Transfrontiers Wildlife Walking Safaris

Tusker: 9 June, 2009

transfrontiers — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:09:40 +0000

AM drive:
With the arrival of a bona-fide cold front off the mountains and a strong wind, walking was deemed too risk. Given that respectful and strategic animal approaches are one thing and bumbling into surprise close-up invasions are quite another thing, with the latter being much more likely in the event of a strong sound-masking wind. So, we drove, heading back in the direction of the night-time disappearing lions, to look for more clues. We stopped, on the way, to examine an old Aaardvark burrow in a termite mound that is currently occupied by a pair of Porcupine, in the wake of hyena cubs, according to the tell-tale signs, who were raised here . The guests got their chance to pick up the forensic evidence in the “guess-the-inhabitant who-dunnit game”. Another guessing game was held over a recently used white rhino midden and an impala herd were observed for signs of lion-awareness which were confused by their nervousness at the wind and then used to illustrate the lions day-time stake-out observation strategy. Fortunately, at least for the impala, no lions were found and neither were any leading clues. So we satisfied ourselves, instead, with the short but sweet viewing of a small herd of elephants including a young trunk-flapping two-year-old infant.

PM drive:
The beauty of working in the bush is that there is always a little surprise for the guides everyday; it is impossible to have seen it all. Today, there was a big surprise for the guides with the discovery of two black rhino in the tree line at the end of the airstrip.

While there are black rhino in parts of the Kruger National Park, the Klaserie has been the home only of the white rhino since the reserve was formed, having a larger representation of white rhino habitat than black. Two black rhino were introduced into the Klaserie recently and their movements have been followed via microchips implanted in their horns They also had their ears nicked as is customary to aid with individual ID. What luck that we had two professional photographers amongst our guests, Mad Mat and his father!

Later, comparison of pics of our rhinos and those of the introduced ones confirmed that these were two strangers that had the reserve ecologists and wardens buzzing with excitement. While I say we were lucky to have the photographs, it does not mean our view was at all limited, we were close to them and as much as I thought we were not too close for comfort, being strangers in a strange land obviously made the one rhino very nervous and he gave us a vehement warning charge which made things exciting and meant that we had to retreat hastily in accordance with his wishes. While he and his buddy (or perhaps his bride – it was hard to tell in the excitement) rushed off (as if for the hills), they quickly calmed down and ambled back to the airstrip. We watched them from afar while a male wildebeest watched us from the middle distance, waiting for us to get off his stamping ground.

In the middle of another cloudy near-dark sundowner, a lion called, hot and close. Off we went, round and round, parting a wave of impala as bewildered as us as to where the lion actually was or where it was moving, since our lion did not call again. Failure to find it seemed impossible and yet he or she remained hidden from view. Completely out in the open, however, for night-time grazing, was our female hippo who climbed out onto the small dam island, bringing her teeny tiny baby with her to oohs and aahs and soft squeals of delight from the back of the Landrover. To cap it all, a sliver of cloud parted to show us the full moon rising, red and fat, reflecting the recently sunken sun. As if that wasn’t enough, further delights included a large spotted genet clinging to the trunk of a shrub, and a gold and black civet bustling into the grass.

- Georgie Thomas & Stephen Kapp (Trails Guides) and Isaack Nkuna (Backup Guide)

Tusker: 6 June, 2009

transfrontiers — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:34:57 +0000

AM Walk: We drove to the island, encountering baby sandgrouse (with their parents) and a close-up of an African wildcat on the way. We walked on the island but could not locate any trace or clues as to the whereabouts of the kill. We found a pocket near the river with waterbuck, impala, and giraffe. We almost lost one guest, Tom, to his love of the kudus, and he spent the next few days searching for another glimpse of them on drive, for which he was rewarded!

We sat at the river crossing and watched a fish eagle and a water monitor lizard sunning itself on the rocks in the same place we encountered the klipsringer the night before.

PM drive: We spotted three rhino behind the dam. They were nervous so we retreated and waited for them to return from the vantage point of the dam wall and enjoyed the displays of the hippo while we waited. The three rhino did return to drink. One large male rhino joined them and zebra fought in the background as the full moon rose with the sunset.

- Georgie Thomas and Stephen Kapp (Trails Guides) and Isaack Nkuna (Backup Guide)

Tusker: 5 June, 2009

transfrontiers — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:27:28 +0000

Elephant male – musthe bull – relaxed in camp to greet the new guests. On drive spent a long intimate moment with a klipspringer couple + youngster on rocky outcrop near concrete bridge. Isaack spots a chin spot batis in a shrub – common to hear but hardly ever seen so that was exciting.

Spent the night drive on the island where we encountered a strong and spreading scent of an old kill – must have been something big (and therefore likely to have been killed by the ions a few days previously which would explain why they spent so long on the island without showing themselves in the previous 5 days). We make a plan to revisit area on foot in the morning.
Close up of a civet by the concrete bridge.

- Georgie Thomas & Stephen Kapp (Trails Guides) and Isaack Nkuna (Backup Guide)

Tusker: 18 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:59:31 +0000

We saw an African Fish Eagle eating a small mammal, 2 different elephant herds, black backed jackal, impala, giraffe and 3 rhinos. As we sat down for lunch, 3 elephant bulls joined us! On afternoon game drive, not far from camp, we saw 2 rhinos that ran away as soon as they saw us. But luckily, 10 minutes after spotting the 2 bulls, we saw 3 rhinos– a cow, calf and bull — that stood still for a little while. Then we had a sighting of about 400 buffalo next to the river, getting up after their afternoon lay-down. Later in the drive, we saw an elephant bull scratching his side on a big tree close to a mud wallow and greeting a passing elephant herd. Then he went back to scratching. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Tom Binfield, Back-up Guide]

Tusker: 17 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:11:59 +0000

We walked into a breeding herd of elephant and one bull was feeding 30 meters from us. We continued our walked when we saw another big herd of elephant headed to the river. We stood on a little hill and watched them walking, when I heard one of my guest say “lion”! There was a lioness walking in the opposite direction of the elephant. We had elephants feeding around the camp the whole afternoon. On our afternoon drive we saw an elephant bull taking a mud bath and then scratching on a nearby tree, he was very relaxed! We also had sightings of zebra, impala, blue wildebeest and waterbuck. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Tom Binfield, Back-up Guide]

Tusker: 16 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:48:39 +0000

On our way to camp we saw lots of giraffe, impala and zebra. For the afternoon drive we saw more giraffe, 4 elephant bulls feeding in the riverbed, 2 rhino on airstrip, 4 hippos in the dam, a giant eagle owl, some African Fish Eagles and an African wildcat. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Tom Binfield, Back-up Guide]

Tusker: 6 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:51:34 +0000

We had sightings of waterbuck with their young and 2 buffalo bulls lying in the mud wallow not far from camp. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Isaack Nkuna, Backup guide]

Tusker: 5 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:55:10 +0000

We walked from camp hearing elephant trumpeting and seeing elephants running on a hill in front of us. A bit later we saw the whole elephant herd walking to the river – they were approx. 35m from us. We also saw vervet monkey jumping in the trees. Later that afternoon we had a bull elephant that came close to the vehicle while feeding. The guests were very excited! We also saw a hippo walking next to the dam, but as soon as he heard us he went back into the dam, another hippo started feeding in the riverbed. We had sightings of four Rhino on their way to the same dam, a young blue wildebeest chasing a black back jackal, waterbuck, impala, zebra and giraffe. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Isaack Nkuna, Backup guide]

Tusker to Madach: 4 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:08:03 +0000

We went past where we’d seen the lionesses the previous night and found that a male had joined them. One of the guest was so exited that he stood up and the male became quite alert. Because of this, we we left them. On our way to Madach, our camp in the Timbavati, we saw 3 ground hornbills, kudus (a very nice male with magnificent horns), a herd of elephant and giraffe. At Madach we met Quintin, who is in charge of the Ground Hornbill Research Program, at a ground hornbill nest. One of his students was holding the bird so he could take blood and measure his legs, feathers and bill. It was a really great learning opportunity and very interesting. After spending some time with Quintin, we continued back to Tusker Camp, Klaserie, where we saw more elephants – a cheeky bull who came close to the vehicle — giraffes, hippo in the dam and impala. During the evening drive, we had sightings of a hippo out of the river and very close to camp, the same 2 lionesses from the morning activity, another hippo, and a genet. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Isaack Nkuna, Backup guide

Tusker: 3 March, 2009

JoSchoen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 09:15:38 +0000

We saw a bull rhino that was very relaxed and only 20 m away from us. Later that evening we saw another rhino bull not so relaxed. He made his way into thick bush. We also had sightings of buffalo feeding in the riverbed, duiker, steenbokkie, genet and lots of waterbuck and impala. At 1h00 we woke everyone because the lions were roaring very close, we found a females walking up to another one lying in the grass. The both were ‘flat cats’ by the time we left them. [Jo Schoen, Trails Guide and Isaack Nkuna, Backup guide]