Hungry lions

Pierre, one of our rangers, was out with guests a few days ago, looking for the lions. He had no idea where they might be located, but then suddenly picked up tracks, and followed them for several kimometers. Just as it was getting late, he suddenly spotted them near a very recent kill: a kudu!! Somewhat late arrival, as the lions were already digesting their latest meal, but nevertheless a fascinating sighting, there is no doubt there.

Pierre went back with the guests the following morning, to see if the lions were still near the kill, as they often take more than a day to eat up a large prey. Alas, they had moved on, and had left behind a rather crude-looking kudu carcass.

We have had a lot of lion sightings as of late, significantly more than in the past, which is really nice. The amount of cheetah sightings has also reached frequent levels, as well as other Big5 game of course. Mike saw Rhinos and cheetahs on yesterday’s morning drive, for instance.

Regarding the photo footage below: Viewer discretion is advised, some people might find such photos slightly or very disturbing. But this is nature’s everyday reality!

Kudu kill carcass
Kudu kill carcass
Not an ounce of sympathy here ..
Not an ounce of sympathy here ..
Beautiful late May sunset
Beautiful late May sunset

 

 

 

Giraffes galore

 

When one asks our guests what animals they would love to see, then usually one gets to hear the cliche “Big5”. Notwitstanding that most are not 100% sure what animals are part of the Big5, I always find it surprising that most of our visitors actually are most impressed by the sights of giraffes. But then again I am not because giraffes are very unusual animals, huge in size, yet elegant, and remarkably different to any other animal in this world. If there is one animal that is uniquely African, then it probably is the giraffe.

So here a little information about giraffes, and how they live.

First off, a record: giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminant!

The latin name is giraffa camelopardalis, referring to the camel-like appearance and fur patches that look like the ones of leopards. Romans gave them that name, for those reasons, as they thought they were a mix between a camel and a leopard.

What’s the origin of the name? As so often in Africa, most likely from an Arabic word: zarafa (meaning “fast walker”), which was later adopted by European languages, to begin with Italian (giraffa), then in appearing in French (girafe), which was then adopted by the English language soon afterwards (as most English courts and upper class English mostly spoke French only at the time).

Our local tribes, mostly Shangaan, call them “nthutlwa”.

Their long necks are believed to have developed through natural selection, as animals with longer necks could reach leaves on higher trees where no other animals can reach them, and so had a competitive advantage and were more likely to pass on their genes.

Having a long neck poses all sorts of issues. Giraffes don’t have more neck vertebrae, they have much longer cervical vertebrae (some of them up to 30 cm each!), which again requires huge back muscles and nuchal ligaments, which are so large that they give the giraffe a hump on the back. The heart also weigs in at about 12kg, to pump sufficient blood throughout this large body, and the heart has to pump at a much higher rate to other mammals to achieve this: over 150 beats a minute!

The jugular veins also contain several valves to prevent too much blood rushing into the brain when the head is lowered, as well as the rete mirabile in the upper neck. Due to their long legs excess blood is at risk of pumping into them, so thick and tight skin prevents this from happening.

As with most animal species in this world, their numbers are under pressure due to habitat destruction. In 1999 over 140,000 giraffes existed in the wild in Africa, while it is closer to 80,000 only for the whole of Africa nowadays. On our reserve we have over 1000 of them, so the Blue Canyon Conservancy, of which the Moditlo Private Game Reserve forms an integral part of, is a key contributor to the long-term survival of this species. It is currently not classified as endangered yet, but some of the 9 sub-species are, such as the Rothschild giraffe, of which only 250 are left, if recent estimates are correct.

So, here some of our own giraffes. These shots were taken by Pierre over recent days!

Journey of Giraffes
Journey of Giraffes
Baby Giraffe
Baby Giraffe
Young giraffes with their mother
Young giraffes with their mother

 

 

Sara Lattey and Mark Wakefield full photo report

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Sara and Mark when they stayed at the lodge about 3 weeks ago. I had several utmostly interesting conversations with both Mark and Sara, and I regret not having had more time to spend with them, what a shame! I hope to being able to meet them again at the lodge, or elsewhere, that’s for sure!

Sara sent me a raft of their best photos (they took over 2000, wow!) and the selection was still almost 150! It took me quite a while to go through them, as one is more beautiful than the other, and it is impossible to make a selection, so I am posting a random selection of the photos that Mark took during their stay. The photos also made me realise how much they had seen during their stay, namely pretty much everything one could possibly want to see: cheetahs, lions, elephants, giraffes, zebra, buffalo, the list goes on and on. They also saw a super rare lion kill (how lucky is that??), which I published in a video report a fortnight ago on this blog.

So a thousand thanks again to Sara and Mark for sharing these photos with me, as I have never seen some of these animals myself. I spend too much time in the office, that’s for sure. I wish I was more out there seeing the incredible wildlife that we have right at the doorstep of our safari lodge.

So here some of the prettiest photos I would love to share with our fans!

Welcome note on bed
Welcome note on bed
Mark and Sara
Mark and Sara
The whole crew
The whole crew
Swenkie posing at the lodge
Swenkie posing at the lodge
The suite
The suite
Pool at the lodge
Pool at the lodge
Zebra
Zebra
It's been a long night ...
It’s been a long night …
Lion pride
Lion pride
Male lion
Male lion
Lake on Moditlo
Lake on Moditlo
Journey of Giraffes
Journey of Giraffes
Giraffes on Moditlo
Giraffes on Moditlo
Dinner's up for grabs!
Dinner’s up for grabs!
Elephant
Elephant
Cute ...
Cute …
Crocodile!
Crocodile!
Cheetahs basking in the morning sun
Cheetahs basking in the morning sun
Evening light on reserve
Evening light on reserve
Sundowner
Sundowner
Dinner in Boma
Dinner in Boma

 

Something on the gory end of the spectrum …

Sometimes our rangers and guests come across the sort of scenes that just simply aren’t for the faint-hearted. Quasi everyone wants to see these things, but when they do see them, many are quick to realise that they may not have wanted to see this sort of thing after all.

Pierre and his guests, about a  fortnight ago, witnessed one of these scenes that are so gory that I have been pondering for a little while whether I should post it or not, as it is reallynot a pleasant thing to look at.

I have decided, after all, to post it, as it shows the crass side of nature, raw and real. It is survival of the fittest after all!

This giraffe was killed by the lions on our reserve shortly before, and Pierre found them enjoying the feast of the year. Bon appetit!

 

Lion killed a giraffe
Lion killed a giraffe

Curious lions indeed!

Yesterday morning Justine got a call from Aggii, one of the guys that do the night security for us.

He had left the lodge early in the morning to go home again, using one of my bikes I have let the guys use for the last two years. My wife and I had used these bikes to cycle all the way from Durban up to the Vuyani Safari Lodge, going through Swaziland and even Mocambique. Sweet memories.

So Aggii told Justine that he could not pass on the road as the lions were blocking his way, and that in fact he was sitting high on a tree.

In the meanwhile Ernst, our reserve manager had driven past Aggii, but had not noticed/heard him from the tree.

Justine, our manager headed out to “rescue” poor Aggii right away. As she arrived, she saw the lions taking an extremely keen interest in this odd thing on two wheels, and inspecting it up close. See the photos below! Yikes, I wanted to use this bike next week for my trip up north to Zimbabwe. Doesn’t look that likely now … 😉

Aggi was hauled back to security by Justine, and the bike was retrieved after that. Enough playing for the lions!!

I always feel that in 20 years, when we look back, there will be many stories to laugh about, and this is one of these I suppose …

Enjoy the photos, they are already going viral on our Facebook page, as they are actually completely unique!

Lions closing in on the bike
Lions closing in on the bike
Interesting design this thing ... like the wheels!
Interesting design this thing … love the wheels!!!
Is it a harp??
Is it a harp?? Big daddy also takes a serious look at this thing.
Nooo!! I need this bike next week for my trip up to Zimbabwe!!!
Nooo!! I need this bike next week for my trip up to Zimbabwe!!!
All ends well for Aggii and the bike ...
All ends well for Aggii and the bike …

 

 

Mike’s shots of two large birds on our reserve

Mike’s use of our new camera has been extensive, so I suspect he quite loves using it. 😉

Rina just emailed me some of the prettiest shots he took last week of two birds while out on safari with our guests, and some of them are so excitingly beautiful that I immediately wanted to share them with everyone who follows us.

So first up a shot of a white backed vulture. As one may suspect, it is a scavenger, and only feeds on carcasses that it spots from very high up. When breeding they only lay one egg, so they reproduce quite slowly.

They have become fairly rare over recent years, and as a result in 2012 (sad news indeed) it was rated as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List.

We have a fair amount of white backed vultures resident on our reserve, and they are doing well, so from both a touristic and conservationist point of view, this is great news! They may not be the prettiest of all animals, but they are are just as vitally important to the ecosystem as any other animals!

White Backed Vulture as captured by Mike
White Backed Vulture as captured by Mike

Next up is a Marabou Stork! It forms part of the Stork family (duh!), and it is sometimes also called the “Undertaker bird”. One can see why: cloak-like wings and back, white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of hair-like feathers on its head.

This is a big bird! They can reach up to a height of 150cm, and weigh up to 20 pounds, and wingspans exceeding 3.5 m (!!) have been recorded. It is thought to have the largest wing spread of any birds on earth, rivalling the one of the massive Andean Condor!

The name “Marabou” is thought to derive from the Arabic word “murabit”meaning “quiet”. And indeed these animals are very quiet.

You will see these during your stay at the Vuyani Safari Lodge, as we have a resident colony on our reserve. It is fascinating to see them pick up the odd scraps and frogs and swallow them in one go. Please ask our ranger why they have white legs when on visit at the lodge. They are not naturally white that way! 😉

Marabou Stork on Moditlo
Marabou Stork on Moditlo

 

Sleepy animals ….

Animals are surprisingly often just like humans … most of the time they just want to laze about and do absolutely nothing at all!

Lions, for instance, sleep between 20 and 22 hours a day. Nice.

Crocodiles sleep pretty much their entire lives, with the exception of the odd kill now and then.

Some animals, of course, are on the other end of the spectrum, and they get quasi no rest at all! Elephants, for instance, are eating for about 22 hours a day, as they need to eat 5% of their body weight every day, so for a grown elephant that is far over 200kg of food a day, and that takes time if you are eating leaves only.

Giraffes also only sleep a few minutes at a time, and almost never lie down for sleep either.

Hippos, for instance, only come out at night and graze, and then laze about in a lake, or near a lake for the best part of daytime.

See below photos of a bunch of hippos, and a crocodile, taken on our safari reserve, doing what they love the most: nothing at all. Many thanks to Mike for the beautiful shots!

Hippos on Moditlo
Hippos on Moditlo
Crocodile basking in the sun on Moditlo
Crocodile basking in the sun on Moditlo

 

Sunbathing guests at the lodge

I noticed an amusing phenomenon a few days ago when I was enjoying yet another spectacular African sunset at the Vuyani Safari Lodge. As I looked towards the right wing of the lodge, I noticed lots of dark bits on the wall, and quickly realised it must be lezards.

Craig explained to me that this is very common, especially in the winter season, as the lezards are trying to catch the maximum amount of sunlight before a long and chilly night, so they seek out the warmest and most sun-exposed parts to do so in the sunset. This particular part of the lodge is perfect for this, so up to a dozen lezards can be observed enjoying their late day sun basking.

They must be English lezards, so much they seemed to enjoy the sun 😉

I took my phone and took some photos of them, and slowly approached them to catch one up-close, which I succeeded at with one of them.

Enjoy the photos!

Sunset at the Vuyani Safari Lodge
Sunset at the Vuyani Safari Lodge
Lezards on the Vuyani Safari Lodge
Lezards on the Vuyani Safari Lodge
Lezards
Lezards
I got very close to one of them!
I got very close to one of them! One of them was hiding behind the African shield, you can see its paw poking out 😉

Mike strikes it lucky again!

I am astonished by the volume and quality of sightings over recent weeks. We seem to spot cheetahs now on a weekly basis, for example, and each one of them close-up. They seem to be extremely relaxed around the game drive vehicle, making for incredible safari photo opportunities.

Mike and our new tacker found a small cheetah family (a mother and her cubs) in a nearby riverbed, relaxing in the daylight.

Of all cats, cheetahs are not nocturnal but daytime hunters, so it is nice to see them so chilled during daytime. Many cheetahs are quite skittish, so these are a welcome exception. The mother is obviously passing on this behavior to the cubs, which is great news for the future as well.

OK, enough of background explanations, here the photos that Mike took yesterday when he saw them with our guests. Amazing shots, well done!

Aaaaawww.... :-)
Aaaaawww…. 🙂
No comment ... life is good on our reserve
No comment … life is good on our reserve
Super chilled cheetah
Super chilled cheetah
Closest shot you'll ever get of  a cheetah in the wild
Closest shot you’ll ever get of a cheetah in the wild

Beautiful lion and rhino sighting!

Mike took some beautiful shots two days ago of a kudu, one of our lionesses and also a bunch of rhinos that they saw in the Diep Dam area of the conservancy when they were out on safari. The rhinos are dehorned, so that they don’t present any value to the poachers. As the international press has highlighted recently, poaching for rhino horn is on the rise again, so these measures are taken to ensure this species will survive the recent bout of poaching. Indeed rhino horn is now more valuable than gold, so protecting these animals has become paramount. Fact of the day: 90% of all of Africa’s rhinos live in South Africa, and almost all of them live in the Kruger Park area of course. The proximity to relatively lawless Mocambique is making matters even more complicated. So far our conservation efforts are showing good results, and additional anti-poaching measures are as well.

Fingers crossed this will stay that way!

Many thanks to Mike for taking these beautiful photos. As of late we are seeing the lions very regularly, between 2 and 3 times a week, so that’s brilliant. The offspring is now starting hunting as well, which is nice to see.

Enjoy the photos! (I did!) 🙂

Kudu
Kudu
Lioness
Lioness
Lioness
Lioness
Rhinos on Moditlo
Rhinos on Moditlo
Beautiful rhinos
Beautiful rhinos