big guy, removed the round from the chamber and assured the ghostly white faces that we were safe. The rest of the walk was event free, we enjoyed the flowers and bird and made our way back to camp incident free.

June 1, 2010

All the small things


Before we headed out on our afternoon drive yesterday, I had a nice team meeting with the couple that I am driving. They are very well travelled retirees and have lived in some really exotic locations, such as Uganda and Tanzania, and travelled much of the globe. This not being their first safari or first time to South Africa there is no undue pressure on showing them the "BIG 5."


In our little team meeting around afternoon tea, snacking on mini chicken pies and caramel filled Swiss roll, they said that they would like to see some elephants... So off we went on our afternoon safari looking for elephants. About 15 minutes into the drive my tracker, Solly, put up his hand for me to slow down. He had picked up fresh tracks of a herd of elephants, so I climbed out the vehicle and the two of us went for a little stroll to check which way they were heading and to discuss which route we needed to take to find them...after some careful deliberation and a very short bit of tracking we bumped into the herd feeding near the road. To our surprise there was a very small baby, maybe a month old, flaring his ears at us trying to scare us off, however the only thing he managed to do was to bring us into hysterics at his misjudgement of his size and the impact he would have on us. You could almost see in his face that he was thinking, "But this works when Mom does it..."

After following them for about 30 minutes the little guy got a bit irritated with a bird that was following him and then turned his intimidation tactics on the bird. After he successfully chase off the bird he paraded with pride running around trumpeting, letting the rest of the herd know that he had won the battle!


We left the elephant herd and moved off to see what else we could find...and not 300 metres down the road was a white rhino with a TINY calf. this calf was so intimidated by everything around it that it was too scared to move more than 2 metres from his mother but even through this fear we could see the inquisitive side of this guy popping out, never taking his eyes off the vehicle, ears upright taking in our sounds as we discussed the ins and outs of rhino poaching and the stupidity of the use of the horn as an aphrodisiac. At one stage this little guy turned away to make sure his mother was where he left her and a bird, called a folk tailed drongo, swooped in to catch a insect that had been disturbed by the movement of the rhino and startled him so badly it sent him scurrying for cover under the belly of his mothers 2 ton frame!


We went back to the lions that had been sleeping at the pan that morning after enjoying a BEAUTIFUL sunset on the open plains with a glass of wine in hand! They had moved maybe 20 metres and were still digesting the food from the night before. It is a really boring thing to sit and watch lions sleep...everyone gets so excited every time one of these big cats rolls over...so we didn't stick round too long.


Slowly we started heading back to camp and stopped briefly to enjoy the beauty of the stars...and they were out in all their glory....MILLIONS OF STARS ALL AROUND!


Dinner was exceptional and full of hearty laughter as we joined another group of guests with whom we had been competing for game drive glory...chirps were passed, wine was flowing and we all enjoyed the fantastic meal.


This morning was an early start as usual and we decided to head down to the south of the reserve for some spectacular views of the Sabi River and to concentrate on the small things...birds, trees and insects...which was a great success. We also managed to enjoy a herd of about 8 giraffe feeding 20 metres from the vehicle, from time to time lifting their heads to see what we were up to. Towering above us at 4,5 metres tall they looked down on us with beautiful inquisitive eyes.


We had some in depth discussions about evolution, the origin of species and the many incredible interactions happen every minute of every day in every location. It was spectacular!


Now its time for me to put my feet up and enjoy the peace of the bush while reading my book, "The Elephant Whisperer", before I fetch my new guests!