09th & 10th October – Leopards Return!

The hot weather peaked on Friday, but cooled somewhat on Saturday, and our sightings did pick up, especially on the leopard front; and this pleased me as I have some guests that have come to Motswari almost exclusively to photograph our leopards!

I headed out towards Vyboom dam to see if there was possibly any sign of any leopards around, but instead I found the three Mahlathini male lions resting just off the road, not far from the dam wall. We spent a fair bit of time with them as they lazed in the early morning sun before they eventually got up and moved off to some shade a bit further east. They were once again pleasingly relaxed, and allowed us to get to a comfortable distance without bothering too much about us.

The only other notable sighting of the morning was the large breeding herd of buffalo that were feeding to the west away from Java camp, and ended up at Makulu dam later in the morning where Andrew got to watch them drink.

The general game was well represented with giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, impala and some nice baboons along the banks of the Nhlarulumi riverbed.

In the afternoon, I managed to see the Big 5 without much effort! I had headed south in the hope that Rockfig or Nkateko would be found, but I was making my way towards Makulu dam to see if the large breeding herd of buffalo would return there to drink. Unfortunately they were heading north away from the area, and we just bypassed them as they grazed along the western bank of the riverbed. There were also a couple of male elephants in the area of the buffalo enjoying the greenery of the Nhlarulumi.

Back up north, the three Mahlathini male lions had been found resting in the same spot, and after viewing them, Palence found Kuhanya female leopard resting on the Vyboom dam wall, not 200m away! She got up and went down to the waters edge where she managed to catch a fish and proceeded to eat it before heading to the west where she ascended a large marula tree to go and relax.

When I heard that she had been found, I decided to head back north, and in doing so got lucky and found two white rhinos along the way! It was the female and her large sub-adult offspring, and they seemed reasonably relaxed and didn’t run off. After a few minutes they wandered further into the bush, but I didn’t pursue them and carried on towards Kuhanya. When we arrived she was still resting in the tree as the sun set. Later she moved towards Buffalo pan and back to the south.

The Mahlathini males had just gotten active, but they walked through some thick bush, and we left them to it and headed back to camp.

On Saturday I headed down south, again catching a bit of the large breeding herd of buffalo near Confluence crossing. The other Motswari guides that went to see them also saw a herd of elephants in the middle of the herd of buffalo – both being drawn to the greenery along the riverbed.

There were a couple of elephant bulls scattered around, but the game viewing was not overly productive. I checked up on the hyena den, but only saw one of the adult hyenas outside the den. Some other good news was that Johannes found the den site of the northern hyena clan a few hundred meters from his Sharalumi camp, and not too far north of Motswari. There appear to be four cubs, but all are over 5 months old.

Late in the morning, one of the stations found Rockfig female leopard resting on a termite mound just off Western cut line, and I immediately headed over there, seeing some kudu, zebra and giraffe on the way. We pulled into the sighting as Rockfig had become active again and seemed to be interested in hunting, and she needed it – she was looking quite thin, and it appears that her severely wounded ear may be affecting her hunting. The wound is looking terrible, and I am almost sure that she will loose her ear soon. She doesn’t appear to be in any discomfort, but as she walks through the thick undergrowth, every stick and branch that she goes by must aggravate the wound. Occasionally she would roll about and rub the ear on the ground, but together with her scratching, it is just keeping the wound open. I was feeling a lot less optimistic about her future after that sighting – but it was still a good, and we can only hope she pulls through in the near future.

In the afternoon, we got to spend some nice time watching the cats of the north. I managed to relocate on the three Mahlathini male lions just north of Madash dam. They were their usual sleepy selves and only got up and moved into some shade.

Just down the road, Kuhanya female leopard had been found sleeping up a weeping-boer-bean tree, just north of Concrete crossing. She spent most of the afternoon resting peacefully in the shady bows of the tree, but as the sun started sinking, she got up and headed down into the riverbed for a welcome drink of water on a hot day. She then headed back to the east and provided for a great sighting, especially when she decided that she wanted to come and climb a marula tree that I was parked next to! She literally sprung up the tree less than 3m away from us and peered around for a potential meal. It proved to much for her and she then sought out a more comfortable spot to rest in the tree. After a few minutes something caught her eye and she was down in a flash and stalked after her invisible quarry. I left her to it as it was getting dark, and with the Mahlathini male lions resting not 300m away, I didn’t want to interfere with her activities!

Those sightings occupied most of my afternoon, but there were reports of some buffalo bulls, two groups of elephant bulls as well as a breeding herd of elephants in the north.

During boma, an alarm calling bush baby alerted us to a 2m long African rock python up a knobthorn tree behind the boma area. Daniel managed to gently get the python out of the tree and this then gave all of the guests a chance to have a closer look at this amazing beautiful and extremely docile snake. It was one of the calmest snakes I have seen, and didn’t mind any of the attention before we returned it to the same tree!

So that was the last two days – some good leopard sightings that we hope continue for the next while!

06th, 07th & 08th October – Sizzling Summer Sun!

It has been hot in the Lowveld. Very hot. The mercury touched 40°C most afternoons, and the heat seemed to have kept the animals away, as my first couple of days back in the bush after my leave were a bit quiet.

I arrived back to the heat of the bush on Tuesday and headed straight out on drive. The most surprising news was that the Sohebele lioness had been found in the company of the three Mahlathini male lions, and they were believed to have been mating based on their behaviour. They were found in the afternoon at the southern end of Vyboom dam, but initially we could only see two of the males resting just off an old airstrip. The ‘honeymoon’ couple were down in the riverbed but didn’t show any signs of mating. We went and stopped for a drink on the opposite side of the dam and at one stage the Sohebele lioness looked as if she was going to initiate a quick mate, but when the male tried to mount her she ran off, and we found all four lying on the airstrip after dark, but there was nothing to indicate that they were indeed mating. Perhaps the lioness just entered a false estrus to appease these males?

As for the rest of the Sohebele pride, three of the sub-adults were found east of Entrance dam in the afternoon, looking thin, but they seemed to have eaten something small during the night. Palence found the fourth sub-adult at Argyle dam in the morning, but we didn’t manage to find him again in the afternoon. The pride spent all of last week separated, and the young male became separated from his mother sometime on the weekend. Sadly he is at least 10km from where the other three youngsters are, and it will take some effort for him to find the rest of the pride. It will also be interesting to see if the lioness returns to the subadults, or if she has any intention of joining up with the Mahlathini males?

Other sightings for the afternoon included a large herd of buffalo at Java dam. Some guides estimate that there could be as many as 900 buffalo in the herd! The slowly fed to the north away from Java dam. There were also a few elephant bulls around, but overall it was a bit quiet in the north.

Wednesday was another scorcher, and also disappointingly quiet. Only Palence and I were driving in the morning, but there wasn’t much about at all. The general game was alright; kudu, waterbuck, baboons enjoying the flowering trees along the Nhlarulumi riverbed, impala, giraffe and a few smaller antelope, hyenas at their new den site north of Hide dam and some nice birds.

In the afternoon, the quiet period persisted. There were a few buffalo bulls and elephant bulls around, some general antelope species, a couple of hyena and then I had a nice sighting of a hippo out of the water at Makulu dam while I was having a sundowner. He climbed of the dam wall and then went to join the other hippos in the dam!

Heading back to camp through Vielmeter was a bit unproductive, and we had no luck finding any signs of Rockfig or Nkateko leopards. There was a nice sighting of a Verraux Eagle Owl and a young hyena at Hide dam. As we went along Western cut line and through Moeniejag crossing, something caught my eye and I asked Petros to shine the light back, and there sitting in the riverbed was a male leopard, but sadly he was very nervous and as the light caught him he got up and ran up the riverbank and we couldn’t relocate him.

We then got another surprise at the camp when we found a reasonably relaxed serval cat sitting in the road near Trade Entrance pan. It moved off the road and sat behind a fallen tree, but when we moved a bit closer it got up and moved off.

Andrew had a sighting of one of the Mahlathini male lions in the north, but he was moving through some very thick bush which made following him difficult and he was left on his own. Palence also brought some good news that afternoon. After the Machaton pride had moved onto Vielmeter over a week ago, seven days had passed without the two Machaton cubs being seen with the pride that had moved right to the south of their territory. This caused much concern about exactly what had happened to the cubs, but the guides got a ray of light when they saw tracks for the two of them on Vielmeter, in the Nhlarulumi riverbed a few days back, and Palence managed to find them late on Thursday afternoon playing with one another in the riverbed! It was good to know that they were still alive and well, even without having had any food for several days. Luckily during the night the mother lioness returned and collected the cubs and took them straight back south – it was great to know they were now safe with the mother!

Thursday started out even hotter than the last few days, but it proved to be a slightly better morning. That large herd of buffalo were found heading towards Mbali dam where they ended up quenching their thirst late in the morning before heading back south. The buffalo bulls were represented by three bulls feeding opposite the lodge during the morning coffee-time, as well as another two on Piva plains.

There was also a group of eight bull elephants, and they treated us to a nice sighting as the biggest and most relaxed of the bulls came and fed on a tree a few meters from us! They really are amazing animals, and it was special just to sit amongst them for a while! There were also some more elephant bulls near the camp, and a small breeding herd of elephants down south.

The highlight of the morning was the sighting of Mbali female leopard when she was found near Old Gate. She was looking quite hungry, and this kept her moving late into the morning as she wandered about looking for anything to eat. She climbed a large termite mound and stood atop this hill in the blazing heat of the late morning just scanning looking for any sign of movement; but sadly she wasn’t having any luck – it was just too hot for the other animals to be out and about. I followed her for over an hour before we left her to continue her search on her own. Her wounded legs are looking better, and although the wounds are still visible, she doesn’t appear to be in any discomfort.

We also had a brief sighting of a honey badger this morning, but it went down into a hole in a termite mound, and as it was a warm day, we didn’t wait for it to show itself again; something is was only likely to do after nightfall.

In the afternoon, the heat of the day was energy sapping, and the animals weren’t overly active. The large breeding herd of buffalo was found not too far south from Mbali dam, but didn’t head to any waterholes during the afternoon. There was a small breeding herd of elephant below Giraffe Kill lookout that fed towards Mbali dam. There were also two buffalo bulls and a lone bull elephant seen in the north.

Down in the south, Mtenga-tenga male rhino had been found way south on Cheetah plains, and Andrew and Palence made their way down to see him as he grazed to the north. Palence also went to check on the hyena den and saw mother and her two cubs resting outside of the mound.

My guests wanted to see more leopard, but as it was so quiet with regard to leopard activity, I decided to go and follow up on Mbali female leopard. She was not where we had left her, and we just couldn’t find tracks for her anywhere. But we persisted and I decided to go check down towards the drainage line west of Peru dam, and we got lucky and found her lying on a small termite mound just off the road. She lay there for a while and glanced at a hippo that had left the water early to start its feeding which is becoming more difficult as we reach the driest part of the year. Mbali then got up and wandered to the north towards Peru dam. She momentarily showed interest in some guineafowl and a small group of bushbuck, but didn’t make any real effort, despite her hunger. She went down towards the water in a thicket, and we left her to it. I just hope that after quenching her thirst, she had some luck getting a meal!

And that was the first few days of my return to Motswari. Although quiet, we still had some good viewing, and I am sure that the sightings will pick up as the hot weather subsides over the next couple of days