Sun Destinations Blog - Page 61 of 117 - Sun Destinations Safari

The Case of the Stolen Kill, Leopard Cubs and Hyena

Greg Moran, one of the Africa on Foot rangers, sent through an avalanche of leopard reports. Recently, the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve has been rife with leopard sightings and we’re starting to wonder if Greg isn’t an undercover leopard whisperer, given his recent encounters. Yesterday, Ross Dam and her cubs were on a kill when an opportunistic hyena stole their meal. Ross Dam chased the hyena and retrieved the kill, providing a series of antics that entertained onlookers.

Here’s a detailed analysis of the case of the stolen kill, the leopard cubs and hyena:

1. Student guide Ray was at the scene with Ross Dam, her cubs and a fresh kill. Ray dutifully alerted all and sundry about the sighting. As Greg arrived, everyone lost visual on Ross Dam. When they pulled the vehicle into the sighting, the Africa on Foot team saw one of the thieving clean-up crew (hyena) sprinting away with part of a kill. It appears that something frightened one of Ross Dam’s cubs and the kill was accidentally dropped.

2. When the hyena retrieved the kill it started to sprint away in a rather awkward, loping manner. The hyena was nervous and kept looking over his shoulder in fear. In the thickets the mother leopard was spotted stalking, keeping low and dropping down. Obviously she was in hot pursuit of the hyena. Under normal circumstances, a leopard may leave the situation alone, but Ross Dam has cubs to feed and decided she wasn’t having her family meal stolen!

3. Eventually, after significant stalking, darting and taking cover, Ross Dam ambushed the hyena. Out of pure anger and the innate need to feed her cubs, she grabbed the kill from the hyena and headed towards a false Marula tree. She stashed stashed the kill neatly and compactly in the fork of the tree for safekeeping. Guests and rangers managed to observe her for a few minutes while she spent time securing her kill away from the prying eyes of scavengers.

4. After ensuring the family meal was in tact, Ross Dam clambered down the trunk of the tree with stealth and grace; and made her way back to the cubs. After her departure, a kettle of vultures was spotted circling the kill. Ross Dam is going to have to return in order to chase the vultures away. So little food, so many imminent threats! The life of a leopard.

5. When Greg left the scene, they saw one of the cubs sprinting across the road. He decided not to put pressure on the cub and drove further away. As everyone looked into an open area, they saw a delightful spectacle of leopard antics. The male cub was lying in a pouncing position, practicing his ambushing techniques and the female cub was copying him. Ross Dam sauntered across the area and monitored their clumsy attempts at stalking. She still has a while to teach them a bit of prowess when it comes to taking down prey.

All in all, a rather successful day of leopard sightings in the Klaserie! We will wait and see what tonight brings.

Hercules Pride Seen in the Rain at nThambo & Africa on Foot

Two reasons to celebrate this morning: Firstly, a drizzle of merciful rain pitter pattered on the drought-stricken soil last night, and secondly, the Hercules Pride emerged from their secretive lives to greet nThambo Tree Camp and Africa on Foot guests on game drive! This pride has a reputation for being quite shy, so when we bumped into them on our property, we were pleasantly surprised and very well rewarded. Two lionesses and 4 youngsters make up the Hercules Pride, and we’ve enjoyed catching up with them every so often, but we know from experience that they flee under the best of circumstances! Luckily, it looks like the last few months in hiding have given the Hercules Pride some confidence, because this morning’s sighting of them was nice and relaxed… By Hercules standards…

nThambo ranger, Bjorn, set out on game drive this morning with a little light rainfall to keep his guests company, and it didn’t take long before a series of fantastic sightings emerged from the rehydrated bush. Elephants appeared to be celebrating the presence of rain (as are we all), and a herd of buffalo was also spotted moving through the area adding to the morning’s big game features! The lions were, perhaps, the cherry on top, especially considering the last sighting we’ve had of this pride was about 3 months ago when they fought with the Ross Breakaway lionesses and left them worse for wear. Prior to that, Africa on Foot was treated to the pride on a buffalo kill right outside camp in December last year.

There has been a lot of exciting activity in the Klaserie with the arrival of Mabande, then the Mapoza males, and the tension was felt by the Ross Breakaway lionesses who ended up in a scuffle with the Mapozas over a kudu kill. The Hercules Pride, however, has been lying low, but as it turns out, all is well, and those 4 cubs are hardly cubs at all! Three males and one female cub (sired by one of the Trilogy males) are looking fantastic, and the lionesses are as strong and ferocious as ever. Towards the end of a very enjoyable sighting, the noticeably enormous lioness we have come to expect a bit of aggression from decided she didn’t like the vehicles starting up and gave us a bit of snarl.

Africa on Foot guests were out on game drive instead of their usual morning walking safari due to the weather, and it looks like they got lucky! The Hercules Pride is always a magnificent sight, and as we’ve mentioned, they disappear as quickly as they pop up, so this game drive in the rain was well worth it. This afternoon, stations are ready to track down the ever-elusive pride and hopefully we’ll have an update for you later!

Honey Badger Conducts a Quick Kill

The notorious ratel species has the confidence of a lion, the personality the size of a giant pachyderm and the cuteness of a bunny rabbit. The honey badger is probably one of the most loved, misunderstood and revered little creature of the safari world. It’s built quite a name for itself online and videos of this small carnivore quickly go viral. As a matter of fact, honey badgers are pretty trendy at the moment. Ranger Michael Beard filmed this creature digging up a few edible treasures!

So, here’s what we know about honey badgers and our first hand experience of dealing with them at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp.

Get to know the real deal about honey badgers:

As the night settles in and guests have finished dining, it’s a tradition to retire to the boma area where stories are exchanged around the campfire. Often, a rough scuttling can be heard around the corner and in the vicinity of the kitchen. The honey badgers sense and smell when dinner is finished, so they often scurry down to see what they can destroy! They’re relentless and can even open steel doors with their raven like claws.
In this video we see the honey badger using its claws in a rather ferocious manner. They have a habit of eating bee larvae and honey (that thick skin of theirs is immune to bee stings!) but in this case the badger was probably digging up insects or spiders. Honey badgers will also eat an array of small animals, grubs and snakes.
If threatened, this ratel species will emit a foul smelling secretion from their anal glands which deters predators from approaching. Interestingly en0ugh, the colouring and coat of the honey badger can easily be mistaken for that of a skunk. It is thought that these markings warn predators that they possess a chemical weapon – which they’re not afraid to use!
Honey badgers are famous for their brazen, nonchalant attitude. They’re quite happy to walk through a pride of lions, attack a cobra (they simply sleep off the venom) and approach lodges at night – just out of curiosity.
Although cute looking, honey badgers are not afraid of attacking. They’ll scurry away at first but if under threat they will fight for survival and defend themselves against an entire army. Brave, fearless and not to be approached without caution!

Here’s the video – we hope you enjoy watching this fella in action!

Week in Pictures: Moments of Mad Beauty

This week in pictures we’ve been astounded by the breathtaking landscapes serving as backdrops to our hungry predators and innocent herbivores. There are moments of mad beauty and strange angles caught on camera by photographers Jochen, Em, Kevin and Chloe. This week in pictures certainly celebrates the exquisite natural beauty of the landscapes, surpassed only by the enchanting beauty of our wildlife. When both wildlife and landscape share a cohesive beauty, the results are dramatic. Eerie silhouettes, statuesque cats and bold moments present themselves in their entirety in these week’s collection of photos. Have a great weekend. We hope you hungrily devour and digest this wealth of camera action!

Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp

What a tumultuous and eventful week its been for these camps. Watching 8 endangered wild dog pups merrily enjoying their clan life out in the open woodlands has certainly kept everyone enthralled. Unfortunately, nature dealt a cruel hand when a ruthless eagle swooped down and killed one of the pups! Nature can be tough.

In other news, Ross Dam the graceful leopardess and her male cub were spotted on a kill! There have been plenty of leopard sightings of late, which proves again that the Klaserie is a big cat heaven. In sticking with the cat theme, the Ross Pride Breakaway lionesses were seen licking their emotional wounds after a showdown with the bolshy Mapoza male lions. The Ross Pride Breakaway lionesses are a dominant and formidable force on the Klaserie turf, but they were certainly knocked down a few notches when the Mapoza’s fought with them and stole their kill.

With all the carnivore action of late and the timeous delivery of photos and videos of each event; we thought we’d showcase the other happenings in the Klaserie. These are the sightings that happen simultaneously while the big showdowns are happening in the foreground. All sightings need to be celebrated, so here are our favourite photos from the week.

Ezulwini River Lodge and Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge

An unknown leopardess was spotted in the reserve a couple of days ago. When young leopards begin to wander in search of potential den sites and new territories, rangers will often see unknown leopards on their traverse. Areas with a high density of prey are always a drawcard for big cat predators!

A ageing bull visited the confines of River Lodge and happily feasted on the abundance of vegetation surrounding camp. Young guests in camp experienced the viewing of a lifetime and eagerly watched the elephant drink from they crystal clear pool water.

An absolute highlight for Ezulwini has been the setting up of hidden camera traps in the Balule. The cameras are located in a high traffic wildlife area and the footage has been insightful and amusing. Hippo have investigated, elephant herds have bashed the trails cam and lions have simply sauntered past in the dead of night!

As per usual, the Balule is alive with wildlife activity at the moment.

Botswana Safaris and Camps

Xobega Island Camp have spotted crocodile, hippo and a plethora of birdlife. This is pretty much the standard with Xobega. There’s a resident crocodile that hovers in the water close to camp and the pods of hippo cruise through the wide waterways surrounding the island.

John Chase Safaris sets up camp in remote areas, offering guests a world of wildlife wonder. Elephants and plains game are always in abundance in these areas.

The Delta you can drive to: Xobega Island Camp

Planning a self-drive trip through Botswana? Here’s why you should include a stop at Xobega Island Camp.

No visit to Botswana is complete without spending some time in that watery eden on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Sight and renowned bird and wildlife sanctuary.

For most travellers, this means catching a charter flight out of Maun to one of the Delta’s many camps and lodges, which is also possible if you plan to visit Xobega Island Camp. You can catch a light aircraft from Maun to Xakanaka airstrip, and get a transfer from there.

Xobega Island Camp, though, offers travellers the unparalleled opportunity to drive there themselves, at there own pace, through one of the real gems of Botswana’s wildlife areas: Moremi Game Reserve.

This journey offers unmatched independence and flexibility to the discerning traveller, and is ideal for those of us who’d prefer to experience the wilderness of the Delta region independently and in a manner that only a private or rented vehicle can guarantee.

The drive from Maun through Moremi Game Reserve is not merely a transit; it is an integral part of the experience. It entails four or more hours of driving through some of Northern Botswana’s finest and richest wildlife areas.

Dotted with pans and bisected by rivulets and tributaries of the Delta, sparsely forested and punctuated by patches of open grassland, wetland and swamp, this route offers bountiful game and bird-watching opportunities.

From predators like leopard, lion, cheetah and the famous painted wolf to lumbering herds of elephant, throngs of zebra, blue wildebeest, red lechwe and impala, visitors moving through Moremi are often awestruck at the sheer numbers of game they see along the way.

There are incomparable opportunities for bird-watchers too; the diversity of biomes and richness of the Moremi ecosystem mean that there are literally hundreds of species that could be encountered along the way. Perhaps you’ll see the kori bustard, the world’s heaviest flying bird, or the ground hornbill, or a Western banded snake eagle on the hunt – one thing is sure, though, you’ll see birds and a lot of them.

All of this means that the drive might take a little longer than expected. All that time spent peering through a pair of binoculars or viewfinder means that this journey can take an hour or two longer, which means that in order to make the most of it it’s often best to start early in the morning after a night in Maun.

From there you’ll drive out along the Thamalakane River, past picturesque villages set among the mopane woodland, complete with basket-sellers and groups of children making their way noisily to and from school.

Then you’ll make your way onto the bush highway connecting South Gate [S19 25 488 E23 38 743], the entrance to Moremi Game Reserve, where the veld starts to become distinctly wilder and you’ll start to see your first smatterings of wildlife.

Keep your eyes peeled! There are extraordinary sightings to be had even at this point in the trip. Lion range here and a large pack of wild dog, comprising at least seventeen individuals, has been spotted recently far south of the park entrance.

From South Gate, you’ll make your way North-west towards Mboma Island and Mboma Boat Camp [S19 11 678 E23 16 286], where you’ll board a boat that will take you through the Delta to your final destination, Xobega Island Camp and the little slice of Okavango paradise that will be your home for the next few nights.

If you need the kind of freedom you can only get by driving through Botswana yourself but you still want to spend some time in the Okavango Delta, then Xobega Island Camp might be what you’re looking for.

* Please note that the GPS co-ordinates we correct at the time this article was written. For further information about the park fees when entering Moremi South Gate, please click here.

Wild dog pups come out to play!

We’ve brought you the incredibly exciting news of the new wild dog den around town, and we’ve had brief glimpses of the young pups as they rush out of their hiding places to receive food from their adult pack members, but yesterday was the best of all! The 8 pups were seen gallivanting playfully and pouncing on one another out in the open for all to see. The three adult dogs relaxed in the last of the day’s sunlight and couldn’t be bothered with ‘the kids’, so it’s a good thing they can entertain themselves. The little painted wolves bounded around energetically and sniffed tentatively at suspicious looking balls of elephant dung, while Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp guests absorbed the awe-inspiring scene.

The endearing thing about African wild dogs, or painted wolves, as they are also known, is that they all look after one another. Every member of the pack will support the breeding effort, which is only performed by the alpha male and female. The dogs hunt together to take down prey, while the den might be guarded by one of the dogs that remains behind as the ‘den guard’. The alpha pair will mate and produce pups, and those pups will eventually leave their natal group in same-sex groups. All the sisters will move off in one group, and all the brothers will go in another direction. Each group will look for a same-sex group of the opposite gender, and then an alpha pair will form and the breeding cycle starts all over again.

The theory goes that this co-operative breeding – whereby all pack members work to take care of the pups – is in the name of ‘kin selection’, meaning that the pack is working for the survival of their own genes. One group of females will all be related, therefore, the pups born to the alpha will also be their kin. There is a beta pair in a pack, too, which is there to take over breeding responsibilities should something happen to either the male or the female alpha pair. If the alpha female dies, the beta female will her place and mate with the alpha male, and same if the alpha male dies. Sometimes, the beta pair might breed and produce their own pups, in which case the alpha female might kill the beta pups, or take them as her own.

This pack of wild dogs is particularly small at only 3 adult dogs, so with 8 pups running around, there is a lot of feeding work to be done! Usually there are between 12 and 30 dogs in a pack, and they rely on their numbers to take down big prey species and sustain a litter of pups, but in this small pack the adults have got their work cut out for them! It’s an absolute pleasure to witness these precious, endangered predators thriving in the Klaserie… especially now that the pups are brave enough to come out and play!

Ezulwini’s Hidden Trail Camera Films Curious Wildlife

The Balule Nature Reserve is home to Africa’s big five and an abundance of species you’ve probably never heard about. On a daily basis, gentle herbivores and powerful predators grace us with their presence. Wildlife often exhibit a set of behaviours which are carefully studied by rangers and trackers. While one can never predict what happens in the wild, we can speculate based on previous behaviour.

When the game viewer is bumping along during the night game drive, it’s quite hard to see what’s happening a few metres away from you. The stars are the only source of natural light. Finding that elusive leopard while you’re listening to the distant rumbling of elephants and roaring of lions can be a tricky task.

But, when we’re out of sight, out of mind, it appears the wild comes alive. We miss so much with our less than perfect senses. The Ezulwini team set up a camera trap to capture the moments we don’t get to see. The camera was set up in a high traffic wildlife area and the results have been astounding. The next idea is to set up the camera at the lodge so we find out what happens while we’re fast asleep.

Here’s what we’ve seen on our hidden camera in the Balule…

Curious hippo inspects camera

During the cooler times of the year, you’ll see hippo basking in the sun on the banks of a river or waterhole. Due to their colossal size, they actually conserve a huge amount of energy while in the water, which is where you’ll most likely spot them.

What we’re seeing in this video is a hippo emerging from its dam at night, when they’re most likely to emerge from their comfort zone. It’s cooler during the night and they use this time to feed and forage on land. Pods normally split up and follow well constructed paths that weave through areas rich in nutrients. Clearly this hippo found the trail cam during its foraging session!

Lions, mongoose and more

The predators, both large and small, stole the limelight with this camera trap session. The carnivorous banded mongoose, which is normally a diurnal species, was spotted hunting for insects. Genet cats, a lone civet and curious porcupine approached the camera during their scavenging session.

A huge breeding herd of elephants were making their way down to the waterhole to drink, to get their daily quota of water, which can be up to 200 litres a day. They seemed oblivious to the secret hidden camera and went about their daily herbivore business.

A hippo and its calf return to safety of the dam after spending time foraging in the dark. In the same scene, a small pride of lions traverse across the thickets in search of potential prey. These nocturnal cats use the cool, dark hours to hunt and we suspect they were traversing far and wide in search of plains game.

Angry elephant dislodges camera

On a separate occasion, a weary bull elephant decided to take it upon himself to dislodge the camera. Perhaps this intelligent pachyderm knocked the camera over while dislodging a tree. After all, an elephant most certainly needs a scratching post! The African elephant is the largest and heaviest mammal, so we’re lucky there wasn’t significant damage done to the camera.

An array of diurnal species visit the dam

Waterbuck, birds, kudu and all the browsers came to inspect the camera. While some of the plains game were just filtering down to drink, the others were a bit more inquisitive. Yet again, the elephants can be seen trundling past the trails cam en route to their “swimming pool”.

Then of course, you spot the highly sociable and cheeky baboon troops darting between trees. After the suspicious bird pecked at the camera, one of the baboons clambered over it. And then of course, the vervet monkeys couldn’t possibly miss out on this spectacle, so they also joined the party.

Stay tuned for our next big reveal from Ezulwini’s hidden camera trap! What will wildlife get up to in the depths of the dark night? Only time will tell….

Leopard and Her 2 Cubs on a Kill in Klaserie

The weekend brought about some excellent safari experiences for guests at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp in the Klaserie, especially when it comes to the elusive leopard! One of the territorial females in the area, known as Ross Dam, was spotted with both of her cubs by guides Mike and Greg (aka. The A-Team!) after they tracked her cub’s spoor on foot. As soon as he was located, the guys gathered their guests for afternoon game drive and took them right to the young male leopard. The group enjoyed watching the 8 month old leopard relaxing in the riverbed, swatting flies, and generally lazing about like all good cats do!

After dark, Greg and Mike moved in a little closer to get a better look at the youngster and followed him into the thicket, as he ambled casually in between the trees. When the youngster finally came to rest, Africa on Foot guests were (very) pleasantly surprised to find him beside his mother, Ross Dam! This was an exceptional sight to have both leopards together and so happy with our presence near their kill. After a little while, a suspicious crunching sound coming from the darkness only a few metres to the right of the game viewer was revealed to be Ross Dam’s second cub! Unbelievably, while guests were watching mother and son, the female cub was getting stuck into the impala carcass only 15m away.

A magnificent visual of this young leopard gnawing and tearing at the carcass became the star of the show once Mike lay the spotlight on her for all to see. She continued to feast away, offering us something quite spectacular to watch and remember. These two cubs were first spotted on 1 January this year when Greg was out on a walking safari, and a little mottled fur ball was spotted in a drainage line. They have been seen a few times since then – a few months back both were seen with their mother feeding on a kill – and we are thrilled to know they are both going strong! Looking forward to hearing what today’s game drive brings!

The Klaserie’s Starlit Skies Are No Constellation Prize!

When darkness falls, the bush comes alive. Nocturnal predators can be heard rustling in the thickets and plains game become skittish. This is the time when the big cats hunt and the rest of the animal kingdom seeks refuge. The black canvas above is thick and heavy; only to to be broken by the millions of bright stars which illuminate the land below. With zero interference from street lamps and man-made light, the galaxies above appear to hover close to the ground. The nights in the Klaserie are wild, uncontrolled and mesmerising. After all, there’s beauty in chaos and the unknown…

Photographer Em Gatland took her finest lens out on game drive with Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp. She captured the mysterious chasm between day and night. From the minute the sun said a quick and angry farewell to the day, the night charged in with its bold black paintbrush. The forthright stars appeared, pushing their way through the blackness above. A black palette littered with specks of gold. Welcome to the beauty that is the Kruger sky.

The Southern Cross asterism and the Milky Way galaxy are the two most recognisable patterns in the night sky of the southern hemisphere. The rest of the constellations lie huddled around the phase of the moon, worshipping its royal like status. While trackers and rangers searched low for wildlife, Em and her camera pointed high to photograph the action of the night sky.

Wildlife and stars are actually in sync with one another. Have you ever seen an animal use a map? Most certainly not! Did you know that certain birds, seals and even the dung beetle use the stars to navigate? The dung beetle uses the Milky Way to navigate. Most animals, however, use a combination of the sun, the earth’s magnetic field, the polarisation pattern of the blue sky, vision, scent marking and navigational cues to find their way.

The most famous asterism in the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross, which points due south. The northern hemisphere constellations have many Greek and Roman myths and legends surrounding the naming of stars. But the Southern Cross has no roots in the northern hemisphere, and thus no myth surrounding its formation.

Did you know? There are 88 official constellations and 48 of them are original, which means they were discovered by ancient civilisations. All stars have two names, the first is Latin and the second the “recorded” name. The Latin is descriptive and gives an indication of the constellation and how brightly the star shines.

To all the avid Astronomers out there, here are a few things to spot while star gazing in the Klaserie.

Scorpius is one of the most distinct constellations in the evening sky. Look for Antares, the glowing heart of the scorpion. Scorpius is clearly visible in the southern hemisphere and from most places in the northern hemisphere.

The Southern Cross asterism comprises five stars which are pointer stars. The stars look like the formation of a cross and it’s only viewable within the southern hemisphere. The two brightest stars point the way to the Southern Celestial Pole.

In African mythology, the Milky Way is said to have derived from a young girl who threw her ashes from a fire into the sky to construct a visible path through the complex playground of stars.

The morning stars are located in the east.

We love our big five and wildlife, but let’s not forget the starlit skies and undiscovered wonder of the night sky. Astronomy and the starlit skies of the Klaserie are certainly no consolation prize!

Week in Pictures: A Week to Remember

This week, we’ve celebrated elephants, been awed by lions, laughed at hyenas, and ogled leopards in all their glory. It’s been a week of big game encounters, breath-taking sunsets, stellar skies, and experiences to last a lifetime; and now we get to play back our favourite moments to you in the form of our Week in Pictures photoblog! Enjoy these shots capturing the details, the movements, the moments, and the sheer beauty of the world that surrounds us. From a hyena’s toothy grin in the Sabi Sand, to a Klaserie giraffe licking its lips at twilight, watercolour butterflies and rock-climbing elephants in Balule, to bloated little lion cubs in Botswana – it’s been a week to remember!

Africa on Foot, Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, Greater Kruger Park

Highlights: Lions fight over a kudu; What to expect on a walking safari