Author: Focus Online Dev

Welcome to a very dry and crispy cool Madikwe…….

This month has been a month of fresh new changes in the wildlife department as well as at the lodge.

We were closed for a maintenance week where we tackled the arduous job of refurbishing the swimming pool at the main lodge, and combing the thatch roofs throughout the lodge, and giving the kitchen a facelift by tiling out the entire kitchen, as well as oiling all the decks, this all in a week !!!

 

After all the hard work it was well worth all the effort as the lodge is looking really stunning, and better than ever.

 

As far as the wildlife is concerned, we kick off with the new changes in our local male lion coalition, the Kwandwe boys. They have officially now taken over from the Naledi male who reigned here on the ridge for than 8 years, but is now been forced into nomadism and is fearing for his life as he is still been pursued by the Kwandwe males who want to finish off the task of eliminating him for good as they had done to his brother about a year ago !!

This is not all bad news, as it is nature’s way of making sure that the strongest genetics are going through to strengthen the population.

The females on the ridge have also accepted the change, and were even seen mating with the new force on the ridge, and we hope that we will have cubs in three months from now. So for the time being, until the dust all settles down I am sure that we will get back to having some awesome sightings of our local pride in the close future.

These boys were even responsible for taking down a full grown giraffe during our maintenance week, so we don’t have any images of them on the carcass, but we did have some amazing sightings of vultures, jackals and hyenas finishing off the carcass for another week after the lions had moved off.

 

The presence of these scavengers is a very important part of the safety of the ecosystem as they are able to eliminate all the disease that generates from the rotting carcass by digesting and neutralizing any pathogens that could create an outbreak of disease.

 

Tsala, our resident leopardess who we reported had cubs a couple months ago, seems to have lost them once again, and is proving to be an extremely unlucky or bad mother as she has in my time here never successfully raised her cubs to adulthood. She is however looking stunning as ever and has been giving us some really awesome sightings this month, with the highlight been one morning when she was hunting impala around our vehicles, and we watched as she narrowly missed.

 

The female cheetah which was in the holding facility has been released this month, and is doing extremely well, and she is starting to explore her new home, much to the confusion to the 4 males who are still returning to the holding facility to see if she is still in there, but I am sure it will not be long before they latch on to her scent, and track her down and introduce themselves to her.

Hopefully she will be coming into her first estrus cycle in about 4 months from now, and if those boys are worth their salt, we will have cubs early next year which will be amazing, as we will not have had this happen in the park for about 13 years now !!!

 

There was also one special afternoon when Cornelius was following the 4 cheetah brothers in the north when they were hunting, and this is what happened according to Cornelius……

 

” Late one afternoon the four male cheetahs were found around the middle of Madikwe. As I was close enough I got a spot to join the sighting and the middle of the action.

The one male walked past us as we drove in and the other 3 was looking at some Red hartebeest in the distance. We knew the one that left was setting up the ambush. Now we just had to wait.

After a short while we saw dust where the hartebeest were and the cheetahs were gone. We tried to keep up with them, but man they quick. We caught up with them and we had no words. All four cheetahs were hanging from a fully grown male Red hartebeest. It took them a while to get it down and kill it, but in the end they won.

It was a true fight for life and death. ”

 

Another special morning unfolded as were trying photograph bee-eaters at Inkwe Pan , when suddenly the ridge pride appeared out of nowhere for a drink, and all was clam until a parade of elephants showed up with the same idea…. Well the jumbos took offence to the apex predators drinking their precious liquid, and duly dispatched them from the prime position at the waters edge.

 

So… as far as the rest of the game sightings goes.. …well the waterholes are cooking, especially at the lodge as we are have large of elephants every day at around lunch time, and they are entertaining guests non-stop. General game every morning as you are enjoying your breakfast come down to quench their thirsts, and the odd buffalo giving you the beady eye all happens on a daily basis. The bigger waterholes throughout the park are also amazing this time of the year, as the dusty arenas create some exquisite photographic opportunities as the sun sets.

 

So there you have the highlights for the month …..

We hope to welcome you next month as we turn up the heat in the fireplaces all over the lodge, as you sip on some homemade Gluwein, listening to the distant roar of the Ridge Pride under a sky full of jewels as you enjoy a scrumptious dinner under candlelight…… Sounds good hey ?

Book now to avoid disappointment…..

Wishing you all the best from the bush…

Regards,

Gavin and the T-Team !!

Hello again from slightly more fresh and nippy Madikwe.  Yes the season has started to change and the mornings and evenings already have a bit of a bite in them.  Not too long before you can look forward to hot water bottles in the beds and crackling fires in the rooms and main lodge.

A last bit of rain earlier in the month, has given new live to the parched bush and the trees vigorously started pushing new leaves and dead grass became green almost overnight.

Despite the drought we had some of the most amazing sightings this month.  What makes it even more special is that some of the best sightings this month happened completely unexpected, well more unexpected than usual, sometimes leaving us guides to pick up and dust of our jaws that have dropped on the floor.

One such sighting in particular was one afternoon, when we decided to head into the south-east of the park searching for rhinos and whatever other treasures the bush may hold.  We were not far from the lodge when the call came in that there was a glimpse of a leopard as he jumped out of the tree where it had stashed a kill.  Well great news, but we know how fruitless it can be to go and look for a skittish leopard; basically you have two chances of seeing a skittish leopard, zero and nothing.

So continuing on our merry way we head of to the east, finding a few good sightings, while listening with half an ear how hopeful guides call into the area where the leopard has been seen, but a while later departing without a leopard sighting.

After our sun downers I decide to go past the tree where the kill is stashed, so at least the guests can say they saw a leopard’s kill in a tree.  Cornelius had the same idea and we meet up next to a large Leadwood tree where the kill is supposed to be, but the leafy canopy is very thick and one can’t really make out the kill in the glow of the spotlight, so I resort to telling the guests how sneaky and sly a leopard can be and that the chances of seeing this particular leopard is zero due to it not being used to vehic….. O hello.  From nowhere a magnificent leopard appears and stands in the fork of the tree with an expression of “what were you saying about me”.  My mouth continued the rest of my sentence but no words came out.  I looked over to Cornelius and was glad to see it was not only my jaw lying on the road next to the game drive vehicle.  For a split second I thought of actually taking a picture of Cornelius rather than the leopard, just to catch that stunned expression on his face.

The leopard stood in the fork of the tree a while longer, then probably realized we were a bit stunned and were not going to make any further remarks on his character and promptly went for a nap on a nearby branch.  We sat there for a while longer occasionally shaking our heads in disbelieve before going home.

The other brilliant sighting happened one morning in the mist when we found the Mica, Jamala and 2 young Matlapa lionesses lounging around.  We sat with them for a while before they picked up on something on the nearby hill.  We could not see what they were after but they kept on looking and slowly making their way towards the thick bushes at the foot of the hill.  It was only after a kudu gave an alarm bark and a small group of kudus scattered up the hill side that we realised what they were after.

The lions lost interest and playfully walked in the other direction before something else caught their attention.  The lions fanned out and in the mist and tall grass we lost track of some of them.  One of the older females stayed behind close to the road as we followed one of the youngsters as she cautiously made a big loop around whatever they were after.

Eventually in the distance we saw some zebra, the cause of their stealthy stalking.  We were still watching the youngster when the zebras burst into a thunderous run, spooked by a lioness we lost track of.  This clever lioness sneaked passed, to behind the zebras before she launched her attack, cleverly knowing the position of the other older female that stayed behind close to the road.  The zebras were oblivious that they were being herded straight towards the other lions.  I sprang into actions and hastily made my way towards the lioness close to the road, hoping that the lionesses’ plan had worked.  It did, the lions had managed to grab hold of a big mare and were struggling to bring the zebra to ground.  The zebra fighting for dear live stayed on her feet and miraculously managed to spring free from the lions.  Running right passed us with the lions in hot pursuit.  The zebra did not reach far until one of the big lionesses’ again managed to grab hold and execute a powerful dive on the zebra, which made the zebra execute a sideways summersault.

The rest of the pride was quick to pounce and soon the zebra succumbed to the lion’s death grip on the throat.   This sighting again left us in awe of nature’s brutal and unforgiving power and would definitely last in our memories for a long time.

Tsala the relaxed female leopard from the south-west was also out and about and we found her one afternoon leisurely strolling about.  We followed her for a while through the bush and then our hearts skipped a beat as she made her way to a big Marula Tree.  Climb the tree, climb the tree, we were prying in unison.  Then in the blink of an eye she is up the tree and nonchalantly goes and lies on a branch, as if to say now you can take pictures, humble servants.

Well I can certainly wright a book about all the sightings we’ve had this past month, but think it would be better if you come and see it for yourselves.

Hope to see you back in the bush soon to join us on our daily adventures and endeavours.

Kind regards,

From Christo and the T-Team

It’s been a dry month. The mornings are getting rather chilly but as always, a little effort is rewarded double fold.

With the dry and dusty air we have had some spectacular sunsets and sunrises. The waterholes provided us with many opportunities to witness some interesting interactions.

The dogs made themselves seen a few times. The search for them resulted in long drives and extensive tracking sessions, but well worth every step.

They killed a big male Kudu in the south east of the park, not a bad achievement for only 5 adults in the pack. As the kill was in the open, it attracted a lot of vultures and some hyenas also had time to feed on the kill.

As we left the sighting the Alfa female went to fetch the 2 wild dog pups. We had just enough time to catch a glimpse of them in the last sunlight for the day.

A few weeks later they moved closer to the west of Madikwe and we had the opportunity to view them again.

Eating another kudu.

Early this month I was fortunate enough to witness two kills.

It did not end well for the zebras though. The first kill was made by the two young female lions from our local pride that took down a young zebra. We followed the two for some time and they just had that look in their eyes…

From miles away they knew what was going on. It was only when they started the ambush that we saw the zebras. In the end it ended well for these two girls, only for their meal to be taken away by the Naledi male, but not without a fight.

The four male cheetahs also killed a young zebra. It was late afternoon when I arrived at the sighting.

As we drove in they were on the move and shortly after that we saw the zebras, with a youngster. It took them ages to get close and then they waited. We all kept our distance and joined the waiting game. My patience was wearing thin but the cheetahs persisted. Once everything was in place, they went for it.

The chase took about 5 seconds… It was all in the preparation.

Our favorite leopard, Tsala, was spotted one morning after great teamwork from all the guides. When she was found we all positioned ourselves out of the way where she was followed.

When it was our turn to view her, we were the last vehicles, so we followed her for a really long time. She called her cubs but unfortunately we did not see them.

Then she jumped into a tree to get a better view of the impala she was following. Having seen her, we all were happy and satisfied and went for breakfast.

The lion pride in the South east of the park was spotted hiding in a one spot for about a week, it is possible that one of the females has cubs.

Then one of the Chimbro males mated with the other female of that pride, updates will follow soon.

Another eventful month here in the bush. We only hope to get more rain by the time the winter sets in.

Kind Regards

Cornelius and the T-Team

 

Hello again from a sunny and dry Madiwe.  The drought that has been plaguing us has not yet ended, but our hopes is high for some heavy late summer rains.

The severe drought of course means that the animals are still very dependent on the pumped watering holes and dams, providing us with some fantastic game viewing opportunities.

Tlou Dam being one of the favourites, with masses of elephants, buffalo, giraffe and many more animals coming to quench their thirst.

  

The 4 cheetah brothers were probably the highlight this month, we saw them on several occasions, but 3 sightings of them definitely stood out.  One afternoon we found them in the north of the park, leisurely walking along, but with murder on their mind.  One thing that always amazes me about safari, is that you will see impalas and zebras everywhere… until you find a predator looking for food, like magic all the animal in a 5km radius will disappear.  So after following the cheetah for almost 20min, they suddenly stopped and you could almost see the wry grin on their faces, because not too far in front of them was a herd of zebra.  They slowly started creeping forward, biding their time and waiting for the right moment, we could only see adult zebra and even for 4 cheetahs a fully grown zebra would be near impossible to bring down.  Then 2 young zebras made their appearance and that was exactly what they were waiting for, like a bullet out of a barrel they set off, with us giving chase but being left far behind in their dust.  When we eventually caught up they had already brought down the young zebra.  We spent a little bit more time with them and then left to go celebrate our success with some sundowners.

On another occasion we found them in the south of the park (yes they travel massive distances).  This time they were just lounging around on the wall of a dry dam, but proving us with some amazing photographic opportunities, as one was able to get some great low angle shots.

Finally just a few days ago, we intercepted them on their way to Abjaterskop Gate, probably hoping to go catch a movie in Gaborone.  Unfortunately for them Gavin raced ahead and told the gate guard to close the gate just in case.  It was fascinating watching them explore the gate buildings and taking in the new smells and of course eyeing the gate guard in his booth.  They also did not look to impressed with the speed limit that Parks Board implements on the roads.

Our leopard sightings has also gone through the roof this month, we managed to view most of our relaxed cats and had the occasional leopard by the lodge’s watering hole as well.  One afternoon we were lucky enough to spend some time with Podile, the female that has her territory around the Tlou Dam area.  We don’t see her very often, but you can be assured of a quality sighting if we do.

Alas there is more than 1 highlight this month, the big news if not the biggest news, is that Tsala the female from the south west has two cubs.  We now see her on a regular basis around the little koppie where she is hiding her cubs and if one is lucky and patient enough, you might even see the cubs playing on the bare rocks on the koppie.

Our lion sighting has also been out of this world.  The best sighing for me was when we found the 2 Kwandwe males at Tlou Dam one afternoon.  These two boys have made a name for themselves, as they seem to be rather apt buffalo hunters.   This afternoon they were lazing around Tlou Dam as a herd of buffalo were approaching the dam.  We held our breaths and were secretly hoping for the sighting of a life time.  The buffalo took their time and seemed to sense that there was danger lurking, keeping to the tree line on the eastern side of the dam.  Then to our surprise, a small splinter group of buffalo stepped out of the thicket on the western side to go and join up with the big herd, the lions being right in between the splinter group and the big herd.  Instantly the lion realized their luck, as did we. Then as if the whole scene has been planned months in advance, an old limping buffalo cow made her way towards the big herd.  The lions couldn’t believe their eyes and they pounced, one lion managed to lunch himself onto her back, but never underestimate a buffalo, pretty soon he ate some dust and then the herd retaliated.  A few big male buffalo split off from the herd to teach the two buffalo killers a lesson.  This time the buffalo had the upper hand and the lions had to run for their lives.  After the buffalo disappeared back into the thickets, the two Kwandwe’s came to lie on the dam wall trying to reclaim some self-respect after the buffalo saw them off.

O wow another highlight, really I should stop this.  Our Wild Dog has come down the mountain with the puppies.  Unfortunately it seems like only two of the original 8 has survived, but boy are they cute.

Well that is it for this month, hope you will soon join us on your next big adventure.

Kind regards,

From Christo and the T-Team

A happy and prosperous 2015 to everyone… Just as always our days are exciting and fun filled.

We are experiencing extremely hot days, but we often get a cooling down thundershower in the afternoon giving everything new energy.

With every bit of rain, the bush gets greener and more flowers are blooming.

With the female cheetahs in the boma in the south of the park, the 4 males had stayed close most of the time. We had some great sightings with them over the past month, but the best was when they killed a young zebra. From start to finish, everything was witnessed

After stalking and resting and some more stalking they went for it. Unbelievable how quick these cats are.

Not long after the kill, someone saw a Spotted Hyena running towards the action.

The Cheetahs had no intention of giving up their food and made it very clear when the hyena came closer.

The Hyena was waiting patiently and only when the cheetahs all had enough to eat did the hyena take the rest without a fight.

The female Hyena and her 3 cubs also made for some really cool sightings.

Most of the time we got to see the lions close to us without too much effort.

We saw the pride from the north as they were finishing a zebra they killed the day before.

The prides in the south also had kills ever so often. Twice the kill happened on the airstrip, good open space to get to their top speed.

The Chimbro males settled themselves comfortably in the south east of Madikwe.

Extremely good looking boys.

We had lots of other interesting, weird and amazing sightings. Hyenas calling and lions roaring are two of my favorite sounds in the wild.

One of the best sightings we had, was a Caracal. It was so chilled and we followed it for quite some time as it was walking through some tall grass.

Some days a simple sunrise or sunset makes it worth being out in the bush.

Make 2015 the year to visit us to experience the excitement of the bush and the big 5.

Kind regards

Cornelius and the T-Team

Bush Greetings from the whole T-Team !!

2014 was an epic ride, and we would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all our fans who visited us this  year, and we sincerely hope that you will join us again in 2015 !!

So for the last newsletter of 2014, we thought that would make this issue a highlights package, and share with you some of the biggest sightings we had and shared with all of you.

Lets hope 2015 will bring us even more amazing times and incredible scenes from the place we call home….. MADIKWE !!!

HERE WE GO…….

 1

The Wild Dogs are as usual creating large amounts of carnage in the south of the park, as they go about their highly efficient means of hunting, and are killing regularly. Their favorite prey item at the moment seems to be the poor old wildebeest, and we witnessed no less than 8 kills this month. This is what Madikwe is very famous for, and it is great to have them bring out the emotions as we chase them on the hunt everyday. Hopefully the alpha pair will be bonding shortly, as the mating time is around the corner, and then it is going to be a painful wait, as we will have to once again try to locate their lair when it is time to give birth to the next generation.

2

That is of course what happened with this one particular sighting we had. It was a rather quiet afternoon, well with saying that I have to admit that we did see 3 of the Big 5 together (Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo), but the sightings were a bit few and far between. So we were happily bumbling along when I noticed some zebra in the road ahead and one zebra looked a bit strange. It was only when we got a bit closer that we could see what was the matter. She had just given birth, and the placenta was still attached to the mare and draped over the new born laying next to mom.

Well mom wasn’t too fazed by the miracle of live that had just happened and was happily back to feeding after she cleaned the youngster up a bit. An inquisitive young zebra then came over to inspect what exactly has happened and almost introduced himself to the new youngster, with mom keeping a watchful eye and not letting the curious youngster to close to her new baby.

3

And lastly, Tuningi’s guests were once again at the forefront of rhino conservation, by sponsoring another rhino notching/ micro-chipping event.

A total of 3 rhinos were darted and sedated, before a good examination of their health was done. A microchip inserted into the horn, DNA samples and blood taken for analysis, as well as various measurements were taken for the data base.

Without this initiative from our guests, the park authorities simply couldn’t afford to do this, which is crucial in the conservation of the species.

4

One of the most exciting sightings I had this month was a Boomslang killing a chameleon. Mostly these killings go unseen but this happened on the road in front of me.

Firstly I only noticed the snake since I do not like them very much. Then only we saw the target. They both moved on and off the road a few times but the last time the chameleon appeared it was in a bad way. The snake bit it some time in the chase and waited for its Hemotoxic poison to take effect.

5

I can’t remember much of the next few seconds, but according to my guests, they have never seen someone multi task as ferousiesly as I did in that few moments. Apparently I managed to indicate to the guests that the dogs were chasing the wildebeest towards the dam, shout at the top of my voice into the radio microphone at Cornelius, apparently in a voice ending in a shriek, that he should turn back to the dam and managing to turn the vehicle around on a fairly narrow path at high speed, all this in a flat spin of excitement. Well what developed was one of my best wild dog sightings ever, with the dogs eventually managing to bring down their breakfast.

6

Lets kick off this months rangers report with a worthy 18 hyenas on a wildebeest kill in the south of the park !! Yes…. 18 at least. This is the largest amount of hyenas I have seen in one place in more than 8 years of guiding here at Tuningi, and it was quite a sight to witness.

Hyenas get a lot of bad press from many, and everyone seems to think that they only scavenge from other predators, however this is not the whole truth. As much as I have seen hyenas harassing other predators for their hard earned meals, hyenas are in fact very efficient hunters themselves, and they are capable of pulling down big prey if they join forces and cooperate together.

In Madikwe, I have very seldom seen hyena/lion interaction, and this proves that they should be given some more respect. On this occasion they adults must have killed the wildebeest, and fetched the cubs to come and join in on the feast. What a sighting !!!

 

WELL…. THERE YOU HAVE OUR BEST FOR 2014…..

STAY TUNED FOR TONS MORE AMAZING REPORTS IN 2015 !!!

REGARDS.

Gavin

Hi there from a warm and sunny Madikwe, I am glad to report that our rain has finally started and the bush is responding wonderfully, it always amazes me how quickly the bush turns green and lush after a bit of rain.

The big news this month is the amount of new born babies everywhere. The impala’s started lambing late in November and the jackals also had their pups already, so the amount of cuteness running around Madikwe is staggering.

 We also discovered the hyena’s in the south of the park’s new den site and what bliss to just sit with them and see what the curious cubs get up too.

 On a different note, our resident dominant male the Naledi is going to have his hands full in the coming year with lots of pressure from new males vying for his territory. A coalition of 3 young males, the Chimbro, Bafefo coalition has setup territory to the east of the Naledi’s territory and already the Naledi’s females has shown some interest is them, well more than interest as they have already started mating with the new boys on the block.

 Unfortunately that is not where the Naledi’s problems end, because there is trouble brewing from within his own ranks as well. Four of the Naledi’s own sons, the Matlapa’s, has also started splitting off from the pride and started exploring by themselves. There is an uneasy truce between him and his sons as they are still seen together sometimes, but as time goes on this might change for the worst for our old boy.

 With the rain not enough to fill up the watering holes yet the animals still rely heavily on the artificial watering holes, especially Inkwe pan. This of course is ideal for game spotting as all the animals congregate around Inkwe pan for water, and it is not unheard of to see the big five at Inkwe pan in an afternoon drive. Due to the congregation of the animals in large numbers at the pan, it is inevitable that tempers would flare and this gives us opportunities to take some really striking pictures.

 As quickly as it came so quickly it has passed, 2014 has been a great year for Tuningi Safari Lodge and we were really blessed with all the wonderful guests that walked through our doors, hundreds of new friends were made and just as many wonderful adventures were had.
We hope to see you again in 2015 so that old friendships could be rekindled and even greater adventures can be had.

From the whole T-team and I have a great festive season and make sure to book early for 2015.

Kind regards,

Christo and the T-team.

The changing weather we have had over the past month made for some challenging experiences.

Some days the heat would chase everything into the shade or just somewhere we can’t see them. Then the next day the wind would blow everything away. We even had our first 5 drops of rain! So it wasn’t always easy to find the animals, but when we did it was very rewarding. Half the fun out here is in the search.

Some days we would have so much going on at the waterhole, there was no need for a game drive, but we could never miss that challenge. During the day elephants and a variety of other game kept everyone entertained at the waterhole.

In about a week we had all the big 5 at the waterhole. It happened on two occasions that while the guests were enjoying a Boma evening next to the waterhole, a leopard would come to visit! One night there were 2! A massive herd of buffalo also spent some time around the lodge.

The amount of game we get at the waterholes is mind blowing. The interaction we saw between so many different species was very interesting. Elephants, however, were still the rulers and bullies in the water when enjoying a bath.

At Inkwe pan we saw the entire big 5 within an hour. And we didn’t just catch a glimpse of them, all of them were quality sightings.

If we were in the south of Madikwe, Inkwe pan was always the first or last stop for most drives, as there were always something happening there.

The young male leopard in our area made himself seen more often. One of the sightings started in the morning, without actually seeing him. I spotted an old Impala kill in a tree at the end of the morning drive. That afternoon I had another glance at the same tree and yet again something looked different. After closer investigation, it was Samson, just lying there as they do, making any position look very comfortable.  We also saw him a few other times up and down trees as he followed a herd of impala.

Two days later, he was found with a massive reward.

After the 3 Chimbro male lions took over the southern part of Madikwe, they went on patrol all over the park, probably looking for more trouble. After a week or so they were back and tracked down the females in their new territory.

One of the older and more dominant males mated with a female for a few days, as they do. More evidence of them settling down with their new pride.

Half of the Mika pride was found on the airstrip finishing a wildebeest feast.

They were surrounded by approximately 10 Spotted Hyenas and 6 jackals, all waiting for the last scraps. It was amazing to see the interaction between so many animals at one sighting. As we were about to leave, the Naledi male and Bulaya females showed up to join in the action. The females kept their distance, but since the Mika pride used to belong to the Naledi’s, he ventured closer and what a show.

He walked right up to them and roared in their faces, just to tell them who is still the boss. Amazing!!!

Loads of other exciting game also made their appearances.

It wasn’t always easy to find the Wild dogs, as the southern pack had split up and the northern pack, well, kept to the North. They were seen around the lodges a few times.

Every few weeks the four cheetah came to the south of the park and as always, it is treat to see them. Here they killed a fairly large wildebeest. They spent the whole day there eating as much as possible. They left the remains just before sunset to avoid confrontation with any other predator.

Finally, Madikwe is getting female cheetahs!!! Thank you to everyone that made it possible. We are all looking forward to the new additions to the Madikwe family.

Although we have had some very good sightings with the bush thin and dry, we loved the first rain we got. Everything looks and feels different once it has changed to so many different shades of green. With the cloudy mornings we get some spectacular sunrises.

We are looking forward to a beautiful summer in the African bush!

 

Kind Bush Regards

Cornelius and the T-Team

Hello Fans !!

So winter has finally released its grip on life here in the bush at Tuningi Safari Lodge, and evidence of new life is showing in all the trees, as new leaves are making an appearance in various shades of green.

This is welcoming as it breaks the monotonous grey scenery for the last 6 months or so.The migrant bird species such as the bee-eaters, swallows, cuckoos and raptors have all started coming back with great anticipation of the first rains and the prospect of vast amounts of insects which will fatten them up during the summer for the long haul back to where they came from.

 

Lets kick off this months rangers report with a worthy 18 hyenas on a wildebeest kill in the south of the park !! Yes…. 18 at least. This is the largest amount of hyenas I have seen in one place in more than 8 years of guiding here at Tuningi, and it was quite a sight to witness.

 

Hyenas get a lot of bad press from many, and everyone seems to think that they only scavenge from other predators, however this is not the whole truth. As much as I have seen hyenas harassing other predators for their hard earned meals, hyenas are in fact very efficient hunters themselves, and they are capable of pulling down big prey if they join forces and cooperate together.

 

In Madikwe, I have very seldom seen hyena/lion interaction, and this proves that they should be given some more respect. On this occasion they adults must have killed the wildebeest, and fetched the cubs to come and join in on the feast. What a sighting !!!

Samson, our young male leopard has been dazzling the guests once again, and has been on somewhat of a war path lately, as he is killing regularly.

 

He managed to even kill a jackal one afternoon, which to some might be odd, but leopards are very resourceful hunters, and this is why they are found throughout most of Africa and Asia. He raised the jackal into the tree minutes before we found him, and he continued to throttle the life out of the jackal until he was happy that the life was drained from it. He then continued to eat the jackal, and he seemed to enjoy this…. I suppose meat is meat hey ? He was also mobbed by a couple of pied crows and in the images below, you can see that he was not happy with these loud mouthed aerial assaulters.

 

The 4 brothers cheetah, are doing extremely well as always, and are walking around most of the park in search of a female, which I am glad to say is now in the final stages of obtaining permits for their relocation to Madikwe, before they will be held in a boma facility to acclimatize. Once this is done, they will be fitted with GPS collars to follow their movement and interaction with the males in the park to see how the love story will unfold.

HOWEVER !! We still need money to purchase the collars, which cost around R30000. 00 each, so please contact us if you would like to donate towards this amazing cause !!

 

The territorial male lion feud is still very much alive, and the Naledi and Kgala males have been at each other’s throats again, and are roaring the roofs off around the lodge. The females have been acting very indifferently, and they are avoiding the clashes as best they can. The Chimbro/Bafefo male coalition have not made too many incursions into the west this month, and are seemingly just gaining size and strength for their return to the ridge to dispatch of the old Boys once and for all !! So times are exciting at the moment, and the day that our guests get to experience this war come to an end will be something to rant about for years to come !!

The Wild Dogs are still acting very strangely, in that the two packs are still split, and don’t seem to want to get back together again. This may be natures way of creating new packs, but one thing is for sure, they still have a serious appetite, and they are one of the few species of predators which get my hairs standing up on my neck when we go hunting with them in their crepuscular routines.

The other notable sightings this month was the Chimbro/Bafefo males on a wildebeest kill with a couple of jackals pushing their luck for a scrap or two.

Inkwe pan to the south west of the lodge is a fort of great sightings at the moment, and is giving us some amazing elephant, rhino, buffalo and general game sightings, and in the afternoon you can go there and spend an easy 2 hours before the action ceases to a mild panic.

We also had an incredible sighting of a new born elephant, and my guests were blown away by the cute factor of this little guy who was still fighting with his uncooperative feet as his mother and family members formed circles of support around him. So hopefully he will turn out to be one of Africa’s biggest icons.

And that’s it !!!

See you soon at Tuningi !!!

Till next time….

Wild Wishes……

Gavin and the T-Team.

 

Wow what an extraordinary month August has been, amazing sightings were abundant, I got to experience a very special sighting for only the second time in 4 years and even the weather is warming up nicely with only the August winds bringing the temperature down every now and again.

Like I said there were so many great sightings this month that it is difficult to choose between the best ones and I would rather wright about all of them, but I would spare you a few days in front of the computer and rather just tell you about a few really, really amazing sightings.

Well technically this was not one sighting we experienced but a whole day of excitement.  I had a group in camp for 6 days and for a bit of change to the routine, I decided to take them out for day drive.  So that morning we got to lay in a bit and only got up to have breakfast at 8 o’clock and bumbled out of the lodge around 9 o’clock, lunch packed and ready for action.  My plan of action during a day drive is usually waterhole hopping, I drive from one waterhole to the next, hoping for the animals to come and quench their thirst during the heat of the day.  The first waterhole we stop by luck was already on our side as we found the 3 Chimbro males sleeping under a Buffalo Thorn tree.  Of course knowing that during the day they would have ample opportunities to hunt as unsuspecting animals came down for a drink.  We also didn’t have to wait long before some impala made their way to the water and one of the males taking an interest in them.  Out in the bush there are very few things that build suspense like lions stalking their pray.  Unfortunately for the lion the terrain was a bit to open and the impala spotted him and bolted before he even got close to them.

We then headed off to go and find the 4 male cheetahs that were found earlier that morning, and I was hoping they would still be in that area.  Luckily for us they killed a young wildebeest and were still feeding when we found them.  Not long after we arrived they had their fill and left a portion of the wildebeest untouched to go and have a rest in the shade.  This left a hyena that was in the area with a stunned expression on his face as he realized Christmas came early for him and he quickly made off with the leftovers.

I then set sail for the dark and unknown part of Madikwe, the east.  Legend has it that many a guide from the South has left for the East and gotten so horribly lost that they never again returned.  Again I have a strategy when driving in the East, get lost as quickly as possible so that you have more time to find your way out.  The biggest dilemma of course is if you have to call in a sighting in on the radio in the east, because 99% of the time you don’t know which road you are on, this of course is due to a glitch in the earth’s magnetic field, causing compasses and maps in the east to malfunction, completely.  This particular day drive I don’t just stumble upon an animal, I stumble upon THE animal….. If you ever want to see a Land Cruiser go from 25km/h in a forward momentum to 80km/h in a backward momentum let a guest yell out, “what is that thing in the tree”.  To be honest, a rather interesting experience.  Well there he was in a tree, 10m away from the vehicle sleeping in a tree.  We spent an amazing 30 or 40 minutes with this relaxed leopard and watched as he eventually came down the tree and walked around, before going to bed in some thick bush, a day drive well worth remembering.

The sighting that stood out well above the other sightings this month is the evening we spent some time with the Mica Jamala females and their cubs of around 2 years.  I joined the sighting just as dusk was setting in, in hope that the lions would give us an African serenade.  All eight big cats were still out for the count but slowly started showing signs of life. Until the one female got up and started walking up the road with the other lions reluctantly following her lead.

We suspected the lions might be on their way to a waterhole a 1km or 2 up the road and decided to follow them as they were leisurely strolling up the road.  A few hundred meters further the lions must have heard or smelt something of interest to the west of them.  They all stopped and listened and you could feel the tension in the air as they were constructing battle plans.  Now one of the great mysteries to me is how does these lions communicate their plans to each other, for it did not take long before the eldest of the females and some of the younger males disappeared into the brush, leaving 2 adult females on the road in front of us crouching low so as to stay out of sight.  We knew the hunt was on and now it was just a matter of time and buckets full of patience.

So there we were, under the African sky, and with every shooting star passing over head, wishing that we would see a kill.  We sat in the dark so as not to interfere with the hunt, with only the occasional flash of the spot light to see if the lionesses were still in front of us on the road.  In one such flash we could see a zebra crossing the road a little bit further up from where the lionesses were on the road and the atmosphere just got a little bit more intense.  After almost an hour of waiting the night silence was shattered by panicked hoof beats, the lions made their move.  No more than ever we could not switch on the light so as not to blind the fleeing zebras.  The eldest female and young males obviously flanked the zebras and were chasing them straight towards the waiting lionesses on the road…and us.  Sitting in darkness hearing hoof beats thundering closer is a rather humbling experience.  The zebras are close to the road and still running, then a whole new chapter of chaos ensues as the two waiting lionesses spring into action, one can hear zebra’s crashing in all direction with a new burst of speed as they come to terms with the lioness’s ambush.  Zebras are thundering across the road 100m or less in front of us.  Just to make sure there are no zebras running towards the car I give a quick flash with the spot light and illuminate 2 lionesses in hot pursuit of a young zebra and heading our way.  Not to disadvantage the zebra on lions I quickly turned off the spot light and a split second later there are shrieks next to the car.  Light back on.  The lions have caught up to the zebra and trying to fight it down a mere 6 or 7 meters from the vehicle.  We watched in awe as the zebra is brought down and quickly dispatched.  The other participants in the hunt quickly join in to try and get their share of the meal.  After a while we call it a night and turn back for home, a little bit speechless, a little bit shocked, but in a lot of awe for the amazing natural scene that just played off in front of us.

With the rains still a distant dream, Tlou dam is as busy as ever and one can almost be guaranteed of amazing sightings of elephants and buffalo at the dam.

Well folks that is all from us, for this month, I’m sure September would have a lot of great sightings in store for us, so make sure to book yourself a room at Tuningi.

Hope to see you soon.

Kind regards,

Christo and the T-Team.

 

A warm winters welcome to all our Tuningi Fans !!

Winter is at its peak now here in the Madikwe game reserve, and our mornings are chilling, but fresh as we leave on our morning safari, but never fear… we have our game drive vehicles equipped with piping hot water bottles to combat the worst of the chill factor.

The coffee served in the lodge just before we depart also warms one up from the inside, as us rangers conjure up our masterful plan as we decide which of the magnificent 7 we will choose to go and find for you today.

Once you are out there it is all worth the effort, as the sunrises are something out of this world, with the early birdsong serenading your ears amongst the distant roar of our resident male lion. At this point we swing into action and determine where the Naledi male might be, and so the search begins…..

It is not long before we find his tracks heading south, and looks as if he is alone on a territory patrolling mission.

We find him after some time spent tracking him, but he is tired, resting in a comfy grassy patch, just enjoying the warmth of the rising sun. At this point he bellows out one of the most amazing sounds you will ever hear in the African bush which will give you goose bumps as he roars to his maximum power.

Our Naledi male however is under huge threat at the moment, as there are two different coalitions of males trying to challenge him for his prime patch of bushveld. The Younger coalition of 3 males, the Chimbro and Bafefo males, as well as the two Kwandwe males are making regular incursions into his territory now, and we fear it wont be long before we have a new authority here on the ridge.

Above you can see the Chimbro male with one of the Mica females on a wildebeest kill, and shows that they are seriously intent on taking over the Naledi males’ females and territory !!

W e always tend to also always write about the predators and we sometimes forget about the rest of the amazing things you can see in the bush, such as our very special rhinos.

Our rhinos are doing extremely well in the park, and even with the current rhino poaching situation in South Africa, they are flourishing here in Madikwe, probably due to the most amazing people on the ground everyday looking after them, and making sure that a poacher will never set foot in this land we call home !!

We do however have a huge responsibility to ensure that they will remain safe here in Madikwe, and if you would like to contribute to this cause please feel free to contact us at the lodge for more information. The park has an account set up especially for Madikwe, and any donations of any kind are all appreciated.

We also had an amazing sighting of a serval this month !!

This is a sight that made my year so far, as we don’t get to see them that often, in fact it is only the 8^th time in 8 years that I got see one, and this female was incredibly relaxed with the vehicles, as we followed her for some time through the long grasslands where she likes to hunt for mice and small mammals.

The always smiling elephants are providing some amazing sightings at the waterholes, especially at the lodge where you are almost guaranteed to be inspired by their presence around lunch time, as they come in numbers to quench their thirsts, before enjoying the therapeutic qualities of the cool mud that they love so much.

Tsala, our resident leopardess is back !!

She had been missing in action for a couple of weeks, and it was great to see her again, as we thought that she may have been killed by lions, but this is not so, and she is looking supreme and even pulled down an impala in front of us one morning showing us that she is still in large and in charge !!

Samson, the young male that we have been following now for more than a year now, seems to be setting up his territory in the Inkwe pan area south of the lodge. And is becoming a regular star with our guests as he is starting to show signs of full adulthood, exuding a power and elegance that few animals can.

Hopefully he hooks up with Tsala in the near future, and produces some cubs for us to enjoy soon !!

The Mica and Jamala pride are now 10 strong, and hungry for anything that moves !! The 4 young males in the pride are becoming adults now, and their appetite is keeping their mothers very busy, as they are having to kill more and more to satisfy the growing boys. They are pulling down some big prey, including buffalo, zebra and wildebeest, and we often get to them when they have just killed something only to find that they have finished off the carcass in quick time.

As big as they are, their need for rest is also as big, and they enjoy resting after the kill with full bellies, playing with each other to reinforce the bonds they will keep throughout their promising lives as young male lions. It probably wont be too long now, before the new coalition we spoke of earlier will force them out of the area, where they will have to learn very quickly how to hunt for themselves !!

As usual, the wild dogs AKA Painted Wolves are always fascinating to view, as they are always busy, and their high octane lives they live never seems to relent in any way.

Madikwe is one of the places in Africa to come and see them, as the are highly endangered, but are thriving in this piece of beauty that Tuningi is situated in.

We as guides always get extremely excited when they are ready to engage in a hunt mood, as they are highly efficient predators, killing 80 % of what they pursue. So they are definitely something you want to come and see and be part of !!

That’s it for this month……

See you soon !!

Regards,

Gavin and the T-Team

Well winter is definitely upon us, but Jack Frost has been kind to us this winter only baring his teeth during two cold snaps so far.  During one of these the temperature dropped to -3’C providing us with a great opportunity to view Polar Bears and Arctic Foxes in their natural environment, well not really but June did provide us with some phenomenal sightings.

With the bush all dried up and dull it is always lovely to see the flashes of bright colour provided by the vividly coloured Lilac Breasted Rollers.  Another one of my favourite birds this month was this very appropriately named Cut-Throat Finch pair.

On the lion front one of the best sightings this month was when we found the Jamala-Mica pride on the Western Airstrip lounging around in the early morning sun.  After warming themselves up they decided to move on, hoping to find some breakfast.  Luckily for the giraffes the lions weren’t too interested in them although some of the sub-adults did try their hand at hunting and sent the giraffes scattering.

After a long period of absence my favourite spotted hyena also made his appearance one morning.  His name is Fuzzy and he is the cutest spotty in Madikwe.  Anybody who does not like spotted hyenas would change their minds in a heartbeat after meeting Fuzzy.

We also did well on the leopard front this month with some really good sightings all around.  The one I am really excited about though is Samson, he is a young male that hangs around Inkwe pan and is found more and more.  This particular morning we spent some time with him and watched as he hunted and killed a francolin in front of our vehicle.

I can’t remember much of the next few seconds, but according to my guests, they have never seen someone multi task as ferousiesly as I did in that few moments.  Apparently I managed to indicate to the guests that the dogs were chasing the wildebeest towards the dam, shout at the top of my voice into the radio microphone at Cornelius, apparently in a voice ending in a shriek, that he should turn back to the dam and managing to turn the vehicle around on a fairly narrow path at high speed, all this in a flat spin of excitement.  Well what developed was one of my best wild dog sightings ever, with the dogs eventually managing to bring down their breakfast.

Well that was the end of another thrilling month in Madikwe, hopefully winter will stay as mild as it has been thus far and the sightings just as amazing.

Hope to see you at Tuningi in the near future.

Regards,

Christo and the T-team