Author: Focus Online Dev

Not too many words can describe what we saw this morning…

But I’ll try.

We set off this morning to go and look for the 4 Male Cheetahs in the north of Madikwe.  They were last seen moving in that direction.

On our way there we went past Tlou dam.  Not much was happening there so left.  Christo and myself took different roads away from the dam.  Out of nowhere I heard a very funny, excited voice over the radio. It was Christo shouting something; I could only make out something at the dam.

When I got there the Wild Dogs chased a wildebeest into the water.

I had been waiting a long time to experience what was going to happen around the water.

Once the wildebeest was out the water the chase was on, again!  The wildebeest tried to shield itself against Christo’s vehicle but it only worked for a while.

It then ran back into the water.  It was probably too cold and he jumped out.

Not long after that the dogs finally got hold of it and killed it.
It took the Dogs a while to kill the Wildebeest but when it was done they all enjoyed it thoroughly.  This was nature at its best!!!

Shortly after, an elephant chased the dogs off the kill but he soon moved away and the dogs continued eating.

Let the pictures tell you more.

Oh, and we found the Cheetahs as well.

Well…. May was a month of big and exciting news as far as the lions are concerned.

There is a lot of competition going on between the new younger male coalitions which are making their presence felt.

There are 3 new young males in the south called the Chimbro – Bafefo coalition, and they are around 5 years of age now and starting to show some serious adulthood in already fighting with and seriously injuring one of the Kwandwe males from the south east of the reserve.

They are also showing us that they are going to be here to stay, by scent marking the territory with passion, and vocalizing to ear-piercing volumes !!

They are even looking after themselves extremely efficiently, and are killing some very difficult prey items such as this buffalo bull, which they managed to subdue and fed on for 3 days.

Whilst feeding on this carcass one morning we witnessed one of the males pull down and kill a male impala which obviously did not see him coming as he might have been too pre-occupied with rutting duty at the time, but none the less, the agility shown in this already full bellied male lion is awesome, and proves to all that male lions can and will hunt efficiently, contrary to popular belief !!

Meanwhile the feud between the old boys on the ridge around the lodge is continuing.

The Naledi male who hangs around on the ridge close to the lodge is still intent on killing his nemesis… the Kgala male from the north west of the park, and they have been doing regular incursions into each others territories looking to stake the claim to the females and territory that comes with being the landlord of the area.

However, it always seems to be a shouting match, as they roar to each other in the early mornings coming to no physical harm as they must know that they are coming to the end of their majestical reign of power over the last 7 years.

It is going to be really interesting to see who will be their predecessors in the near future.

The Kgala Male

The Naledi Male

 

The other news from the Place we call Madikwe which translates to “ Place of Blood” is very fitting, as there have been a lot of kills been dished out as the wild dogs are once again creating havoc with the antelope kind. Their efficiency is amazing as we as rangers get extremely excited as they go on their crepuscular hunts. You have a very good chance of seeing a full hunt if you can keep up with their relentless pace, and you will be rewarded with some graphic, yet real experiences.

The 4 cheetah brothers have also been spreading some blood on the battlefields and they too are doing extremely well. They are in supreme condition at the moment and are proving no match for their prey.

Leopards have been scarce this month for some reason, as we think that Tsala our resident female might have cubs stashed away somewhere, and is acting like a ninja at the moment, we are finding her tracks, but just cant seem to locate her secret lair where she could be hiding her cubs.

The young male in the area has also been scarce, but has been seen a few times this month, but we are filling this hole by going to the east of the park where Munye has been making regular appearances and seems to be a cat that is going to give us a reliable sighting in the future.

A few notable rare sightings this month were also recorded namely a caracal and its cub which was extremely relaxed and made my year so far.

And the South pack of wild dogs chasing around a full grown giraffe for fun….

Well, that’s it for this month….

Untill next time,

Regards,

Gavin and the T-Team

 

Hallo once again!

Another month has passed with a whole lot of excitement that went with it.  The bush still looks great after the good summer rain we had.  It was not the best of time with lots of leaves and tall grass to spot animals but we still managed to get some spectacular sightings.

Since we’ve had rain, water stood all over the park but still the best spot was Tlou dam.  It didn’t matter if there were animals or not, it delivered an amazing scene.  It was also the past month that the elephants returned to the west of Madikwe.

It’s always a treat to see big herds of elephants at the dam after a hot day to quench their thirsts.

The lions on our side of the park didn’t make it easy for us to find at times but when we did after a long search it was very rewarding.

We found the pride of the south, the Bulayas on a wildebeest kill one morning quite late.  This particular morning we all drove past them earlier on because we had mist so thick we couldn’t  see 10 meters in front of us.  At this sighting there were also great interaction between Jackals, Hyenas and the lions.  The younger lions, about a year old, were very protective over the food their mothers provided and made sure the hyena clan didn’t come close.  Only the next morning when the lions were gone, the scavengers had a feast.

Our southern pack of wild dogs also led us all over with their quick and sometimes strange movement making it difficult to locate.  The temperatures have dropped considerably over the past couple of weeks so the dogs started moving much earlier than usual making it more difficult to keep track of them.  So much so that they again came to the lodge and made a kill while we were out on drive looking for them.  Thankfully we were close to still enjoy them the rest of the morning around the lodge.

It wasn’t always the big and rare things that made my guests and me excited.

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.

We were very lucky to have a sighting like that.

On some of our quieter morning drives, the thick mist made it difficult to spot things.  What was not difficult to spot was thousands of spider webs.  They were all over. On the ground, in the trees everywhere quite pretty really or it depends who you are asking.

The Cheetahs on the other hand, everyone enjoy.  It is not too often we can keep track of the four cheetah males as they move through Madikwe like they did the past couple of weeks.  From east to west and north to south they were found almost everyday teaching us a little more about their movements.

Although we are taught huge lessons about the animals’ movement every day it is still not guaranteed that we will find them again where we last left them. This of course keeps our jobs exciting and hugely interesting.

Until we see you back here again!

Kindest regards

Cornelius and the T-team

Yesterday morning we decided to look for the Wild dogs in the south of Madikwe.  We took it slow as the temperature dropped the faster we drove.  

Luckily we weren’t too far from the lodge when the call came through that the Wild dogs killed an Impala at the lodge.

It happened again…

 We charged back to get a piece of the action and as we arrived the dogs came running out of the gate.  It was about seven minutes from when I received the call and the Impala was finished.

As a result, the guests who slept in also got to see the Dogs when they had a drink at the waterhole.  After they left they killed another Impala out of our view. 

Yesterday afternoon we set off to look for the Wild Dogs in the south of Madikwe.  We made good progress as there were really not much to see but then we were stopped in our tracks by a snake…

I am not particularly fond of snakes but I kept my distance and then saw it was a Boomslang, not a very aggressive snake.  I was so focused on the snake; I did not even notice the chameleon behind it.  That’s when I realized (well, more hoped) something interesting was going to happen.

The Boomslang moved all over the road to make sure of its prey and then it moved off into the grass to conceal itself.  That’s when the chameleon made a run for it.   The snake came to the road again lifting its head and using its good eyesight to locate its prey.  Both disappeared into the grass and I thought it was over but then I heard a hiss from the chameleon…

I baked up again and waited.  First the chameleon came out of the grass and some time later we saw the snake.  It was quite far away from the chameleon but moved all over the place to pick up the scent trail.  By now the chameleon slowed and the snake went for it.  The chameleon was bitten when it moved into the grass, so the snake was waiting for its Heamotoxin to take effect.  This toxin prevents the blood from clotting.

The snake first stopped to “smell” the chameleon, moved away and struck.

Our game drive started very successfully this morning with a pride of lions not far from the lodge.

This pride killed a Blue Wildebeest yesterday morning and when we arrived there this morning it was teeming with life.  About seven Black-Backed Jackals scavenging all over on bits left over.
We also followed a Spotted Hyena with the whole spine and ribcage in its mouth.  (Take-away Ribs)!

But then the call came through that the Southern pack Wild Dogs were found. We followed them as they walked down this long straight road.  Seconds after I took this photo they disappeared in a streak after a kudu.

This time the kudu got away.

Hi Fans….

This Month has been rather quiet as far as our high standards of game sightings go, and this was due to some serious rain we have received during the month, which has turned the bush into a vibrant paradise with vegetation growing to maximum capabilities. This makes spotting game a little more difficult, and certain roads have been waterlogged making traversing the park challenging.

Anyway, there have been some amazing sightings, and we will kick off with a sighting that Christo had one afternoon at Tholo Dam, up in the north of the park, and this is how he saw it……

One afternoon we took a leisurely drive up to the north of the park to see if we can find the Wild Dogs that have been spotted in the area that morning. As it was a rather hot day the dogs were located not too far from where they were spotted in the morning, but unfortunately still lethargic as it was early afternoon and the sun still beating down.  We bumbled along with the hope that by the time we get there they might have waken up a bit. 

Luckily for us, just as I was about to pull into the wild dog sighting I heard an update that the dogs are up and moving towards a large dam.  With wild dogs there are basically 3 general activities they are either, sleeping, hunting or eating and these dogs were definitely done sleeping so it was game on.  It also didn’t take long for the call to come in that the dog are after some Wildebeest, in the confusion of dogs, wildebeest and over excited rangers the dogs went missing before I got to see them.  But as luck would have it just as I went on to the dam wall to where they were heading… ta da!!!  Two Waterbuck running for their lives with the wild dogs in hot pursuit and us with a grand stand view on top of the dam wall. 

As the name suggests the Waterbuck ran headlong into the water for safety, but neither us nor they expected the dogs’ next move.  Without missing a beat two dogs plunged into the water after the Waterbuck. 

 

If Waterbuck had more expressive facial expressions, the one on the Waterbucks’ faces would have been for the records when they turned around and saw the dog paddling after them.  After a bit of swimming in circles the dogs swam to the side to re-strategize their attack.  Twice more a dog swam in to try and spook the waterbuck from the water but to no avail. 

The dogs eventually gave up and went to look for prey on more familiar (dry) ground and we left to go and celebrate a great sighting with a sun downer.         

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Thanks Christo, this is really what Madikwe is famous for, and I am sure that our guests will continue to see these super predators in action while visiting us here at Tuningi.

We have also been having some special sightings of elephants at the bigger dams in the north and with the saturated colors of summer all blended into the warm hues of sunset creates a mood which few will forget…..

 

 

 

The lion prides in the area have been doing extremely well and on one occasion the Jamala pride were eating a wildebeest when a brown hyena found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they attacked and killed him. This behavior is not often witnessed, and lions proved yet again that they are the apex predators in the savanna system.

 

The New boys on the block…the Kwandwe males are still pushing deeper and deeper into the Naledi male’s territory, and are coming into their own now, and are starting to sport their growing manes. They have been hanging out a lot with the mica females, much to the disgust of the subadults who know that they are going to be their new kings…. We don’t think it will be long now, before the Kwandwe’s find the Naledi male and banish him to the death or make him homeless !!

The 5 male cheetah roaming the park have been given new hope of creating more cheetah, as we have acquired a female for them which was captured and placed in a holding facility where she is acclimatizing herself to the sights and sounds of her new home. Hopefully she will respond well to her introduction period so that she may be released shortly. We will  be giving you regular updates on our facebook pages to keep you in the loop.

 

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.

 

So again, thanks to Wild EYE and their guests for choosing us as their preferred lodge in Madikwe.

So, until next time…..

Regards,

Gavin and the T-Team !!

With the constant rain we had the past couple of weeks, came some interesting fungi.  There were a massive variety of shapes and sizes.  A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source.

With everything being wet it was a bit more difficult finding game, but loads more to keep us entertained.

All over the place you would see funny shapes growing from anywhere.  These were growing out of old elephant dung.

Hello all once again…

This morning we left the lodge with the mission…. to find lions !!

Well, it started off pretty quietly, until Cornelius managed to locate on some fresh tracks, which by the way are very tough to see nowadays with all the rain we have been having, and we followed them through some wet grass for around ten minutes in a westerly direction, before we lost the tracks and our boots and socks got soaking wet. We decided to give up on those tracks and went in search of the other pride further to the north.

Anyway… after more searching we found nothing, and decided to stop for a coffee break to reboot the minds.

On the way back to the lodge we located on the Jamala females and their cubs, and they seemed to have killed a wildebeest, but there was something in the road that was lying very still….. it was a brown hyena !! The poor bugger probably got a little too close to the lions wildebeest kill, and found himself on the receiving end of 3 inch canines, and was killed.

Brown hyenas often follow lions and other predators around, in the hope that they will get a scrap from their kills when they leave, but they also do catch their own small prey including scrub hares, baby impala and wildebeest, and even insects and fruit found in the bush.

Sometimes you are hit with the reality of the harsh conditions that these animals find themselves in, and if it means that they kill each other off to eliminate competition… then so be it !!

Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

John Muir

The shortest month has come and gone and yet again we are left speechless by the splendour of nature.  The rain has finally settled in and the bush is marvellously green and lush, which can make it a bit more difficult to spot game, but Madikwe being Madikwe, you can be assured that a stunning sighting might just be around the next corner. 

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.  

In all my time spent in the bush, I have only managed to see animals give birth once.  It was also a zebra but she was in amongst some bushes, this mare had given birth right next to the road in the open.  Well this was of course a great opportunity to show the guests just how quick new-borns are to their feet and this little one I suspect is a bit of a record breaker.  We only sat for a few minutes before he started to struggle to his feet, apparently for the first time as previous attempts would have freed him from the placenta.  Amazingly this determined little zebra managed to get to his feet in the first wobbly attempt and even stood for a while before he tumbled back to the ground.  Three more attempts and he was rather securely on his feet, this little chap must have the balance of a ninja as the previous birth I witnessed, the new zebbie took about 40min and many disastrous attempts before he found his feet.     

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.

After a while, the new born was a bit more stable on his feet mom showed of her achievement one last time before leading the little one of to his new live in Madikwe.

Well while we are on the topic of babies, another great sighting was when we went to the Amphitheatre (a rock formation in the Enselbergs) as we had reports that the Brown Hyenas that den there occasionally had new cubs.  When we arrived the excitement ran high as we could see one of the previous year’s cubs posing on the rocks for us.  Brown Hyenas are rather scares animals and is not often seen; never mind during the day posing nonchalantly on rocks.   

We couldn’t believe our luck when mom then appeared from further down the road and came strolling towards the den site.  It was late in the afternoon and she probably decided to come and feed the new cubs before her nightly foraging escapades.  Unfortunately we could not see the cubs suckling but luckily with their bellies full and the reinsurance that mom is close at hand the youngsters started exploring and became a bit more curious about the strange vehicle looking animal.  Babies are cute make no mistake, but I personally think one would have to look far and wide to find babies as cute as brown hyena cubs.

As per usual our Lion sightings have been out of this world, one would certainly be excused for thinking these Lions are circus Lions and do these performances for tasty rewards we give them after the tourists leave.   Especially the cubs can be great entertainment, as we experienced one morning when we found the 5 Bulaya cubs by themselves as the females had left to go hunt and left the cubs to their own devises.  It was also a nice cool morning and that suited the cubs even better, we were left hysterical by their antics and mock hunting, or when they believe themselves to be leopards and start climbing trees and only realises their predicament when it is time to get down again.  That is to say if one spiteful sibling hasn’t brought them crashing to the ground already.  At least through all their antics they will remember the tasty treats they get when the tourists leave and thus still strike a pose or two. (Wink Wink)

In another spectacular sighting we found the same pride after they brought down a Wildebeest, unfortunately for them the Naledi Male was in the area and probably heard the commotion and knew that his ladies had laid a table especially for him, well at least in his mind.  He found the pride and it wasn’t long before he had chased the females and cubs off the kill, but what happened next came to me of a bit of a surprise.  One of the females realised that they stand a good chance of losing the whole kill and that her cubs are going to be left hungry so she’ll better have to make a plan.  With a sly glint in her eye she approached the feeding male, swaying her body from side to side and flicking her tail seductively up and down.  The old Naledi couldn’t believe his luck and dropped the wildebeest in mid bite to pursue the voluptuous female, just to be led away from the kill.  The cubs sensing their chance rushed in and settled on the kill once again.  This made me realise again that we men are suckers for punishment when it comes to women.

As always all the other game and interesting things also featured in February and here is just some snippets of what else happened during the past month.

The big female Elephant herds have made their way back to the south of the park giving us some great elephant sightings.

This of course forces the males to pay more attention to personal hygiene in the form of dust bathes.

And more regular brushing.

The birdlife has also been phenomenal and we are enjoying the colours and splendours of the males as they try to impress the females.

This is also the time of the year that more butterflies make their appearance, especially the Broad Bordered Grass Yellow (try saying that after a bit of time spent in Tuningi’s bar) can be seen everywhere these days.

And then just as a reminder why we like to wake you up early when you come to visit Tuningi.

Well that is all from me, we are looking forward to share some of the amazing experiences Madikwe has to offer with you in the near future.

For glimpses of what we are getting up to here at Tuningi, please like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/tuningilodge?ref=hl and make sure to visit our blog at https://www.tuningi.com/     

Regards,

Christo and The T-Team

   

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be a rather amazing experience.  After a great sighting of 3 of the Big 5 in one shot ( Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo) all together, we were just happily bumbling along when we came around a corner and found a Zebra mare that has just given birth.  To see a birth in the wild is pretty rare as the animals usually move into some thick bush to give birth in private, in an attempt to avoid predation.  Luckily for us the mare decided to give birth right next to the road.

We diced to hang around to witness the new-born’s first steps and he didn’t keep us waiting very long. About 5min after we arrived he succeeded in getting to his feet in the first attempt.  Impressive.

He was able to stand for a minute or two before tumbling back down.  After 3 more attempts he was able to find his feet.

Introductions to some of the other herd members also didn’t take long, as another young zebra came over to inspect the new arrival.

And then just like a proud mother she showed off her baby for a few final pictures before leading the youngster into the bush.

 

 

 

Had a very special drive yesterday afternoon. We started off with some elephants having a mud bath next to the road, one can just see the pleasure in their eyes as they cool down in the mud. After the mud bath a young male decided to come and inspect exactly who we are before moving on.

We then headed out to the Enselbergs as word came through that there is an active Brown Hyena Den and sure enough we were not disappointed. At first we could not see the cubs, but then mom came home to suckle the youngsters, which became rather inquisitive after they had their fill.

We finished the day with a spectacular sunset and a pair of jackals that were not too phased by us.