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!
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!
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