Our afternoon was dedicated to seeking out elephants. The
great pachyderms were the last on a long list of requests which included hippos
out of water, giraffe, zebra and warthogs!
Twenty minutes and a plethora of plains game later we found
a fairly sizeable herd of elephants along a road known as Faga Nyawu (which in
Shangaan literally means “Put Foot”, a fairly descriptive manner of saying ‘walking’).
While watching the herd a new bit of insight dawned upon me. The grass surrounding all the Greenthorns (also known as Torchwoods and belonging to the family Balinites) was completely flattened, s one would expect around Marula trees in the fruiting season.
Further investigation amongst the tree’s canopy revealed that the tree was in fact fruiting with many little oval shaped fruit present.
These are a great favourite of elephants and may be the reason for the sudden influx of herds. We too can use the nuts as they have a very high concentration of oil within them which in fact rivals the quality of olive oil! The burning of these nuts with their high oil content is where the tree gets the common name Torchwood in the first place as they burn extremely well.
While watching the herd a new bit of insight dawned upon me. The grass surrounding all the Greenthorns (also known as Torchwoods and belonging to the family Balinites) was completely flattened, s one would expect around Marula trees in the fruiting season.
Further investigation amongst the tree’s canopy revealed that the tree was in fact fruiting with many little oval shaped fruit present.
These are a great favourite of elephants and may be the reason for the sudden influx of herds. We too can use the nuts as they have a very high concentration of oil within them which in fact rivals the quality of olive oil! The burning of these nuts with their high oil content is where the tree gets the common name Torchwood in the first place as they burn extremely well.
Though we did not see the following sightings I do know that
both the Styx and Shadow were found, the latter with her cubs (I’m pretty sure
I heard cubs mentioned in plural). Apparently Shadow was doing her usual and
taking the cubs into the densest thickets imaginable.
We spent our entire drive this morning with the Styx as they
led us on a wild goose chase through thick bush and dense riverbeds. We stuck
with them as other rangers were desperate to see the cats.
Finally, after an arduous half hour the Styx decided it was time to lie up for the day, not one hundred meters from a group of buffalo bulls! Talk about terrible luck. Oh well, maybe they will bump into the buff later this afternoon...
Finally, after an arduous half hour the Styx decided it was time to lie up for the day, not one hundred meters from a group of buffalo bulls! Talk about terrible luck. Oh well, maybe they will bump into the buff later this afternoon...
Other sightings in our traversing area included a pack of
wild dogs coming in from Londolozi and onto our area. This of course, will be
our port of call this afternoon.
There was also a cheetah spotted on the Kruger Park boundary, close to Kudu corner on Nkorho’s property but the wily cat walked off into the Park, not to be seen again.
There was also a cheetah spotted on the Kruger Park boundary, close to Kudu corner on Nkorho’s property but the wily cat walked off into the Park, not to be seen again.
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