Tanda Tula - Aug

August and September 2009

The last few months have proved why this is such a popular time of year to visit. We have been incredibly spoilt with fantastic wildlife encounters. The surrounding Bushveld has really receded during the winter months and made for wonderful photographic opportunities. Jackets, beanies and gloves are a must as the early morning drive still has a fresh chill to it. This is all worth it as you get your first glimpse of the rising sun marking another great day on safari.

Our general game has been plentiful through winter with large herds of zebra, wildebeest and giraffe being found on our southern sections. Around camp the elephants have provided us with endless fun at camp dam as they drink and frolic in the water. Our resident herd of nyala are all looking fit and healthy. We have a new addition to our dinner guests as a young bull hippo rather enjoys grazing on the lawn during dinner, although this provides a small two ton problem for the guides on duty.

With all this game around the predators have been doing very well. The “Machaton Pride” of lions has been doing very well indeed. The young Machaton lioness has unfortunately lost one of her three cubs. While this is a sad loss, mortality in young lion cubs is incredibly high due to the fact that the females leave them for long periods of time while they hunt. Hyena, leopard and foreign lions also pose a threat to the little ones. The only real plus point is that it was the young male that was lost. The two remaining cubs are both females, which is very promising in terms of the pride growing in size. Both remaining cubs look fit and healthy and are going on almost seven months now. The three dominant male lions in our area are super fit and have been very successful in making their own kills. This has accounted for a number of buffalo, wildebeest and impala kills, and believe me, they don’t leave too much behind for anyone.

We were fortunate enough to see a rare sighting of a white lion cub, in the far southern part of the reserve. A female lion and five cubs, one of them being white, were found on a waterbuck kill. The sighting was very special due to the fact that we have not seen white lions in the reserve for many years. The lighter colouring does not imply an albino form, but is a natural gene that results in a colouring form known as “leucism”. This form has occurred in certain areas previously within the Timbavati and has been recorded in the now famous books by Chris McBride “The White Lions of the Timbavati” and “Operation White Lion”. It is wonderful to see this white form occurring naturally in the Timbavati, and we look forward to possible future sightings of this rare colour form. There have been reports of a further two white lion cubs further north, although we have not seen these ourselves.

Leopard viewing has also been sensational over the winter months. These shy and elusive cats have graced us with some very special moments. By hoisting their carcasses into trees to having a lazy snooze next to the vehicles, guests have been able to photograph some fantastic moments with them. We were fortunate enough to see a young female with a duiker kill high up in a tree with a young hyena waiting patiently below for any tit bits. A wonderful sighting of these two animals that I am sure will play itself out many more times through their lives.

On the topic of hyena’s we managed to see some youngsters at a den site to the north of us. These very cute little black balls looked very content, but a little shy in the beginning to pose for pictures. They have now become more relaxed around the vehicles and are curious of what the strange shaped object is. In between sniffing and investigating the vehicle, the young pups jump around and play for hours, while mom lies in the shade under the trees, unperturbed.

Our Rhino sightings have been fantastic! A group of five white rhino’s were found down south, near the Kruger boundary. A female and four sub adult males - a rare sighting - were very relaxed and were found many times in the past few weeks.

Not only has the game viewing been excellent out on the drives, but just as good from the camp itself. In the past few weeks we have been fortunate enough to see big herds of buffalo at our dam, a lone female lioness popping in for a drink a few times, big herds of Elephants across from the river bed and at the dam, as well as two amazing sightings of leopard inside the camp!

A busy month with exciting sightings... What do the months ahead hold in store?

Diary Archive

June and July 2009

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