After the 30 mm of rain we had in the early hours of the morning the land was soaked. The drive started off with an unexplained excitement in the air. We didn’t mind the quiet start of the drive, we were just happy to be out there.
The Mica pride was found as the finished a Blue Wildebeest they killed last night. When I arrived all the pride members were sleeping on the cool, wet soil. The one young male though was making there will be nothing left for the jackals waiting patiently.
Yesterday afternoon started off with lots to see. Lots of general game close to the lodge and not far, the Jamala Pride of lions. The two females and their six cubs were quite active for that time of day. There were some nice interaction between them and a herd of Elephants close by.
The early activity obviously meant they knew something we didn’t!! Just as the sun went down a thunder storm came out of nowhere and we were soaked by the time we got back at the lodge. We don’t mind tough, we love the rain!!!
This morning did not start very well for us. After the wake-up call as the guests were having coffee down by the main lodge a sudden thunder shower dampened our early morning game drive spirit. We diced to make the best of the delay and poured another cup of coffee. So after waiting for an hour for the rain to blow over I went on game drive with very jittery guests, too much coffee I suspect.
Usually just after the rain game drives can be rather quiet as the animals are still huddled away in the thickets or laying down trying to stay warm, but luckily for us the Wild Dogs got called in not too long after we left the lodge, exactly what I was looking for. So we’re happily bumbling along towards the Wild Dog sighting when I notice 3 Wildebeest staring of into the distance looking very alarmed, usually a good sign that they have spotted a predator, but what could it be? Then to the amazement of the guests a Cheetah makes its appearance from the bush, then another, and another. The 3 Wildebeest alerted us to the presence of our 4 male Cheetahs, what luck. Wild dogs forgotten we spent a bit of time with the 4 males as they look rather hungry and definitely hunting, but being typical cat gets distracted by the prospect of rather sleeping.
Later on we left to go and find the Wild Dog and got them as they were busy cleaning up the remains of a year old Impala they caught earlier the morning.
Not too bad for a drive that started off with rain and way to much caffeine.
Hi All,
My new guests were treated to a super sighting of the 4 cheetah boys on a cloudy cool morning,as they were just relaxing under some trees, when all of a sudden a small herd of Red Hartebeest come rushing straight towards us, and the cheetahs all stood up as one and gave chase, but it was aborted due to them not been able to locate a suitable target…. But the speed…… impressive !!
So that was how this morning started, and the grins on the guests faces said it all !!
Then we located on our resident pack of dogs once more, and followed them through some tough terrain as we witnessed their efficient teamwork as they harassed a few zebra and adult wildebeest. What happens next, might not be for some, but when lady luck is in your hands, take it, because you will not see this again in your lifetime. This was what my guests experienced this morning, and is not for the feint hearted !!
Yesterday’s sighting had nothing on this one, and the emotional roller coaster felt on this hunt was unbelievable. The dogs eventually found a herd of wildebeest with 2 newly born wildebeest, and then proceeded to showcase their skill in separating the 2 mothers and their young from the herd. After this it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened .
TWO KILLS IN 24 HOURS….. THATS WHY YOU COME TO TUNINGI SAFARI LODGE !!!
Hello all you Tuningi Fans…
Well this morning was fresh after the 30mm of rain that has fallen over the last 2 days, and the bush is growing so fast at the moment, that you can actually hear it!!
The impala and wildebeest have started giving birth to their calves, and the bush is coming alive with new life. We will post some pics of the new borns shortly, but firstly, I must share with you what we experienced this morning……
it was a pretty quiet morning all around, as it was very difficult to locate tracks of anything worth following, as the rain had made the ground extremely hard, so we had to be happy with the odd elephant and buffalo sighting among the hoards of general game. Until we stopped for our coffee break that is…..
I had just finished a pot of coffee, when a wild dog came racing past our vehicle after a young wildebeest at full tilt, when I shouted to my guests to jump in the land cruiser, so that we can follow the action. And action it was as when we arrived they were busy anchoring the sub-adult wildebeest by the nose while the other pack members were starting to rip at the inner thighs with their razor-like teeth.
The tensions were high on the vehicle with the emotions running high once again, but this is life on the african savannahs, as the Painted Wolves once again treated our guests to a once in a lifetime sighting.
Greetings to all of you once again,
November was a month full of promise, as the start of the rains brought some much needed relief to the bush, and things are starting to green up transforming the vegetation in a matter of days to a healthier state.
We will start off with the positive news in that we are having amazing leopard sightings this month, and the arrival of a new young male into our area has got us all very excited, as he is very relaxed and seems to be staying in the area for now. He even joined Cornelius at one of his sundowner stops, and was spotted by another guide passing by lying on the road and observing the occasion.
Tsala, our resident leopardess has also impressed many a guest with her beauty and power, as she was seen on a few kills she had made including an impala and a young zebra on a different occasion.
We are hoping that she will get pregnant soon, and allow us to share in the new arrivals, which would really make the pinnacle of our daily safaris.
The 4 cheetah brothers are doing extremely well, and they are killing on a regular basis, but are also travelling extensively In the park in search of a female, but as of yet the park authorities have not yet acquired a suitable candidate to be brought to Madikwe. So in the meantime, they are still searching.
Our lion prides in the area are looking good, and the Jamala prides cubs have now been weaned off of milk from their mothers, and are growing incredibly quickly as they are having regular meals all thanks to their efficient mothers.
They are also at an age now, where fun is the name of the game, and they are honing their hunting skills as they stalk and attack each other in some serious aerial acrobatics.
The Naledi brothers, which are the fathers of all these cubs, are feeling some pressure from the new Kwandwe males which are pushing in from the east, and they are having to spend a lot of time on the eastern boundary of the territory to re-scent the area with their presence. The Naledi boys are getting old now, and at 9 and a half years are in their twilight years as a dominant force in the south west, and it wont be too much longer before the Kwandwe males grow increasingly confident and will plan on a territory overtake in the not too distant future, so stay tuned for this development.
The Kwandwe males are so confident in their strength at the moment that they even attacked and killed a young elephant , as well as a buffalo this month. These guys are going to be a force to be reckoned with !!
Then, the story of the month must go out to the charismatic and efficient African Wild Dogs which Madikwe is so famous for !
It was a lazy afternoon, and the sun was out just after a short rain storm, and the fresh smells of the bush overwhelmed us as we drove around in search of the big 5, when we bumped into the small pack. They were on a mission !! You could see this in their eyes, and they were ready to hunt something down. Well, they continued on their ways, and not before long they came across some zebra with newborns with them, and before we could even blink, they were marauding the zebra, and creating chaos hoping for them to run. But the zebra stallion came to the challenge and started chasing and kicking at the dogs, which soon discouraged them, and they went off in search of easier prey.
The dogs bumped into a herd of buffalo of around 50 strong, and as if they had practiced this before they charged into the herd creating chaos by giggling in their high pitched voices forcing the herd to scatter. Within seconds they had identified the target to be a mother with its very young calf, and they proceeded with the task of separating the calf from the very angry mother.
The rest is history, and no words can describe what emotions are felt in a situation like this, as my guests were all in tears and even wanted me to leave the sighting.
It is moments like these that we as rangers live for, and a sighting like this comes around only once in a career for some, and I was extremely happy with this sighting which is only the second time in my career that I have seen wild dogs taking on buffalo and succeeding !!
Until next time, we wish you all a blessed festive season.
Regards,
Gavin and the T-team
Hi all,
Yesterday, was one of those busy days, and we started with a stunning sunrise, as the air was still cool from the previous afternoon’s rain.
We continued in the fresh smells that were emanating from the wet earth, and saw an amazing amount of general game, but there are still no signs of the impala and wildebeest calves, and I am sure with the rain we have had, they will fall any minute now !! WE CANT WAIT ANYMORE !! We then followed the Jamala pride around for a while, and they entertained us, as they too were enjoying the fresh air, with the cubs bouncing around and play fighting with each other. until they got tired and settled in for a snooze for the day.
Then the afternoon brought some serious thunderstorms, and we were delayed by the epic show for about 30 mins, but once we got out, the sun was shining and the massive thunderstorm cell was moving north, and everything was super fresh once more.
The rest of the afternoon was rather quiet, but we ended with a fabulous sunset, and more storms building in the south.
This morning was awesome,as we went in search of the 2 Naledi males, and we managed to find them feeling very lazy at one of the pans close by, and they did not look as if they were going anywhere, so we left them in peace, and went off to look for other things.
Well, we were then surprised by 3 hyenas which were finishing off the remains of an impala, and this was great , as one of the sub-adults came right up to the vehicle and rested in our shade, much to the guests enjoyment, as the bones cracked in the backround.
but after watching them for a while it was clear that they had robbed another predator of its prize, so I scratched around for some tracks, and confirmed my suspicions by pointing out the wild dog tracks to my guests on the road. After a short tracking session, we located on them, and followed them around for a few minutes before they too went in search of some shade to rest for the day. and as if that was not all, we bumped into the four cheetah on our way home also relaxing under the shade of a big tree.
So this afternoon we are going to try our best to find the pinnacle of all the safari’s…. the magical and elusive leopard….. watch this space !!
Good Day all,
So, yesterday we had an awesome drive, but this morning might have even eclipsed this one, as we start with an amazing sunrise to get the eyes working properly after a strong cup of coffee at the lodge.
Then we went off in search of the Jamala pride, and after a quick tracking session, we located them all in a very playful mood with the cubs chasing each other around, and even climbing up trees, thinking they are leopards.
Then we bumped into some old “Dagga Boys” also known as buffalo bulls, and they gave us the “taxman” stare for a while before continuing on their feeding frenzy.
The 4 cheetah boys were next, and we enjoyed their majestic ways, as they had a drink at some very orange coloured water.
After this we were searching for a rhino, but we did not find any old rhino… it was a big black rhino male, and he entertained us for 30 mins, as he came closer to inspect the intruders in his turf.
Till tomorrow….
Hi Guys,
We have had a cracker last 2 days here at Tuningi Safari Lodge, and the sightings are pumping !!
We will start off with the pride from the north west of the park, just resting off their massively full bellies, as they had killed 2 wildebeest. The youngsters were all lying around the big male, and the sunset which followed was epic !!
We then had some amazing and jaw dropping sightings of Tsala our resident leopardess, as she had finished off an impala a few days ago, but we also had a splendid sighting of her yesterday afternoon, as she was relaxing in a marula tree with a new zebra kill !! All this was going on while the 2 Naledi male lions were roaring and finishing off their own kill in the background.
We have also had some very cute sightings of new born elephants, and they seem to be enjoying the new summer vegetation growth coming through strongly now after the rain we had a couple days ago.
Then our 4 cheetah boys are impressing everyone with their grace, and we enjoyed their presence yesterday morning, when they were located with full bellies, cleaning themselves up before padding down for the day to sleep it off !!
So, hopefully the weekend will bring us more amazing sights .
Regards,
Gavin
Hi All,
Tsala, our resident leopardess, has provided us with a great sighting, as she managed to hoist an impala she killed into a tree. She has become extremely relaxed over the last 4 years, thanks to some relentless respect from all the guides in the area, and the fruits of our works are paying off, and she is allowing us into her secretive world.
Hopefully she meets the monster of a male that lives in her territory, and has another cub or two, and hopefully she raises them successfully this time around. We are not sure what happened to her last cub (Feb 18 2013) seen below.
We will be keeping a very close eye on her in the future, and we will bring you more news shortly about her movements.
Regards,
Gavin.
Hi Guys,
This morning started off with an amazing sunrise, and some cooler temperatures, as the storm clouds are building, hopefully to bring us some good rain very soon. There was not too much on the m ove this morning for some reason, and we struggled to find any tracks of any animals, but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pied crow acting strangely. He was flying in circles, and then dipped to the ground and sat there for some time before taking to the air again in full voice. Now sometimes these crows will give away the tell tale signs of a predator on a kill somewhere, but it was not until 2 hyenas also came out of the same direction that my suspicions were confirmed, and we went offroad to investigate.
Well, the ” bush vine” did not lie, and we soon located the Jamala and Mica lionesses and their 9 cubs feeding of the remains of a zebra. Always nice to be surprised at how efficient the bush can be !!
This is why children spend their pocket money on TUNINGI !!
Children are kept very busy here at the lodge doing all kinds of different activities such as T-shirt painting, clay modelling, puzzle building, memory games, kiddies drives, colouring books, building lego, sculpture designing etc.
So get your children to come and experience the awesomeness of the bushveld.
After a short break and psyching up session, they were on the move again, and ran off into a westerly direction.
This is where one of the most amazing sightings I have witnessed in 13 years of my guiding career unfolded.
This continued for around 15 mins before they eventually separated the calf from the mother. This was the start of the end for the young calf, as the dogs overpowered it while others kept the attentions of the mother at bay by biting her on her tail as she swung around to defend her calf.