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Leopard viewing has been sensational. Some of the resident female leopards have provided us with wonderful sightings. The Rockfig female’s young cub nicknamed Nkateko which means luck, joy, or happiness in the local Tsonga language, has really lived up to her name. As she approaches her second birthday, she is really coming into her own, hunting duiker, steenbok and even warthog on her own – and her successes are increasing. Another young female looks to be heavily pregnant and she seems to be scouting out a good area to give birth. These animals will normally choose a rocky outcrop or some sort of thicket to give birth. She will be pregnant for just over three months, giving birth to between one and three cubs. She will keep them well hidden for the first couple months of their lives. At the time of writing this, the female had not been seen for the last few days, so we hope to be welcoming some newcomers to the Timbavati soon.

Buffalo have been plentiful throughout the winter. In a recent game count a herd was counted which was in excess of eight hundred! When you see this size of herd, you realise just how many this is... no wonder the lions are enjoying themselves. There are few things as impressive as a herd of this size going to drink, as they cover an entire waterhole, all trying to scrap for a clean cool drink of water in a sea of black bodies. As is usual for this time of year, a small group of old bulls (dagga boys) have made evenings in camp very interesting by sleeping next to pathways or tents!

White rhino sightings have been good this month with the majority of sightings on our south eastern property. A dominant bull to the west of us was seen fighting off two younger challengers. This time of year, with minimal water around, younger rhino are forced to go deep into the dominant bulls’ territories to drink. This often leads to small skirmishes with younger bulls coming out on the wrong end of a big bulls horn!

Elephant have moved extensively across the property. With the lack of grazing around, their diets consist of mainly trees, bushes, roots and tubers. They are incredibly diverse when it comes to feeding and have the tools (trunk, tusks, feet) to harvest all that nature offers.

General game seems to have split off into smaller groups. Small herds of zebra and wildebeest can be seen in the south of the property due to these areas being more suited to your grazing species with their larger, more open, plains. Kudu and giraffe are plentiful throughout the reserve and can often be seen from the deck of the guests’ tents, browsing the river lines.

Our migratory birds are back in full force - Yellow Billed Kites, Whalberg’s Eagles and a variety of Cuckoos can be seen and heard all over the reserve. We are still awaiting the arrival of the very noisy but wonderfully coloured Woodlands Kingfisher. A pair of Fish Eagles have made Machaton Dam home for the last few months and their high-pitched calls can even be heard from camp.

Sighting of month

We have had some amazing sightings of lions over the past few weeks, but this one we will never forget. It was late one evening when we spotted the three male lions, which frequent our area, lying next to the road. All of a sudden, an unknown female walked onto the scene. All the males rose in an attempt to reach the female. The three male lions began fighting.... an unbelievable sighting, with deafening growls and a display of extraordinary muscle power, not to mention a few nasty cuts and bruises. The most dominant male, after chasing off the other 2 males, was able to saunter off with his prize... the very impressed lioness. After a few victory calls to show his supremacy, he began to mate with his female, while the other two defeated lions lay nearby looking a bit bruised and battered and clearly upset that there was only one female!

Hot off the press for next month’s newsletter....

The rains have finally come!! The rainfall reading at 30 November 2009 stood at 172mm, with lots of sports in early December on river crossings – read about this in more detail in the next newsletter. There has been another sighting of White Lions!! Two cubs this time... More details and photos in the next newsletter.

And finally... this poem struck a note with me - enjoy and we hope to see you all again soon.


Diary Archive

• August and September 2009
• June and July 2009