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Diary of improvements and renovations to Leopards View Game Lodge near Hoedspruit, Limpopo |
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Please note that the Leopard’s View diary is not a complete record of all animals and birds seen at the Lodge. It merely highlights some of the more significant sightings and some of the activities that have taken place in and around the Lodge during the last twelve months. |
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March 2010
1stDuring breakfast we are treated to the sight of giraffe and zebra at the waterhole. We also get a sighting of a European bee-eater. 3rdA group of ten giraffes visits the waterhole during the morning. 4thStarting around 5.15 a.m. we hear a leopard grunting quite close; the noise continues on and off until about 6.00 a.m. During the day a female warthog and three youngsters are determined to eat our lawns whenever the gate is open, which it normally is in daylight. 5thFour kudu females and one large bull plus a herd of some 25 impalas come to the waterhole in the morning. One large male warthog has discovered the huge number of fallen marula fruits just outside the Lodge kitchen. He stays around throughout the day, moving off when someone goes into the kitchen and returning a few minutes later. 6thThe male warthog is back at the marulas for much of the day, despite the fact that we are putting up a new solid door and a screen door in the kitchen and working just outside. The female and three youngsters also feed on the marulas but this time make no attempt to come inside the Lodge. 7thGiraffe at the waterhole and also browsing up near the Lodge gate. 9thTwo white rhinos spend almost half an hour around the waterhole, drinking, wallowing and grazing. Just after they arrive the sun appears through the clouds illuminating them in the late afternoon light. 10thThe two rhino are back and after drinking at around 8.30 a.m. sleep in the shade close to the waterhole before moving on about an hour later. 13thAn unusual sight at the waterhole – a large leopard tortoise drinks and moves off (surprisingly quickly!) 14thZebra, impala and warthog at the waterhole early. Later in the day, we encounter 9 giraffe and a small group of buffalo en route to the gate. 16thA good sighting of a black-backed jackal close to the track down to the waterhole – mostly jackal move away when disturbed but this one stays put. We get a very large herd of impala at the waterhole late in the day. 18thIn the middle of the day a 10 m long column of Matabele ants emerges from under the main deck and moves up through the Lodge along the paths and out into the bush. 20thWe get 30 mm of rain during the night: very welcome indeed as it is over seven weeks since the last reasonable rain and the bush has once again been getting very dry, with the grass turning brown. 23rdA group of vervet monkeys moves through the Lodge and creates a real mess! 24thA giraffe is browsing right by the deck first thing in the morning. We start on a project we have long wanted to do, namely to remodel the birdpool. It is too large and so requires too much water to fill; in addition, animals do not appear to be comfortable with the large lip, which has become accentuated by erosion. 25thThe bird pool project continues and while we are working an African hawk eagle visits the waterhole. It is only possible to work until about 9.00 a.m., after which it is too hot to continue (there is no shade at the bird pool) until late afternoon. 26thA herd of six wildebeest visit the waterhole just as we are about to start work on the bird pool early in the morning. 27thA pair of jackals spends time around the waterhole, unconcerned about us as we continue to work on the bird pool (a major job – moving rocks and soil; cutting back and smashing up concrete. In the afternoon, we concrete in the rocks to form a new smaller pool. 28thFinal touches on the concreting and mortaring at the new-look birdpool and then we start landscaping the surrounding area. 29thLots of impala alarm calls from the valley for many minutes: we could not see what the cause was (a predator?) on account of the thick vegetation. 31stLarge flock of guinea fowl around the lodge: after an absence of flocks for some months (they do not flock in summer), the guinea fowl are back together in large groups, including visiting the waterhole on a regular basis. Two pairs of jackals have a frontier dispute on the Lodge entrance track. Sealed the new mortar at the revamped birdpool, ready for filling on the 1st April. (We did fill the new pool the next day – it looks so much better than the old one and we hope it will prove attractive to the animals.)
April 20101stFirst thing in the morning there are two giraffes browsing at the front of our house, while the rain falls (8mm) 2ndLate afternoon on the deck, we see three female waterbuck with two young ones, three female kudu, also with two young ones, wildebeest and impala. Then, driving down to the waterhole, black-backed jackal: the Greater painted snipe is back at the waterhole. After dark, we drive out to a lion sighting – 5 just off Sable Road. 3rdIt rains through the night – 36.5 mm by about 7.00 a.m. 4thLions roaring very close during the night. More rain from 3.00 a.m. 5thThe rain continues – heavy at times – 73 mm by 2.00 p.m. when it stopped. 6th14 mm more rain in the early morning. We hear the eagle owl hooting. 7thKudu, warthog, impala and giraffe down in the valley. At dusk we receive word of a lion sighting and are able to take our guests there: at first just a few lying in the track but others gradually arrived and eventually the whole group of 14 lay down in front of us and then filed past the land cruiser. 8thOn drive with guests, we see jackal, impala and zebras in the valley. 12thA large troop of vervet monkeys passes by the Lodge, the first group we have seen (as opposed to individuals) for some time. 13thGiraffe at the waterhole. 14thA large herd of impala browses just outside our house. 17thWe investigate elephant noises in the valley at about 7.00 p.m. but cannot find them, although is lots of very fresh dung. However, we see a giant plated lizard on some rocks. We finally get a view of the animal living in the roof apex of the office stoep – a bushbaby, which today kept sitting in the open. During the evening we hear three separate African scops owls calling at the same time, plus barred owlet, pearl-spotted owlet and white-faced scops owl. 19thDuiker, giraffe (with baby) and wildebeest seen at the waterhole; elephant seen on our entrance road. 5 mm of rain in the early afternoon. During the evening we have a braai (barbecue) with our guests: soon after Iris and Lucia have cleared the main course plates we hear a shriek from the kitchen area and rush to investigate. As they went into the kitchen a spotted hyena came out: we are not sure who got the greater fright! The hyena is still close by and for the rest of the evening it wandered round and round the camp, coming into the lodge gardens twice until we closed the gate. From its ear tag we could see that it was one of those released in March as part of the re-introduction programme: it is the first hyena we have seen here in Balule. Further rain during the night. 20thBlack stork at the waterhole. During the afternoon we hear of a lion sighting and take our guests out. A young kudu has been killed and two adult males, 3 sub-adult males and 5 or 6 youngsters all feed on the carcass in sequence. We get stuck in the sandy river bed and as I open the door to get out and change the front wheels to four-wheel drive, another sub-adult male appears from the bush just 10 paces away. Once he has gone we get the change done and get out of the river. 19 mm rain during the evening and the hyena from last night returns, drinks from the new bird pool, and prowls round the lodge boundary several times (but the kitchen screen door has been firmly closed!). 21stThe black stork is still at the waterhole. 22ndA little after sunrise, with a heavy dew on the grass, the valley below the deck looks like it is covered in snow as the early morning light catches the droplets. Two wildebeest roll around in the grass and dew. Giraffe by our house at dusk 24thEvery morning, three fork-tailed drongos sit on the dead tree by our stoep (veranda), flying off to pick off insects before returning to their perch. Often they fly right into our covered 25thKudu females and then a male pass by the waterhole. Our guests go out on a short morning walk and see two white rhinos half way from the lodge to the waterhole. We pick them up in the land cruiser and so are able to get closer to the animals as they move off to the south-east. Afternoon – two male lions drink at the waterhole: one moves off up the ridge behind, the other moves south and then cuts back past the waterhole to the north from where there are lion noises. We go out in the land cruiser but only manage to find lots of fresh tracks. 26thHaving missed them the previous day, our guests see 15 lions on their morning drive.
May 20101st2 mm rain 4thTwo white rhinos at the waterhole at around 4.30 pm. We observe them from the deck and then drive down, eventually spending a long time right next to them as they graze on the other side of the waterhole. 5thGiraffe in the valley, also warthog and impala. 6thOn an afternoon drive in the valley we see jackal, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck and impala. 8thHyena calling in the night, the first time for a very long time we have heard this. 10thFive elephants at the waterhole. They also come up close to the Lodge and Iris & Lucia have to chase one away when it threatens to push over the marula tree by the kitchen door. 16th 3 mm rain. 21stAfter being in Jo’burg for a couple of days, we return to the Lodge at 5.30 p.m., passing two jackals on our entrance road. Half an hour later, there are lion roars close by, clearly near the waterhole. We drive down and find a male and a female in the open area between the waterhole and the lodge; they move off into very thick bush where it is too difficult follow in the dark. 23rdBlack stork at the waterhole, also a nice group of three zebras. 24thStarted cutting the firebreaks around the lodge, a job that will take a couple of weeks doing about an hour-and-a-half each day. We have been waiting to do this for a while, trying to let the flush of new grass growth following the rains in March and April set its seed. The seeds are now falling and the grass is drying so it is time to begin. 27thA group of roughly 10 impala at the waterhole, all males (bachelor herd.) With the rut now over the male impalas, especially the older ones, are now gathering in larger groups again, having spent the rut mostly on their own, except for the lucky ones with a harem to watch over. A third spotted hyena, a young male, is released from the holding boma about 2 km from us. 28thThe same impala group as yesterday is still there below the deck; we see the duiker around quite a bit. In the late afternoon a herd of some 18 buffalo bulls drinks at the waterhole. Later, at dusk, one lone bull appears there and then reappears twice more during the evening. A jackal also comes down to drink. 29thWe see a Green pigeon near the waterhole during our afternoon drive – first one around the Lodge. Later a Giant eagle owl (now named Verreaux’s eagle owl) arrives at the waterhole in the dark. It spends roughly an hour there, wand at various times wades into the water and sits down in it. A jackal comes there too. Some light rain. 30thAt breakfast with our guests, and with more light rain, impala and zebra move back and forth across the front of the waterhole but never really stop to drink. 31stA large group of buffalo (same one as the 28th?) and an elephant both drink at the waterhole during the morning.
June 2010
1stLions, hyena and jackal all calling during the night. 2ndGood view of black-backed jackal on our entrance road. Later two giraffe at the waterhole. 3rdSix giraffe browse in front of our house during the morning. Jackal, hyena, lion and leopard noises at about 10.00 p.m. 6thTwo buffalo bulls at the waterhole at midday. Also a woolly-necked stork. Green woodhoopoes in the tree outside the office. 7thLions close in the early morning 8thImpala alarm calls and leopard coughing close to house: we search but cannot see anything. 11thImpala, wildebeest, warthog, zebra and kudu at the waterhole during the morning. Later giraffe by our house and then eating next to the Lodge parking area for approximately three hours. Jackal at the waterhole during the evening, with lions roars getting closer and closer (closest as we walked back from the lodge to our house!) 12thWe find lion tracks along our entrance road. Zebra, duiker, impala and warthog seen during the morning. A giraffe drinks at the birdpool during the afternoon. Waterbuck around as well. In the evening, jackal at the waterhole and, around 10.00 p.m., we see a leopard drinking there for some five minutes. 13thLots of grazers – zebras around throughout the afternoon and about 40 impala. 15thBaboons move through the Lodge gardens and completely eat the two new palm trees that we had planted only a few weeks ago. Lions pass close by during the night. 16thReplace bathroom door in Kudu Hut – termites had wrecked the bottom of the old one. 17thBuy two more palm trees! 21stGiraffe, warthog, impala and jackal at the waterhole. Once again, lions move closer and closer up the valley and then move away during the night. 22ndDuring a morning game drive we see an excellent array of birds, including green pigeon, African magpie shrike, red-faced moosebird, Cape turtle dove, red-billed hornbill, yellow-billed hornbill, crested francolin, Swainson’s spurfowl, arrow-marked babblers, Cape glossy starling, grey go-away bird (loerie), red-billed quelea. On an afternoon drive we see two tawny eagles attacking a juvenile marshall eagle. 23rdFour zebras at the waterhole during breakfast. Giraffes (six of them) spend the late morning and afternoon around the waterhole. 24thA leopard crosses in front of the waterhole but doesn’t drink. 25thEleven zebras, 2 giraffe, impala, warthogs and jackal drink at the waterhole. 26thWe see a group of roughly ten dwarf mongoose sitting on the rocks where the old landrover hide used to be, about 100 m from the waterhole. 28thRain – 1 mm only but the bush smells wonderful afterwards. 29thOne buffalo bull drinks at the waterhole during the afternoon. We see zebras, five giraffe, impala and two jackal on a short sunset drive. A scrub hare drinks at the birdpool around 9.00 p.m.
July 2010
1stWaterbuck below the deck late afternoon 2ndTwo young male giraffe spent a long time necking (ritualised fighting) about 50 m from the deck. During the evening one buffalo appears at the waterhole. Later, around 9.30 p.m., we hear elephant noises hear the house and find them close to the borehole track. Soon after we get back to the Lodge one bull drinks at the waterhole and then we hear noise moving down the hill in the darkness until a group of twelve cows and calves arrives and drinks. Another bull appears as the females are moving off. While all this is going on, lions roar, closer and closer, and hyenas call. 3rdBuffalo at the waterhole during breakfast; later – kudu, zebra, impala and giraffe. There is a grey-headed bush shrike by the deck during the afternoon. A civet visits the birdpool briefly during the evening and later a large-spotted genet. 5thLions on Sable Road not far from the Lodge. 6thAround 9.00 a.m. two white rhino spend time at and near the waterhole. There are duiker and porcupine tracks in the Lodge after one of the gates was left open during the night. 8thWaterbuck by the deck at dawn, then during the day and evening various groups of giraffe (about ten in all), one buffalo, several jackals, impala, four kudu, baboons, trees squirrel and, of course, the bushbabies from the tower at dusk. One of our guests, a keen rock climber, doesn’t mind heights and sorts out the wire netting and adds more thatch at the top of the tower (baboons and monkeys had been taking it out.) The bushbabies watch from inside their home in the roof, but later emerge as usual. 9thZebras and impala during breakfast, then giraffe, warthog, kudu, jackal and more zebras and impala. Red-faced mousebirds visit the birdpool. NB: the birdpool now attracts a large number of birds of all sizes each day. They seem to have got used to the new structure and they are now much more clearly visible from the decks. 10thTwo jackal pairs visit the waterhole during the morning, one pair obviously with mange and the other apparently healthy. We see one pair eating raisin bush berries. At dusk there are kudu below the deck and later impala and a civet drink at the waterhole. 11thThere are civet tracks near our house early in the morning. Plenty of animals during the day: baboons, wildebeest, zebras, impala (various groups), warthogs, jackals; bushbabies at dusk and during the evening a scrub hare drinks and sits by the bird pool. 12thWe start digging the trench for a new cable for the waterhole floodlight. Recent months have seen continuous problems with the power supply to the borehole pump and waterhole floodlight – the new cable will cure them. 13thWe continue digging the cable trench towards the borehole DB, A lion roars morning and afternoon in the valley, we estimate a few hundred metres from us: lots of looking up from the digging! 14thEight zebras are at the waterhole as we complete the cable trench and reach the borehole pump and DG. 15thVariuous zebra groups at the waterhole during the day, later on with a huge herd of impala. Also at various times in the day there is a mangy jackal sleeping in the track next to our carports – it doesn’t look at all well. We start building concrete and stone drainage channels from behind the bar and round the deck. Cable laid in the new trench and the old cable round the back of Duiker Hut is dug out. 16thA new distribution box is added behind the bar, plus separate control switches for the pump and the waterhole floodlight. Our electrics problems are cured and we have the added advantage of not having to creep round the back of Duiker Hut after guests have gone to bed to turn off the floodlight or early in the morning to turn on the pump. In the afternoon we fill in the cable trench. 17thWe replace the old and rather worn covers on the cushions of the deck benches with new ones matching the other deck furniture. 18thTwo lions, one male and one female, visit the waterhole at 7.30 a.m. At dusk there is a rhino at the waterhole and later in the evening two groups of lions, probably the pride males and the sub-adult males of the “Big” pride, roar together. Next morning there are tracks in the river bed behind the waterhole. 20thLion tracks on the road down to the waterhole. 21stDrizzle for half an hour or so. 22ndKudu outside our house at dawn. A warthog family bathes in the birdpool and later giraffes and buffalo bulls drink at the waterhole. We almost finish the new concrete and stone drainage channels round the deck. 23rdA large group of impala and some wildebeest at the waterhole late in the afternoon. Two Marico sunbirds on the aloe flowers in the gardens. 25thMany impala in various groups, plus wildebeest, zebras and jackals during the afternoon. Lots of bird species at the birdpool. We construct the pillars for the shed, which we are going to move from its unsightly position between the Lodge and our house to the far side of the house, out of sight of the Lodge. 26thA group of Five kudu drinks at the waterhole at lunch time. We empty the shed, take the roof off and dismantle the walls. 28thA group of some 10 elephants at the waterhole early in the morning. Four elephants at the birdpool just after dark. 30thFive kudu below the deck early in the morning; later one kudu and three zebras there during breakfast. More zebras, giraffe and waterbuck later still during the morning. We start putting the shed back together in its new site. 31stWe finish the shed re-assembly, except for putting the roof back on.
August 2010
1stBreakfast with guests and a group of kudu passes across below the deck. 3rdBaboons, impala, giraffe, zebras and jackals – all seen. 4thDuring the evening we see a pair of black-backed jackals and 4 buffalo at the waterhole and then, a little later, a herd of 100+ buffalo. We are able to drive down and watch from in amongst them as they drink, graze and lie down to chew the cud. 5thThe large buffalo herd passes north to south behind the waterhole. We see 5 lions on Sable Road, just 300m from our entrance. At 6.30 in the evening a male lion drinks at the waterhole: we drive down with our guests and follow him from the valley up onto the ridge. He puts on a good display, roaring and marking, all in close proximity to our vehicle. 6thA waterbuck female drinks at the birdpool – 9.30 p.m. 7thHaving seen a waterbuck male, impala, jackal, zebras and buffalo during the day, a group of four waterbuck visits the birdpool early in the evening, two females and two youngsters, but only one of the females drinks. About two hours later, they return and this time the other three drink. 8thGiraffe, impala, jackal, duiker and a civet are seen at the waterhole. A group of some 20 bronze manikins (small birds) drink and bathe at the birdpool. We notice that when the duiker visits the waterhole during the evening, the olive toads stop croaking and only start again when the duiker has left. 9thDuiker early; impala, ten wildebeest and two jackals during breakfast; zebra, waterbuck, slender mongoose later. Steenbok on our entrance road in the afternoon, duiker, jackal and giraffe during the evening. Once again, we notice that the olive toads near the waterhole are quiet when a larger animal comes to the waterhole. 10thGiraffe, zebra, impala, warthogs, waterbuck and jackals (including one drinking at the birdpool.) 11thFour waterbuck drink at the birdpool during breakfast. 12thVarious groups of waterbuck, wildebeest, impala, zebra and warthog appear during the day, plus one jackal. A shikra (Little banded goshawk) spends an hour at the birdpool during the afternoon. 13thWe see a duiker female and a sub-adult female at the waterhole during the evening. We wonder whether it is the same female and fawn we saw back in January. 14thThe two duiker females are at the waterhole again. 15thDuring the early hours of the morning we are woken up by buffalo bellows from some distance away. An hour or so later we are woken again by a noise that sounded like an approaching train. It turned out to be a large herd of buffalo being pursued by lions. For some time they were careering this way and that in the space between our house and the road: there was much bellowing, grunting, growling (of lions) and smashing of branches. In the morning we found small bushwillows completely smashed and uprooted. Elephants, waterbuck and impala on the track to the borehole late at night. 16thWaterbuck and impala by the deck at dawn. 25thRain! but only 0.75 mm: not enough to make a difference. 27thDuiker, impala, giraffe, black-backed jackal, waterbuck and wildebeest around the Lodge. There is a lot of evidence of elephant activity in the area – dung, tracks, trees across roads. 29thA large herd of impala and four giraffe around the waterhole in the red light of late afternoon. 30thWildlife Thatch start a programme of maintenance and repairs on the thatch of Giraffe and Duiker Huts, the deck, the kitchen/office block and our house. The initial work takes 5 days.
September 2010
2ndGiraffe, zebra, wildebeest and impala all together at the waterhole during the morning. 4thA giraffe browses not far from the Lodge gate, affording our guests an excellent sighting. Later they are treated to the rare sight of a caracal at the waterhole around 9.30 in the evening. 5thLots of game during the day, including zebra, kudu, warthog, impala and wildebeest. 9thThree elephants visit the Lodge in the early hours of the morning and are chased away by Iris and Lucia when one of them starts trying to break the marula tree by the kitchen door. They return several times, chased off each time, until around 10.00 a.m. 11thWe see two elephants walking along Olifants Road on the way to the Lodge from the Reserve Gate. 13thWildlife Thatch return to finish the thatch maintenance. Two woolly-necked storks and one yellow-billed stork at the waterhole. 14thA Black-chested snake-eagle flies overhead. Three rhinos visit the waterhole in the late afternoon, beautifully lit by the setting sun. 19thAt about 4.30 p.m. a giraffe browses on knobthorn blossom and on the first new leaves that have begun to appear. It then drinks from the birdpool and returns to browsing but suddenly is startled, jumping backwards and staring intently at the ground in front of it, circling round and looking at the same spot. We cannot see what is there in the dry grass (and don’t feel like walking out to investigate!) 20thOne of our local duikers drinks at the birdpool during the evening, something that is quite a regular occurrence. 21stZebra, kudu, impala and giraffe visit the waterhole and graze/browse there for a couple of hours. 22ndWe count 5 bushbabies leaving the tower roof at dusk. 25thA grey heron is at the waterhole at dawn, followed by a large herd of buffalo moving through, grazing and drinking. Later we see zebras, lots of impala, a family group of eight waterbuck and a group of banded mongoose foraging below the deck. 27thThe re-thatching of Kudu Hut begins. The wire netting is removed and the old thatch on half the hut is removed. It is extremely windy, which doesn’t make the roof workers’ task any easier. 28thThe roofless half of Kudu Hut start having new thatch added, a four or five day process. The strong winds continue, even worse than normal (August and September are often quite windy anyway.) 29thWe hear elephants below our house in the late evening but cannot see them. 30thTwo elephants walk down Sable Road past our entrance track just before 7.00 in the morning. There are tracks, broken branches and fresh dung everywhere. We plant out a huge number of cuttings, mainly above Giraffe Hut (to replace the vygie species that the crested francolins had seen fit to eat to death - literally). Later in the day we see kudu, zebra, wildebeest and duiker below the Lodge.
October 2010
1stSix lions at our neighbours’ birdpool late in the night. 3rdA large mixed group of animals at the waterhole in the middle of the day: waterbuck, zebra, wildebeest and impala. 7thWildebeest by our house at dawn. During the morning there is a thump on the floor outside the office door as a bushbaby falls down from the roof and then climbs back up. Wildebeest, zebra, waterbuck, impala, giraffes (x3) at and around the waterhole for much of the afternoon. Seven waterbuck and 4 wildebeest at the birdpool at dusk. Ten wildebeest spend the night between the birdpool and the deck, leaving early next morning. 8thSevereal giraffes at the waterhole during the day. 9thTwo white rhinos at the waterhole around 7.00 am 11thThe re-thatching of Kudu Hut is finished. 12thThree bushbabies emerge form the office roof at dusk. 13thWe line the shed roof to keep it a bit cooler: the present roof of corrugated iron only os incredibly hot. 14thThere is a small amount of rain at dawn. At 11.30 a.m. 6 elephants come to the waterhole and drink. Some 30 minutes later, two elephant bulls come to the Lodge, drink at the birdpool and then browse on trees in front of the deck and outside Duiker Hut: they stay for well over an hour and seem unconcerned by our presence. 15thZebra and seven kudu below the decks at dusk. Kudu often cross into the thicker bush at around this time of day. 17thWaterbuck, duiker, warthog and giraffe at various times during the day. At dusk, 5 bushbabies emerge from the roof above the office veranda. 18thWaterbuck drink at the birdpool. Giraffe, zebras and other species appear. 19thWe put up curtain blinds at the kitchen windows, which will help to keep the midday and afternoon sun out (and keep the kitchen cooler.) 1.5 mm of rain in the evening: not enough for the plants but refreshing nonetheless. 20thMany animals seen during the day: 4 giraffes, baboons, wildebeest, waterbuck and implala. In the middle of the day, two bushbabies appear on the edge of the office roof and one jumps into the adjacent blue thorn acacia tree where there is a spotted bush snake (harmless to humans) in the branches. The snake moved off and the bushbabies returned to under the thatch. 21stA white rhino walks past the waterhole during our guests’ breakfast. Later we see giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala, duiker and waterbuck during the day. In the evening, duiker, waterbuck and scrubhare visit the birdpool and/or waterhole. 22ndTwo lions drink at the waterhole at 6.30 a.m. before moving off east. 23rdWe start planting a small area of grass in the bed outside the office: when mature it will provide a fresh green outlook when working in there. Warthog, wildebeest, waterbuck and impala together at the waterhole. Duiker at the birdpool. 24thWith the bush very dry, the excellent procession of animals to the waterhole continues: duiker, giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, impala, warthog and wildebeest. There is a huge electrical storm from 5.30 p.m. onwards and then 9 mm of rain from 9.30 p.m. This is more rain than we have had in total since mid-April and so is most welcome. 25thSeven species of mammal visit the waterhole during the day, including an elephant from mid to late afternoon. 26thTwo lions (a young male a and a young female with an injured hind leg) are about 100 m from the Lodge early in the morning, the female repeatedly giving a location call. We drive to see them and then follow them past the Lodge gate, past our house and off to the north. 27thIn the late afternoon a female giraffe with a very small youngster appear at the waterhole. 28thWe see the same giraffe and baby crossing Sable Road just near our entrance. 30thWaterbuck, impala and zebra seen during the day. In the evening, a breeding herd of seven elephants arrives at the waterhole and drinks. One bull then joins them and a short while later two more bulls. They stay for over half and hour before moving off: we then hear noises from the valley for a long time. 31stWaterbuck, vervet monkeys, zebra, impala, kudu, warthog, duiker and two giraffe males necking. Thunderstorm in the evening and 2 mm of rain.
November 2010
1stWe see kudu, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, warthog and zebra from the decks. 3rdAn elephant visits the waterhole in the late morning, drinks and covers himself in mud before slowly moving up the hill, browsing as he goes. During the night an elephant fees on raisin bushes just adjacent to our house: there is debris everywhere around the area in the morning. 4thFrom 7.00 to 8.00 a.m. the waterhole is visited by buffalo, a large group of zebras, wildebeest, impala, waterbuck and giraffe. Later kudu and more giraffes visit. 5thHeavy clouds build in the late afternoon, with thunder, lightning and some drizzle. At 6.45 p.m. a female lion drinks at the waterhole, moves off but then comes back and leaves in the opposite direction. There is a spectacular electrical storm and at 8.30 p.m. there is incredibly heavy rain, huge hailstones (some of 20 mm diameter and more) and strong winds: 21 mm of rain falls in about 30 minutes and causes quite a bit of erosion to paths and roads, not to mention flooding of the deck: the hail has broken off so many leaves and twigs that all the drainage channels get blocked. 2 mm follows and the total of 23 mm kick-starts the greening of the bush. 7th9 mm of rain the early hours of the morning. An elephant bull visits the waterhole during the day. During our sundowner drinks stop on a sunset game drive, we hear a leopard calling, getting closer and closer. Two giraffes about 100 m away stare intently into the bush where the noise is coming from. One of our guests gets a couple of short glimpses of the leopard as it moves through the bush but the rest of us aren’t quick enough to spot it. 10th2.5 mm rain during the night, just enough to keep things wet and growing and greening. 11thOn a day trip into Kruger Park we see 16 mammal species, including lions stalking zebra and wildebeest. 14thEight giraffes around the waterhole in the morning. On an afternoon drive we see svereal groups of giraffe (2, 4 and 5) plus kudu, impala, waterbuck and duiker. 17th17 mm of rain! In the last ten days the bush has gone from brown to lush green new grasses have appeared, trees have put out new leaves: as ever, the speed and extent of the transformation have been stunning. 18thWe hear woodland kingfishers calling for the first time this year. The arrival of this intra-African migrant is regarded by many as the start of summer. We start landscaping the area behind the kitchen and Iris and Lucia’s accommodation, aiming to tidy it up and cut out the erosion that is getting bad in that area. 19th2.5 mm more rain. More work on the kitchen area landscaping and paths. 20thLions roaring close by at 4.00 a.m. At 5.30 the two large males from the local ‘Big Pride’ drink at the waterhole and then rest nearby. A spotted hyena is wandering about at the same time. Later in the morning, the lions move across the dry river bed and rest up in thick bush halfway up the ridge beyond. We visit them twice during the course of the late morning: they are very relaxed and clearly just waiting for dusk and cooler conditions. We hear them roaring as they move off during the evening and see a jackal chasing a scrub hare. We dig holes for fencing posts behind the kitchen. 21stGiraffe, impala and kudu all seen during the day. We concrete in the posts for fencing at the back of the kitchen. Late in the afternoon, three Egyptian geese squabble and fly around the waterhole, which causes the impala to become very nervous. 22ndWe add the horizontal bars for the kitchen fencing and….. 23rdWe cut the lathe poles and nail them in to almost complete the fencing to the rear of the kitchen. With the previous landscaping nearly finished as well, this area now looks neat and smart as well as being much more practical. 24thOver the 6 hours from around 4.00 a.m. we get 28 mm of gentle soaking rain. In the afternoon, we do the last bits on the kitchen fence. 25thWe construct a brick patio outside Iris and Lucia’s accommodation. In the afternoon we see our first woodland kingfisher of the season, having heard them frequently over the last week. A large leopard tortoise is walking down the track past the waterhole in the late afternoon. 26thWe see our first baby impala of the year, between the deck and the waterhole. In the late afternoon sunlight, impala graze and waterbuck and kudu come past below the deck. 27thA Levaillant’s cuckoo (summer migrant) makes a brief appearance in the Lodge garden. Towards dusk 14 lions, including one of the big pride males, settle down in the open about 80m from the waterhole in the direction of the deck. There is a lot of very loud roaring during the night. 28thThe lions are still there at 4.30 a.m. Then some drink at the waterhole and they all move into the thicker bush to the side of the open area. At around 4.30 p.m. all 14 lions are still there in the thick bush, scattered in several groups. Gradually, in ones and twos, they move out into the open and drink at the waterhole, with seven drinking together at one point. They then lie down in the open almost exactly where they were 24 hours previously, but are restless, constantly looking up the hill towards the west. 29th8.15 a.m.: an elephant appears behind the kitchen – a bull in musth (strong characteristic smell, secretion from temporal gland and a continuous dribble of urine.) He moved down to the deck area and then slowly browsed and grazed his way back up past Duiker Hut, the kitchen and the office to the gate, where he almost walked into the Lodge gardens, stopping in the gateway. He then did a circuit of our house, at times coming within two or three metres, before having a drink at the overflow water tank and moving off towards Sable Road. Overall he was with us for some 90 minutes and, after a bit of irritation early on, was very relaxed about our presence. Besides broken branches, he left two large piles of very fresh dung: within minutes these were covered in tens of dung beetles and soon many of them were rolling dung balls off into the bush, sometimes with a beetle of the opposite sex to the roller riding as a passenger. By late afternoon there was nothing left of the dung piles, just a thin layer of drying grass pieces on the ground. 30thTwo buffalo at the waterhole during the afternoon. December 2010
3rd10 mm rain during the night. Finish the landscaping behind the kitchens 4th24 mm rain overnight 6thRain during the night and morning (4mm total). Work on creating a new vehicle track down to the borehole pump and the waterhole (the current rack goes down the steepest section of the hill and has become very eroded and difficult to use – the new one will follow the contours to reduce run-off speed.) 8thFinish work on the new track, including creating a stone “bridge” across one of the small streams. A female giraffe with a very small youngster browse near where are working. 9thLarge impala herd at the waterhole in the late afternoon light. 12thRain overnight (29 mm) 13thA female warthog visits the waterhole accompanied by 6 small piglets. 14th14 mm of rain during the day 19th4 mm rain; we have had small amounts of rain every day now for the last five days. 21stGiraffe browsing by the veranda of our house. 25thMore rain – 2.5 mm. 30thIris sees a leopard as it walks past the kitchen area at dusk. January 2011
1stThe New Year gets off to a great start with 17 mm of rain 4thRain: 3 mm 6thMore rain: 16 mm 8thA huge herd of impala spends time around the waterhole: there are around 200 of them! 9th2mm rain 10th7 mm of rain. Three buffalo at the waterhole in the late afternoon. 15th40 mm of rain over 12 hours, so soaks in well. 16thMore light rain (3 mm). A duiker female and a youngster pass by our house. We count 105 impala walking up from the waterhole in single file. Later there are 4 giraffe and 2 zebras. 17thThe large impala herd is outside our house at dawn. 17 mm of rain in the day, most of which came in a tremendous downpour at lunchtime. 18thLarge impala herd by the house again. A group of five giraffe spends some time by the waterhole, including a female with youngster sitting down and a bull (who browses, sits and then stands again almost immediately – but fascinating to watch how he folds and unfolds himself.) 19thThe giraffe group from yesterday is up by our house in the morning. 20thGiraffe at the waterhole. We see a golden oriole near our house. 21stRain (again – but not complaints: here any rain, especially gentle, soaking rain, is welcome): 14.5 mm. We visit a nursery to obtain some new plants and shrubs for the gardens. 22ndWe fill in (with rocks) some badly eroded sections of track leading down to the stream beyond the waterhole. Later in the morning we watch 6 or 7 Bennett’s woodpeckers, in two groups, so it appears, displaying (wings out and bobbing up and down, not unlike a yellow-billed hornbill), chattering noisily; they chase each other about calling loudly. We are not sure whether this is mating or territorial in origin. During the evening three elephants drink at the waterhole. There are more in the bush, judging by the noises. 23rd23 mm of rain. 27th2 mm more rain, bring the total for the month to 150 mm. 28thDuring the afternoon we find an elephant on Sable Road, close to our entrance. At about 7.15 in the evening a leopard visits the waterhole. 30thGiraffe, kudu, waterbuck and warthog seen during the afternoon.
February 20111stFour elephants at the waterhole, 9.00 p.m. 2ndLone bull elephant with a radio collar (“Save the Elephant” campaign) spends an hour and a half around the waterhole during the afternoon. In the evening an elephant wanders past our house. Giraffe and zebra. 4thEvidence of elephant visiting the birdpool during the night: tracks and the pool is empty! A small elephant breeding herd passes by our house around 7.30 in the evening. 2 mm of welcome rain. Waterbuck, warthog, zebra and giraffe as well. 5thSuch has been the growth of grass that we strim the area on the lodge side of the waterhole so that even medium-sized animals there can be seen Several times in the day we chase a female warthog with four piglets out of the garden: they are nothing if not persistent. Elephant at the waterhole in the afternoon. 6thLarge impala herd at the waterhole early in the morning, plus two zebras. Later the warthog family again, giraffes, more zebras, duiker. One of the giraffes, obviously female, seems to be in heat and is closely shadowed by the biggest of the attendant males. We discover that an elephant has eaten the top of the weeping boer bean tree we planted: we only took the protective wire mesh away about ten days previously (but it’s back now!) 7thThree buffalo at the waterhole at 7.30 a.m. and then return at about 9.30, staying until late afternoon, most of the one or more of them time lying in the water. During the afternoon a female giraffe appeared with a youngster. The young one was clearly disturbed by the buffalo lying in the middle of the waterhole, approaching to drink and then backing away, before eventually drinking. 9thBaboons around – we haven’t seen them for quite a while. Also a group of wildebeest and zebras. 10thWe see the bushbabies returning to their home above the office veranda at dawn. Two waterbuck males present a fine spectacle at the waterhole in the late afternoon light. 11thThose warthogs are back again in the garden. 13thOn game drive with the elephant research team we see lions, elephants, impala, giraffe, zebra, warthog, bushbuck and baboon. 14thEarly morning – a group of kudu and impala by our house: later they drink at the waterhole. 15th1.5 mm of rain: useful but we could really do with more. 16thA leopard tortoise crosses the road by the Lodge gate. In the early afternoon three ground hornbills spend time around the waterhole (the first time we have seen them at the Lodge.) 18thEight elephants move along the ridge behind the waterhole during the morning and a ninth comes down to drink at the waterhole. At around 5.30 p.m. four more elephants move up the valley, this time on the Lodge side of the waterhole. 19thWe spend the day at Iris’s new plot of land near Acornhoek putting up fencing. When we return there is a group of 8 adult and 2 young wildebeest below the deck and 2 buffaloes in the waterhole. 20th3 mm of rain. It is almost a month since the last decent rain and the bush is starting to get very dry so even this small amount is very welcome. 21stWe buy a new hinged gate for the Lodge entrance: the warthogs have progressively broken the existing non-hinged gate beyond any further possible repair. 23rdThe rain we desperately need: 29 mm during a heavy thunderstorm in the evening. 24thA martial eagle appears by the Lodge, mobbed by starlings, drongos and other birds. Another half mm of rain. 25thThere is a very large herd of impala at the waterhole in the morning. About 5.30 in the afternoon, 7 elephants move north along the ridge behind the waterhole. Impala, kudu and giraffe browse below the deck. 27thWe dig the holes for the posts that will support the new gate. NB digging holes here is not just a matter of pop a spade in the soil: it comes down to prising the stones and rocks out with a 1 m long heavy metal spike, plus the fork and spade. 28thWe cement in the gate posts. Early in the evening a giraffe is killed after striking low power cables on Sable Road, about 500 m from our entrance. The power lines were 5.2 m off the ground, which gives an idea of just how big a giraffe can be. At 8.30 p.m. three rhino appear at the waterhole.
March 2011
1stAt 6.00 a.m. there are four rhinos at the waterhole! The lions have found the giraffe carcass and three females are there. Later in the morning the carcass, which was partially blocking the road, is moved about 100 m off into the bush. We hang the new gate from the posts: it will be very useful as we can now get in and out easily while being able to keep the warthogs out during the day and the duiker out at night: neither harmful to man but devastating to garden plants and lawns. 2ndIn the early afternoon we are sitting in the office when we hear a soft thud from outside the door: a baby bushbaby has fallen from their home in the roof onto the office veranda. Within a short while a female comes down, picks the pup up by the scruff of its neck and carries back up to the roof. Late afternoon- five lions at the giraffe carcass. 3rdWe encounter 4 lions on Sable Road en route to the giraffe carcass. After about 30 minutes they headed for the carcass and as they approached two young males ran off: one adult female stayed, growling at the new arrivals. By late afternoon, the carcass had been taken over by the three young males who were ejected from the local big pride some months ago, plus the older female from this morning (she seems to have split from the main pride and is spending time with the young males.) The youngsters’ manes are well developed now. Two pride youngsters arrive and there is mush posturing. Something then caught the attention of all the lions off to the east and they all rush off across Sable Road and disappear. (We discovered later that the three young males had had a fight with one of the large pride males, leaving him very battered and bruised.) A short while later an elephant appeared at the deck; we were visiting our neighbours and Iris rang us. By the time we got there, she had chased it away before it could damage the knobthorn tree, which it seemed intent on doing. It then headed for our neighbours’ place so we drove back there, just in time to chase the elephant out of their garden. At around 9.00 p.m. one of the large pride male lions walked past the deck, 10m from where we were finishing dinner, and on down to the waterhole: it drank and then sat down some 50 m on the Lodge side of the water. 4thElephant at the waterhole mid-morning. We returned to the giraffe carcass in the late afternoon: one of the pride males was there and the other arrived soon afterwards (the battered and bruised one, hobbling along very stiffly.) The jackal lurking nearby was not willing to chance his arm with the two males there. 5thTwo hyena at the waterhole at 5.40 a.m. 6thImpala, kudu, buffalo; warthogs in the birdpool. Two Levaillant ’s cuckoos duet in the trees by the deck. These birds have a very distinct and rather raucous call, only heard in summer as they are summer migrants. 7thMid-afternoon: a giraffe browses on the buffalo thorn by the lodge fence and adjacent to the deck. 9thVarious giraffes visit during the day. 10thFour giraffes at the waterhole in the late afternoon. 11thBuffalo at the waterhole 14thBig electrical storm with strong wind, lightning, thunder…. but no rain! 16thFollowing on from a leaking stop valve, we put in a new pipe from the overflow tank next to the main Lodge water tanks. We add a tap by the Lodge fence, which will make it easier for Iris and Lucia to use the water from the overflow tank for the garden. 17thWe see a female kudu with a very young calf. 18thAnother huge impala herd by the waterhole in the late afternoon. 19th0.5 mm of rain in the evening and…… 20thanother 1.75 mm around dawn. A slender mongoose drinks at the birdpool, plus waterbuck and warthog. We see hyena tracks by the waterhole, probably left that morning when the soil was wet from the rain. 22ndWe see the kudu female with the very small calf again, this time along our entrance road. The calf is only about the size of this year’s impala lambs. A large herd of buffalo visits the waterhole at about 7.30 p.m. 24thBirding party: one often sees groups of birds of several different species moving through the bush together. There is normally a variety of different feeding strategies on display and presumably as the different species move through they stir up food items for others. There is probably also a simple safety-in-numbers aspect as well. The party this morning moved through he Lodge gardens and consisted of bearded woodpecker, Southern black tits, yellow-billed hornbills, Burchell’s starling, long-billed crombecs, blue waxbills. 25thAnother birding party around the birdpool: wattled starlings, red-billed buffalo weavers, blue waxbills, red and yellow-billed hornbills, fork-tailed drongos, arrow-marked babblers and laughing doves. 26thTwo adult female and two young waterbuck graze by our house at 6.00 p.m. 27thFive buffalo at the waterhole at 8.30 a.m. During the day there is a lot of traffic at the waterhole: a very large impala herd, zebras, wildebeest, giraffes, duiker, kudus and one buffalo which came and went several times. Two saddle-billed storks arrive in the middle of the day, the first time we have seen this particular stork at our waterhole. In the afternoon we see the first evidence in a long time of bushbabies in the tower: we see two tails and rear ends sticking out from under the roof. 29thBronze-winged courser on our entrance road during the evening. 30thFrom about midnight onwards, there is strong wind and a big thunderstorm with 4.5 mm of extremely welcome rain. It is 5 weeks since the last decent rain and the temperatures have been very high indeed. The average daily maximum for the month will turn out to be 34.6oC when the month is finished: this is 1.5 degrees higher than anything we have recorded previously. As a result the bush has turned brown and many trees are losing their leaves. We are still 100 mm short of the average annual rainfall and so unless there is some late rain, and heavy rain at that, it is going to be a long, lean and dry winter. 31stWe see 3 or 4 bushbabies emerge from the tower roof at dusk. There are still bushbabies in the office veranda roof and it is good to have two groups now.
June 2011
6thWe find two young cheetahs lying by the western fence of the Reserve, adjacent to the R40 main road. Their mother has been escaping from the Reserve and crossing the road to the farms on the other side: however, the cubs have not been following her. On several occasions the Warden and his team have managed to return the mother to the Reserve only for her to get out again soon afterwards.
7thThe two cheetahs we saw yesterday are still on their own and appear to have been abandoned by their mother. As they are only about 9 months old they are unable to fend for themselves: they are starving and doomed to die unless action is taken. The Warden calls in the vet and the cubs are captured and put on drips to rehydrate them and get some nutrition in.
8thThe captured cheetah cubs are taken to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre to be looked after until they are old enough to survive on their own, when they will be reintroduced into the Reserve. It is always difficult to know whether to intervene or let nature take its course: however, there are only some 200-250 cheetah in the whole of the Greater Kruger Park so intervening in this instance was essential. There is a small amount of rain in the evening – only 0.3 mm but it results in a wonderful damp grass smell from the bush.
9thLions roar close by in the morning and in the late afternoon are about 600m to the south of the Lodge, on Sable Road.
11thLions very close once again but we cannot find them. We hear hyenas calling as well.
12thZebras at the waterhole in the morning, giraffe in the middle of the day and impala close to our house in the late afternoon, including a male with one horn. When we first arrived at Leopard’s View in September 2008 we were immediately aware of the presence of a male impala with one horn only. He appeared to be in charge of a small harem of females and so we reckoned that he was coping in spite of this handicap to seeing off other males although he has not been in charge of a harem since that first year. We have seen “one-horn” on and off ever since: we assume that it is the same animal (while it could be another male altogether, the likelihood of two one-horned impala in the same area is small.) It is good to know that he is still surviving.
14thLions close again in the early morning. Warthogs at the waterhole in the afternoon.
15thWe finish the major task of cutting back the grass in a strip around the Lodge and our house. This is an essential annual task as winter sets in, the bush dries out and the fire risk increases. There is a giraffe at our house in the morning, and warthogs at the birdpool and at the waterhole. In the evening there is a total lunar eclipse: we are lucky with clear skies and, starting at 8.23 p.m., are treated to a wonderful spectacle as the earth’s shadow covers the moon (total at 9.22 p.m.), leaving the lunar disc an orange-red colour for a while as light is refracted through the earth’s atmosphere onto the moon.
16th20 zebras and 4 giraffes visit the waterhole mid-morning. One of our resident local duikers drinks there in the evening.
17thAt around 6.00 p.m., four white rhinos appear at the waterhole and drink and graze for some 10 to 15 minutes. They gradually move off and as the last two are doing so a leopard drinks briefly (less than a minute) in the far corner of the waterhole.
18thGiraffe, zebra, impala, kudu (a group of 8), wildebeest and warthog all visit the waterhole during the day. We see the tower bushbabies emerging at dusk but have not seen or heard anything of the ones living in the roof of the office veranda for some time now.
21stA male lion visits our neighbour’s birdpool during the evening and then moves along Sable Road past our entrance. 22ndLeopard calling quite close at around 6.00 p.m. 24thThe same group of 8 kudu drinks at the waterhole at dusk. We count 5 bushbabies emerging from the tower roof.
25thImpala and zebras at the waterhole during the afternoon. In the evening a large herd of several hundred buffalo spends over an hour drinking at the waterhole and grazing nearby.
26thKudu by our house at lunchtime. Impala and zebras at the waterhole during the afternoon, along with a pair of hammerkops. Around 7.00 in the evening, a civet drinks at the waterhole, spending some 10 minutes there. Four zebras appear at around 9.00 pm.
27thA wooly-necked stork spends the day at the waterhole, along with the hammerkops, which are still there. Several zebra groups, including one with two small foals, visit; a lone impala male is around the waterhole all day and two waterbuck males drink in the late afternoon.
28thZebras and impala on our entrance road in the morning; later zebras at the waterhole. Lions close by in the valley in the evening.
29thLions still roaring somewhere close in the valley in the morning. We spot a tree squirrel running away from us as we walk towards the office: it goes up into the space below the roof apex of the office veranda, where we had had a bushbaby group living. We haven’t seen them for quite a while and wonder whether the squirrel has ousted them.
30thThe lone male impala is around the waterhole all day, plus two separate large groups in the afternoon. During the evening an elephant feeds on the marula tree next to our car ports at our house. There is another one off in the darkness as well. After an hour the marula tree eater goes off and proceeds to eat on an acacia tree near Kudu hut: he is still there when we go over to the lodge to turn off the floodlight: we move quickly and quietly! Later there are hyena calls, something we have heard quite a bit lately. July 20111stIn the morning we can see the damage caused by last night’s elephant to the marula tree by our carports: several large branches have been pulled down and part consumed. It is impossible to drive along the track until we have cleared the debris. Impala and a lone wildebeest at the waterhole mid-morning.
2ndZebra, giraffe and impala by our house in the morning. Duiker at the birdpool at dusk.
3rdZebra, impala, two giraffes and wildebeest all visit the waterhole during the afternoon. Two duiker drink at the birdpool and graze just below the decks. Six kudu move across below the birdpool.
4thFour giraffe and 3 zebra drink at the waterhole. Later a giraffe browses on the Terminalia prunoides (Purple-pod terminalia) tree adjacent to our house veranda. Vervet mankeys come by and it rains for a minute or two! We have started work on renovating our game drive vehicle, a white landcruiser, and complete the first of the metal ladders to be attached to the side to make it easier to get on and off the back section of the vehicle.
5thWe finish the second ladder for the land cruiser. Mid-morning a female giraffe with a very small youngster (smaller than any we have seen previously here) spend some time at the waterhole. The baby one is very curious about the water, bending down to investigate but running off to its mother nearby every time any other animal or bird makes a loud noise. Another birding party comes through the lodge gardens: blue waxbills, red-billed queleas, a drongo, glossy starlings, lesser masked weavers, white-crested helmet-shrikes, a brown-capped tchagra, a woodpecker and a black-headed oriole.
6thSix kudu and a giraffe by the house late afternoon. Lions roar very close by during the evening.
7thA giraffe browses by our house and carports while we work on the land cruiser.
8thThe ladders and bracing bars for the land cruiser are finished.
9thWe cut the wood for the wooden trim sections to go on the land cruiser doors and around the open cab section and on the armrests.
10thEarly afternoon – a group of over 15 zebra, 25+ impala and one lone wildebeest are at the waterhole. We often see this single wildebeest with impala groups and are convinced that he has an identity crisis.
11thMany zebras, a group of over 100 impala and 13 waterbuck all graze and drink around the waterhole.
12thWe hear elephant noises from the valley at around 6.00 a.m.: an hour or so later one elephant appears, the same one who had pulled down so much of one of our marula trees two weeks ago. For over an hour he browses on various trees and bushes around our house and drinks at the overflow water tank before having another go at the same marula tree. Two more elephants then appear, including a collared one known locally as Soshangane. All three then move off to the west. During the day we see two female waterbuck, 7 zebra, 2 giraffes, 2 waterbuck males and 8 kudu by the waterhole. At dusk 4 waterbuck males feed by our house.
14thA large group of impala (with the confused wildebeest in tow) and several zebra visit the waterhole. We continue to work on the land cruiser, now preparing for re-painting.
17thLarge group of impala around the lodge all day.
18ththe impala group is still there. Lions roaring close by in the early morning.
19thWe apply the first coat of primer/undercoat to the land cruiser: it is now a rust-red colour.
20thSecond primer coat on the land cruiser.
21stThe first coat of green top-coat goes on the land cruiser and the transformation is amazing. Gone is the “stand out like a sore thumb” white colour that was so bush unfriendly.
22ndEight kudu on our entrance road; 2 waterbuck at the waterhole; another group of waterbuck near the house; impala all over! Second coat of green on the land cruiser.
23rdWe add the wooden trim sections to the land cruiser and start painting all the metal work, the bumpers and such like in black.
August 2011
1stGiraffe, zebra and impala at the waterhole in the morning. At around 2.30 in the afternoon, four elephants (the same three that we have seen quite a bit recently plus a fourth) appear at the waterhole. Later two move up past the lodge, eating the succulent plant inside the wall by Duiker Hut, then browse outside the kitchen and devastate a blue-thorn acacia tree before tackling the same two marula trees by our house that they seem to target on every visit. They finally moved off about 7.30 p.m.
3rdImpala and waterbuck groups by our house.
4thWarthog and three male waterbuck at the waterhole in the middle of the day; giraffe on the ridge. Jackal at the waterhole later in the day.
5thA warthog family (adult female and three youngsters) come past the house and down to the waterhole at lunchtime. Impala and a lone wildebeest drink there as well, with the wildebeest and, later, two zebra, staying there for the remainder of the day. Four giraffes, including one very small one, approach the birdpool and then move down to the waterhole.
6thAt around 2.00 a.m. an elephant feeds by the kitchens and Iris has to chase it away several times. In the end it destroys a blue-thorn acacia just outside the lodge wall between the office and the gate. While this is going on Iris sees a hyena come past the kitchen fence.
7thElephant around again in the night: the birdpool is virtually empty and branches are down off the acacia in front of the office. In the afternoon a group of 8 waterbuck passes by our house en route to the waterhole. 8th A large group of impala at the waterhole in the morning. Iris sees what was probably a wild cat at about 9.00 a.m.
9thZebras at the waterhole.
10thImpala and waterbuck in the valley.
11thGiraffe, impala, kudu and various duikers during the day. In the evening we hear hyenas calling from 5 different directions. We have been hearing hyenas on a more regular basis in recent months.
12thGiraffe, waterbuck, impala, zebra and duiker are all seen during the day.
13thImpala, zebra, giraffe, warthog, waterbuck and duiker visit the waterhole during the day. On an afternoon drive we see warthog, zebra, kudu, impala, waterbuck and civet.
14thIn the late afternoon 9 waterbuck accompanied by a single wildebeest feed outside our house; later a large impala herd passes by with a single waterbuck.
16thRain in the night - 6.5 mm by 9.00 a.m. During the evening we hear four owl species calling (scops, barred, pearl-spotted and white-faced.)
18thImpala, giraffe and waterbuck at the waterhole together. Lions roar very close during the night; also hyena calls.
20thWaterbuck and impala at the waterhole during the day; duiker and jackal during the evening. On game drive we see several waterbuck and impala groups and one zebra family.
21stSeveral groups of waterbuck, and giraffe; impala; zebras. After an evening out we return at around 9.45 p.m.: as we walk quickly in from our vehicle to the house we become aware of elephant feeding noises. On investigation (and from the safety of inside the house) we discover there are 7 elephants around our house – 2 below the house, one on the other side and four between the house and the water tanks. These four, which include Soshangane (collared) and Ezulwini (splayed tusks), are pulling branches off a blue-thorn acacia and a much-targeted marula tree growing adjacent to the house. After 30 minutes of this we gently shooed them off before there was nothing left of the trees.
23rdLion roars from near the waterhole in the morning and then again at dusk. We drove down in the morning but could not locate it or them. There is a spoonbill at the waterhole.
24thMore close lion roars from about 10.00 p.m. until 2.00 a.m., at one stage so regular and loud that sleep was difficult. Waterbuck, warthog and impala at the waterhole during the day.
25thZebra and impala, plus Egyptian geese, at the waterhole. Lions and hyenas callduring the evening.
26thWe watch for bushbabies emerging from the office roof at dusk and see two. Waterbuck visit the waterhole during the evening and three different duikers come to the birdpool. Once again we hear four different owl species calling.
27thA zebra group, a family of 7 kudu and a jackal are seen at the waterhole during the day.
28thWe are woken by elephant trumpeting at dawn as five elephants come past the house. Three of them drink at the overflow tank and Soshangane (the collared elephant bull) returns to the blue-thorn acacia he and others had tackled a week previously: we shoo him away as gently as possible to prevent further damage to the tree. One of the elephants pulls out a large raisin bush just above the lodge gate.
September 2011
3rdTwo giraffe at the waterhole
4thLions roar close by during the early hours of the morning. Zebras, various groups of impala, two giraffes and vervet monkeys come by the lodge.
5thOne male lion drinks at the waterhole at about 5.15 p.m. We find the tracks leading away to the south but are unable to follow them through the bush.
6thAt about 8.00 a.m. nine bull elephants come past our house, including one gentle and relaxed one knows as Soshangane, who has just been fitted with a new radio collar to replace his previous one that had ceased to function. Also in the group is the bull known as Ezulwini: he loves the marula trees near our house and would not be put off until he had taken a branch off one and then moved off into the bush to consume it.
7thThe nine elephants pass by, draining the birdpool on their way. A large herd of buffalo visits the waterhole during the morning. We count 5 bushbabies emerging from the office roof at dusk.
8thGiraffes by our house and zebras at the waterhole.
9thGiraffe, impala and warthog drink at the waterhole during the day. The warthogs also soak themselves in the birdpool. A giraffe browses on the buffalo thorn at the side of our concrete deck during the afternoon. In the evening, two duikers and two jackals visit the waterhole.
10thGiraffe at the waterhole and near our house. Also zebras and during the evening, duiker and jackal. We disturb a scub hare by our carport at dusk.
11thGiraffe and waterbuck at the waterhole.
12thGiraffe and waterbuck at the waterhole again. During the night lions roar: there is one distant one but the others are very close indeed, somewhere along our entrance road.
14thFour giraffe and 10 waterbuck by our house – late afternoon. Spatter of rain.
15thWaterbuck, zebras & warthogs at the waterhole.
16thGiraffe, zebra, waterbuck, warthog, impala.
17thTwo jackal at waterhole early; later zebras, impala & warthog. Afternoon – 10 zebras. Evening – duikers at birdpool.
18thWork starts on chipping pool walls and floors for replastering.
20thWaterbuck group by our house; later 3 giraffe including one very small one. Discovered soak-away for Duiker & kitchen septic tanks collapsed and tank itself leaking.
21stLarge impala group at the waterhole.
22ndBaboons near the house; also 3 giraffes. Later 11 waterbuck at the waterhole. The chipping out of the splashpool is finished.
23rdRain during the night but only 0.1 mm. Three giraffes by our house; waterbuck at the waterhole. Juvenile fish eagle perches for a long time in a dead tree near the waterhole. We have lots of fish eagle calls over recent weeks and wonder whether they have had a nest at one of the dams in the area and whether this juvenile is the result. Work starts on digging out for a new septic tank and soak-away for Duiker and the kitchens.
24th12 waterbuck around the house, including two very small ones, one of which was suckling. In the afternoon 11 waterbuck visit the waterhole and two duikers drink at the birdpool.
25thThree giraffes sleep below Duiker Hut during the early hours and move off at dawn. Later in the morning – kudu, another giraffe and impala at the waterhole. Afternoon – waterbuck. Holes for new septic tank and soak-away dug which involved going through some very hard rocky areas with hammer and chisel.
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Diary Leopards View Game Lodge, game reserve accommodation, game farm accommodation, Hoedspruit accommodation, Limpopo accommodation |
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| Diary Leopards View Game Lodge, game reserve accommodation, game farm accommodation, Hoedspruit accommodation, Limpopo accommodation | ||||||||||||||||||
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