23 - 24 March

Moving off from camp we had our game drive planned, but as this is wild life and they do as they wanted, our plans were short lived! 

We found Mvula still mating with Shadow, we were alone at the sight so had ample opportunity to take wonderful photos. After watching these leopards mating rituals we moved off west, we wanted to have a look at the hyena den, but a pleasant surprise awaited us on triple M north, wild dogs were moving briskly over the road in an eastern direction, they only allowed us to view them for a mere minute before the disappeared in the lush bush veld. 

We headed off to the hyena den where three youngsters were fooling around with each other, trying to overpower one another with their power full jaws. We spent the rest of the evening searching for the lions. 

Once again we found the cubs but due to the low light we left the area and headed back for camp. This morning we had a focus and headed straight towards the last area were the lions were seen. Finally we found them! They were at first moving around and lay down in the bush we had a poor visual but sat patiently. Our patience paid off as they got up and moved south on to the open road allowing us a perfect visual of the cubs as they played around the adults. 

We spent a good amount of time with the Styx pride as we were searching a long time for them. a good morning it was indeed. Persistence and patients is key!

22 - 23 March

Exhilarating drives awaited us as we headed out the afternoon for a good time in the bush. 

We headed west in search of lions. We headed towards the hyena den and found only one adult female lazing around the den. We enjoyed her company but she didn’t seem to care much about ours. 

We also found a side striped jackal doing the same as the hyena, relaxing on Arathusa airstrip. This omnivore was lying out in the open allowing us to see her true beauty. The light faded quick as we headed to find the lions, unfortunately we had to abandon our search as we could not use our spotlight to find them as the cubs were with the pride. 

We headed back towards the camp, and as lady luck was on our side we bumped into a leopard! It was one of Karula’s cubs named Kunauma (skittish) he was far south of us but we sat patiently watching him meander about in a uncertain direction, luckily he started to move north towards us, as he approached us a scrub hare popped out of the long grass and the hunt was on! The scrub hare ran towards the road and straight north, we thought it was it for the sighting, and then suddenly the scrub hare came flying out of the grass with a leopard short behind him. The scrub hare saw safety under our vehicle as it ran right underneath us, but the leopard did not lose focus as it bolted right past the vehicle, the scrub hare was lucky as the leopard gave up the chase as the hare ran for its life! Great end for the day. 

This morning was no short coming, our plan was to go back and search for those lions but as we sat and watched the sun rise over Chitwa dam we heard some good news! Wild dogs were waiting for us just north of where we were! 

We headed over and twelve dogs were sleeping along Gowrie main! We were excited to see the rare dogs but we weren’t the only ones! As the dogs were a very special sighting everyone came to the east to view these amazing hunters as they were sleeping out in the open. After we enjoyed our time with the dogs we left so someone else could have their turn. A

nd for us this was perfect, as Bernard went tracing leopard! He found the culprit of the tracks he was following and we made our way to have a look. It was Umvula! 

And he was not alone; Shadow was with him constantly rubbing up against him to entice him to mate! He was reluctant as he courted her several times as we sat there. It was a n amazing sighting and quite a rare act to see! With all the commotion another in-experienced male leopard showed his face; Bauti! Luckily he noticed the large male and left as quick as he can! 

Exhilarating morning it was indeed! Hoping to get the chance to find those lions!

Jaces Bornman

20-21 March

Our afternoon drive was a scavenger hunt for buffalo as it was the only one left of the five to be seen. The drive started on a big note as we haven’t even started the vehicle and a herd of elephant made their presence known, they were one hundred meters to the west of the lodge. We approached the herd from the north and sat patiently watching them come out in the open surrounding us with calm and ease as they moved passed us feeding. Two youngsters were playing in front of the vehicle with no care about our presence, one trying to overpower the other in a playful manner, mounting each other in a “dominance display game”, which would be useful in their older days. 

We moved off to the west and sure thing! A dagga boy was wallowing in one eye pan relaxing the day away! We asked for one but were given plenty! We saw three more whilst on drive, none of us were complaining as we enjoyed their presence and not much more was found except some plains game such as water buck, Impala, zebras, grey duiker and steenbok. 

This morning however held in more excitement than we expected. We moved back west and first thing as we entered the western boundary known as triple M (mala mala main) we encountered another herd of elephant. The herd was spread over the whole road but only one specifically grabbed our attention. A female had a calf no older than a week! She was very weary of where her youngster was. She blocked him from us but we managed to get a sneak peak of the new comer! 

Three hundred meters west of the herd we found the whole Styx pride! And the three cubs were walking about with the pride! Much excitement on the vehicle as cubs is always a winner with everyone! Unfortunately they moved off north in a thick Tamboti thicket which was inaccessible. None the less a good sighting! 

As we moved off to get back to camp for breakfast a Tawny eagle was perched on top of a dead tree and allowed us to stop directly underneath him. Flying off was the last thing on his mind it seemed as we slowly moved off and he sat peacefully on his throne. 

We had perfect timing, on arrival at the lodge the sky opened up slowly allowing the soft rain to fall. 

Greetings Jaces Bornman

19-20 March

Our evening drive started well as we departed the lodge, Bernard found a big elephant bull on Kruger boundary and we found a herd of elephant on Annet’s camp moving south from jacks pan. 

We then moved west in search of more animals, we succeeded in our quest as we found a big bull elephant had our attention on the southern side of Arathusa’s airstrip, and then we headed towards the Styx pride lazing about as usual deeper west in the thick bush veld, but the cubs were with them. Unfortunately there was no visual of the three young ones as the mother lioness had hidden them in a save spot in the drainage line where it was impossible to get to, none the less we had a great visual of the cats lazing about. Happy to have seen a big cat we headed back to camp after a lovely sundown drink stop. 

This morning was an exceptional drive! We barely left the lodge as we heard impala alarm calling and the blue wildebeest snorting distressed. Barely outside the electric border around the camp, We found what the commotion was about… Xivambalane! The male leopard was hiding in the long grass stalking the impala. Fortunately for the impala he was spotted before we got to him. He moved off south towards the lodge but sneaked out of sight on the western side of the camp. 

After starting the morning in such a good way we were excited to see what the rest of the drive held in store for us. A small herd of elephant was drinking water from a very small pool of water and the one female had a calf no older than eight months, since he was still learning the tricks of the trunk he couldn’t drink the same way as his mother so he took a short cut, he went head first into the pond drinking the water with his mouth. 

Soon after a tower of giraffe was spotted calmly browsing away with a quick glance at us to ensure we’re not a threat. 

Shortly after the tall mammals we encountered our second leopard for the day… Thandi! She was peacefully sleeping in a marula tree as we arrived, not a care in the world as she stretched out on the branch, soon after she came down very elegantly pouncing down the fruit baring tree one obstacle at a time until she finally jumped down and moved off into the bushes and disappeared as leopards do best! We decided to stop for coffee on the open area known as mike’s kitchen and watched some plains zebra moving over the open veld! 

We headed back after a very eventful morning, on our way back we had some great entertainment from the dwarf mongoose family on the side of the road curiously and carefully coming out of their hiding spot to investigate our presence, as Africa’s smallest carnivore these small mammals ensured a smile on our faces for our last stretch back to camp. All of this within four kilometers from camp! 

10-11 March

The afternoon drive we headed back to the four way pride on Anett’s camp, but this time they moved and allowed us to have great visibility, and they proved the curiosity of the feline race as the one lioness sneaked into the camp and stole an old tyre! The strange shape, smell, taste and texture of this rubber circle enticed these big cats to bring out there playful side as they trashed and threw the new toy around each lion making a turn to wonder over the new object. 
We headed off to see if we could find the hyenas at their den in the far north east. As we arrived it seemed abandoned but luckily just as we were leaving the one female came out of hiding. Not where you would expect, they were in the bush hiding under a fallen dead tree. As the youngsters came out they allowed us for a great view. But a small bladder on the vehicle meant we had to scurry off in search of a save spot. As we say “every tree is a lavatory”. We headed back after good conversations on our sun downer stop. 
This morning we made our way in search for wildlife, we were very fortunate to of found Bahuti right next to Gowrie main right up in a tree exposing his face in the green foliage naturally framing his face. He moved east on the northern side of the road which meant we had limited, but good, visual and as our luck had it he moved north meaning we lost visibility completely, as we moved on we noticed Thandi’s tracks heading south which meant she couldn’t be far! We carried on following her tracks and bumped into a beautiful herd of elephant! 
They were peacefully feeding around us, some were so focused on nourishing themselves that they almost didn’t take notice of us and strolled alongside the vehicle, making for a great first encounter for the guests. A couple of youngsters were wrestling in front of us in the road, made for great and funny entertainment as the youngest elephant bullied the oldest one to the ground and placed themselves right on top of him! 



We stopped for coffee after our great encounters and moved on back to camp. Maybe this afternoon we’ll find Thandi hanging around.
Greetings
Jaces Bornman

5 - 9 March

For the past few days chaos was upon us as the heavens brought with them the rain, allot of rain! 
We had a combined total of 240mm of rain in three days which in turn caused floods! The roads looked like streams and the streams like rivers some even like white water rapids! This of course caused a lot of problems in its own like no cell phone signal, land lines or even internet! 
Game was scares and due to the heavy rain fall we were stuck on the main roads! Mostly impala and water buck and your odd zebra or two were sighted in the first two days. 
We caught our first break with wild dogs and lions. But not the best of views as we were stuck on the roads visibility were limited. The plentiful rain meant migration for fish which most fish-eating animals took advantage of, pied kingfisher, giant kingfisher, hammerkop, fish eagle and many more were highly active as the fish were exposed in the shallow flood plains. Lions started moving more which meant viewing them was a pleasure even the wild dogs were roaming around again! But the leopard known for its elusiveness was still nowhere to be seen.















One afternoon we decided that we were going to change things up as we were tired of driving the same roads over and over again, we were going to do a walk and drive for those who were interested could do a walk and the others could still do a drive. Sean lead the walk showing all the interesting things you would most likely miss on drive such as tracks and signs of animals, flowers, trees and uses of plants, insects and spiders and the occasional sighting of animals on foot, witnessing wildlife in their natural state.
The drive was done by myself, and the roads looked the same except the fact that the sun was shining for the first time in three days! We once again were limited to roads and plains game was plentiful. Lots of young animals were around showing the fruitfulness of the bushveld, but an interesting sighting was at jacks pan, were a woolly-necked stork was trying to eat a western olive toad! We stopped to have a look at the struggle, as the toad had puffed itself to twice the size. While the stork was struggling I noticed Bahuti! The young male leopard was stalking the stork! The stork noticed the spotted cat and flew off leaving us alone with the beautiful leopard. He walked around the pan towards us and stopped to drink the rain water caught in the road. Finally the first leopard in days! 

The next morning also had promising weather and very good lion sightings! Four ways pride on our drive way Styx with cubs at Gowrie main and another Styx female in the west! 

But with all the water pooled up in most areas there was one animal who entertained us the best! Spotted hyenas took a plunge in the water swimming most eagerly! Diving down to grab a stick and just play around! The sun shine brought the wet roads to life as it was teaming with babies of all sorts! Freshly hatched soft- shelled leopard-tortoise, two centimetre baby chameleons, and young snakes of all kinds and even crested francolin chicks. Rain brings the life giving water which allows all living beings to thrive and we are thankful for what we have 

2 - 3 March

2-3 March

After a huge success with the cats the past view drives we couldn’t give up on the opportunity to view the big cats. It has been long since lions have been this plentiful and as the saying goes… if life gives you lemons, make lemonade! So we headed back to the big cats trying to follow the Majingilanies into thick bush but eventually got too thick to follow, there were some buffalo to the west of their position but they were no were to be seen. 

The Styx was sleeping next to the airstrip in the west in long grass, like house cats just sleeping the day away.  So yet another successful lion drive. When we got back to camp the wind started to pick up and the heavens opened over our heads! Heavy rainfall during dinner, eventually the wind subsided and the rain fell as usual right until the next morning! The drops started to clear as we headed out on drive with a bit of rain every now and then. 

The animals seemed to be shy except for some buffalo bulls relaxing at the banks of the Chitwa dam. Impala and water buck were plentiful and a herd of elephant with a couple of bulls scattered around made their appearance. 

Then the grand finale to our drive… the three Majingilane males had made a kill! A young buffalo calf was on their menu last night and luckily for us, breakfast too! This made driving in the rain worth it! Watching the lions making turns on the carcass feasting away on as much buffalo as they could! Their bellies so full it looked like it was about to burst! A rainy day turned into a great drive. P.s I did not leave my camera behind, lesson learned

Greetings Jaces Bornman

1 - 2 March

1 March

Afternoon drive

We spent most of our day in the west with a herd of buffalo slowly grazing towards the west. We were entertained by a few youngsters in the herd not sure what to make of the strange sound, shape and smell. And of course each group has its clown; one young bull had half a bush still stuck in his horns after scratching it against the helpless vegetation. We sat and watched buffalo for buffalo walk past us, being in the middle of such quantity of animals we got to see some interesting things unravel. 

The usually mutualistic relationship between buffalo and ox-peckers had turned parasitic as the red billed ox-pecker has found a shortcut to their diet of blood sucking parasites… an open wound gave them the direct supply of protein and vitamins without the “middle man”. As we observed the ox-pecker pecking away on an open wound on the buffalo cow, we noticed a small herd of elephant heading north directly in the path of the herd of buffalo. 

We sat in anticipation to see these two beasts “play chicken”. Witch one of the two titans would give way to the other? To our surprise, when both herds took notice of each other the respectfully made way for each other walking around to get to their desired destinations. Just comes to prove that problems can be solved without conflict.

2 March

Morning drive

This day belonged to the cats! We barely left the lodge in search of wild life when Sean called in Bauti! The beautiful offspring of Mvula and Thandi! We watched him do what leopards do best! Move without being seen, fortunately we did get a good view of the beautiful cat before he moved off into thick bush witch made it hard to follow him. 

We left him and headed west. Immediately upon arrival we found the Styx pride lazing about on an airstrip just relaxing peacefully like they had all the time in the world. Just to the north of them a big elephant bull crossed the airstrip, his size was impeccable so we had to go take a look, a beautiful giant he was! Shortly after leaving the big bull we came across the three Majingilan males having a catnap under a Tamboti thicket. These masculine lions are very impressive with their attractive full manes! A mere fifty meters or so west of them a bachelor herd of dagga boys were grazing, the manjaleti river bed was the only thing between the two! None had an idea of the other! 

We had to leave the area as we needed to get back to the lodge to be in time for a transfer. And as luck had it just as the group was about to head out from the lodge, a cheetah was spotted heading east from our open area in front of the lodge! We scrambled everyone onto one vehicle and followed the gorgeous male cheetah towards kaal kol were he did some territorial markings which allowed for amazing photos! Exited to see what the afternoon holds in store for us!

28 February- 1 March

  The heat is searing, both guests and staff alike swelter and slowly change from healthy shades of pale to glowing shades of amber and red.
Animals for the most part remain lethargic and hidden away save for the few brave individuals bracing the heat to reach water.

The first of many animals sighted this afternoon was a lone, young bull elephant at Fig tree. We didn’t get to spend much time with him though because while we were stopped and the vehicle engine switched off, our attention was drawn to a large Jackalberry tree with a multitude of birds and squirrels alarm calling.
We raised binoculars to see what was getting the diminutive creatures so riled up and noted that most were looking down towards the base of the tree where the Jackalberry was growing out of an old termite mound.
Convinced there was a snake, we drove around the mound and positioned ourselves nearby before switching the engine off again. It took the birds a few moments to get accustomed to our presence but they were soon distracted by the imminent danger below.
Suddenly, both Sydney and one of the guests excitedly shouted snake in unison, pointing vigorously at the same time. It took me a few moments but then I too saw it and focussed my binoculars and there, climbing down the tree was the biggest Snouted Cobra (formerly known as an Egyptian Cobra) I had seen in many a year.

Seeing that the snake was in fact slithering into a hole in the side of the mound, we dismounted for a closer look and managed to see the remaining section of body and tail disappear into the mound.
We estimate, given the sheer girth of the snake and what could be seen of it prior to disappearing, to be a healthy 2.4-2.7 meters long. Not quite the largest (3.2m found in Elisras in 1996) but definitely amongst the top five!

  Knowing full well the Styx pride could up and leave from their resting place this morning we chose to go have a look for fear they would again disappear for whatever undetermined amount of time as they usually do.
Upon our arrival we discovered that they had moved a mere fifteen meters from the morning’s loc and were still deep, deep in lala land.
Deciding after a period that the lions were going to get no more exciting than watching the grass grow around them, we headed back east.

  As we were about to stop for sundowners Jaces called us and told s to forget the drinks, he had a leopard on Big Dam wall. So we rushed across there and got some wonderful shots of Bahuti. This cat certainly loves showing off for the cameras! See the pics attached!!

On the way home from Bahuti we found his mother Thandi walking down the main road, obviously searching for her misplaced son. I do not think they had seen one another since the Mvula incident where he smacker her around, nearly a week ago.
Fortunately this morning both Thandi and Bahuti were found together in a river bed playing with one another ALL morning! It was good to hear that the two had been reunited.

  Other sightings this morning included many elephants crossing roads in front of us, a few retired buffalo scattered about and the remains of a leopard kill from the previous evening which vultures had managed to dislodge (or the kill simply fell to the ground) and demolished, leaving only a few ribs and the skull and horns behind. We found the male leopard’s tracks on all the roads surrounding the kill but weren’t able to get sight of him. Apparently it was a nervous male not used to the vehicles...