The Vervet Monkey, Cercopithecus Aethiopicus, as the Latin name indicates, is common throughout most of Africa right up to Ethiopia. It is especially common at all three of the Viva Safaris Lodges.
At Tremisana, our staff has to stand guard at breakfast time. In fact, the staff has taken to using a slingshot to deter the monkeys from getting too close to the great-smelling bacon and eggs. I have enquired and am told that not once has a monkey actually been struck with the small stones the staff shoot towards them. I would like to believe that the staff miss on purpose ( knowing that the monkeys will be sufficiently scared off by the near misses ) but Bongani informs me that the ladies are simply poor shots ! Monkeys are strictly diurnal, so the problems we have at Breakfast are not repeated at Dinner, by which time the troop is safely roosting on the water tower and adjacent trees.
At Marc’s Treehouses, both Ronald and Florence, our new hostess, go to great lengths to explain to our guests that the monkeys have developed quite ingenious methods to break into the treehouses if they can smell foodstuffs. Many a tourist has returned to the treehouse and found it in a shambles – not because our staff have not cleaned properly – but as a result of monkeys trashing the place looking for food. It is not sufficient to lock the food up in a cupboard or backpack – the monkeys go by scent and can do much damage in attempting to open cupboards or backpacks !
At Cheetah Inn, the monkeys have an unfortunate habit of landing on the tin roof of the hotel rooms with great force. They then charge up and down playing on the roof and awakening our guests, thus (inadvertently) ensuring everybody is on time for the Bush Walk. The thatched rondawels are also a great source of entertainment for the monkeys as they slide down the sides pulling out great big handfuls of grass.
 
The Vervet Monkey, seen at all three of the Viva Safaris Lodges
The Afrikaans name for the Vervet Monkey is BLOU AAP, which translated literally means Blue Monkey. The name derives from the bright blue scrotum that the males have. Added to this is a red penis, so the genital colours are quite noticeable. I recall many years ago pointing out these colourful genitalia to a young French girl. I then alluded to the similarity to the colours of the French flag and, as expected, got a reasonably furious response !
The bright genitalia of an adult male Vervet Monkey are not only a signal of his sexual maturity but also accentuate his social status. He may walk with an exaggerated swagger that flashes the colourful genitals as his tail swings from side to side. A dominant male often will curve his tail up and lower his bright blue scrotum and display the scarlet penis while he walks past or around a subordinate male. The subordinate male reacts by retracting his genitalia, thus accepting the other male’s superior rank.
The bright blue genitalia of an adult male Vervet Monkey
I recently read an article in the local Durban paper about a most distressing report about monkey business in Zambia. Apparently a Vervet Monkey widdled ( urinated ) on the Zambian president’s head at a recent press conference in the State House grounds in Lusaka.
It happened just as President Rupiah Banda was criticising the main opposition leader, Michael Sata. It just shows you to what lengths these devious opposition members will go to, even suborning the local monkey population. And I thought our own Helen Zille was bad. I also thought we had a monkey problem in Durban, but I have never heard of anything quite as irreverently insolent as this…
GAMEVIEWING NEWS
BONGANI reports that the animals have been encountered in greater numbers to the north and east of Satara. He regularly sees all the Big Five here. His highlights are reported as follows :
“I started the month well – on 1 August we came across two big male lions eating a buffalo along the Olifants road not far from Tremisana Lodge. Three black-backed jackals were sitting on the other side of the road, patiently watching the ‘ Kings of the Balule Bush ’ eating their breakfast. After a few minutes, some vultures arrived, settling in the trees nearby. I noticed that one of the male lions has a broken tooth, probably damaged while attacking buffalo. After breakfast, we went to Kruger for the day. We were lucky to see a big herd of buffalo at Nsemane Dam being stalked by three lionesses. The buffalo bulls protected the calves that were in the centre of the herd. While all this was going on a herd of elephant arrived for their morning drink. One of the younger bulls was quite angry at seeing the lions and chased them for over 300 metres. Later that day we came across a pride of two male and three female lions nears Nyamari Pan. They had treed a leopard that looked very uncomfortable. Apparently it had been in this precarious position since the previous evening. Luckily a herd of giraffe approached the water. The lions spread out and started to stalk the giraffe. As soon as they had moved off, the obviously relieved leopard came down from the tree and ran off. The lions did not catch the giraffe that had noticed them from a distance and also ran off.
On 5 August I had great luck on Balule seeing both Black and White Rhino. On the morning Bush Walk, we came across a lioness stalking a Steenbok. The wind was blowing from the lioness towards us so we were able to approach quite close. Later the same day, we had a great sighting of four cheetah.
On 15 August we came across a leopard in a tree near Satara. It was eating an impala and there were two hyenas below the tree, feeding on the falling scraps. An elephant appeared and moved straight to the tree on which the leopard was. He started rubbing himself against the tree. This was too much for the leopard which came down quickly on the other side and ran off, no doubt planning to return once the elephant went away.
Leopard returning to the tree after the elephant walked away
On 28 August we had great sightings on the S 100 in Kruger. We saw three attempted kills in the space of 10 km. First we saw three lions chasing a zebra. One km away there were two leopards stalking an impala and a further nine km on we found another pride of lions after a giraffe. Really the stuff of dreams ”
BERTUS has emailed the following report :
“Report for August 2009"
Kruger
Once again we were very fortunate in Kruger this month with a few first sightings for me in Kruger as well as lifers.
Right at the beginning of the month we saw a side striped jackal on the Timbavati Road close to the Satara/Orpen turn off. Also a Palmnut vulture at the Shibotwana watering hole on the S100. Both sightings for me were firsts. ( First time ever seen in Kruger )
Lions were spotted on every drive as well as elephant and buffalo. There are a lot of big tuskers that we often spot at the Ngotso-south watering hole. On the crossing of the H1-4 and the S89 there is a den with 2 Hyena cub that are about 6 months old as well as a young one that I think cannot be more than 2 months old.
Hippos are starting to be concentrated in larger numbers as it is getting drier notably near the Gudzani Dam and the Nwanetsi River crossing on the S41. Rhinos are also seen more often near the Girivana Waterhole as well as on the H1-4. There is also a leopard just north of Ngotso dam but it is evading me most of the time. We have seen Leopard though on the S36 towards Muzandzeni where the Shimangwaneni Dam is a good spot to see Sable Antelope.
Notable was a sighting of a large python that was lying in a tree next to the road on the H6 - not often that you see this snake so close in the wild.
Birding was once again very good : A Martial eagle eating a dove in a tree next to the road; a Tawny eagle that had captured a scrub hare and proceeded to eat it right in front of us next to the road. We also saw a Ground Hornbill eating a leopard tortoise ; lots of sightings of ostrich, kori bustard as well as one of a Purple roller, that I have not seen in a while in Kruger. The Scops owl at Muzandzeni and Satara are still on their posts as always.
 
Birding was once again very good
Balule
Here the sightings fluctuated from quiet on the one day to extraordinary the next. The buffalo have decided to move closer to Tremisana and with them the Lions that have developed a taste for them. I know of about 5 buffalo that were killed in the area over the last month. Also they kill giraffe on a regular basis - with one sighting we had a buffalo and giraffe in one go not 100m apart.
The walks are still a lot of fun with my competition ( bokdrolspoegkompetisie – literally buck dropping spitting competition ) for which I have only had one or two guests that decided not to participate. We had a good sighting of a lone buffalo bull that was very interested in us and approached us to have a better view. The rhino created some memorable sightings: we saw the rhino at the Tshukudu fence line with a lion roaring not 100 m from us. Another was the same rhino that had a fight with his neighbour through the fence. They were then not bothered by the electric fence and ripped the fence line apart. The best for me on a last morning walk from the lodge we saw 2 rhinos not a hundred meters from the lodge. First time I have seen them in this area. The there are also the two Porcupines that are living underneath a bush close to the small watering hole in front of Tremisana Lodge. My discovery of the month is a hyena den close to Chapel Rock. I will look in regularly to see when they have returned there. ”
LOREY is a new guide. She emailed the following:
“I’m one of the new guides for Viva Safaris. For the first month I had amazing sightings in Kruger National Park, Balule Game Reserve and Motlala Game Reserve. The following Big & Hairy sightings were had: 3 prides of lions, leopard with a kill, the mysterious silhouette of a leopard, a cheetah lying on a termite mount, a pack of wild dogs and a lion pride chased by an elephant at one of the watering holes. For those of you that are into birds I saw: lilac breasted rollers, an ostrich doing its mating ritual, two tawny eagles mating, two groups of ground hornbills with juveniles and brown snake eagles. I also had the opportunity to have a glimpse of a reedbuck. A safari is not a safari without seeing the normal game like zebra, impala, and giraffe.
Safari greetings
Lorey ”
TOLLI, another new guide, reports as follows:
“I had fantastic sightings this mouth in the Kruger National Park : regular sightings of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalos. There is a black rhino carcass at the Shimangwaneni dam. Apparently two rhino bulls had a big fight and the one was so badly injured that the ranger had to shoot it. He did not want to interfere with nature’s natural way but to protect the horn against poachers. One morning we stumbled upon some lionesses and cubs and there we saw them feast on the black rhino carcass. This was really something I have never seen in my life before.
Lionesses and cubs feasting on the black rhino carcass
I had some wonderful birding sightings, from little blue waxbills, Open Bill Stork, Ostrich, Martial Eagle, and Brown Snake Eagle etc. But my best sighting of the month was the mating ritual of the Bateleur. I now know why thy call it a “berghaan” (mountain rooster) in Afrikaans - because of the crowing sound it makes. We sat at least an half an hour at the amazing display of the bird, puffing up its feathers, jumping up and down showing of its plumage, open and closing its wings and crowing like a crazy rooster. This was a fantastic experience and I hope the photographs can justify some of its magnificence.
The Bateleur Eagle puffing up its feathers
It is clear that the seasons are changing, the knob thorns and wild pears are starting to bloom and we had our first bit of rain last week- Spring is on our doorstep and we are going to have a beautiful summer, I can’t wait to see what sightings we are going to have this month. ”
Tolli is a professional photographer as well as a tourist guide, so enjoy these and future shots.
RHULANI started the month on what he terms “Kill Day”. On 1 August Rhulani and guests saw a giraffe kill, lions on a fresh zebra kill and two different sightings of Martial Eagle kills : first a Francolin and then a young impala.
On 6 August Rhulani and guests saw how affectionate lions can be. He reports as follows : “On the loop road near Nsemane, a lioness crossed right in front of us. From the other side, another lioness appeared from the bush and crossed the road and ‘kissed’ her sister . They then called the cubs to join them. Later the same day we completed our Big Five sightings by viewing the female leopard that is often seen near Bobbejaankrans.
On the 30th August we had another Big Five day. We had sightings of two different leopards on the S 100 and had a really great photographic experience of a lioness that walked right past our open vehicle. We arrived late at the gate and convinced the authorities not to fine us for being late by showing the wonderful photos that had been taken.”
THULANI does most of his drives along the S 39 ( Timbavati River loop ) and S 36
(Mudzanzene Road). He reports excellent sightings of the Big Five. Lions were seen eating on a still alive Black Rhino at Shimangwanene Dam. It is not clear whether the rhino was injured by another rhino or taken down by the lions. Thulane reported the matter to the Satara authorities who came and put the rhino out of its misery immediately. If it is the case that the Black Rhino was, in fact, caught by the lions then this is bad news. In Chobe Reserve in Botswana, lions have learned how to kill elephants. There is no record of this ever happening in Kruger. What worries me is that the lions may eventually specialise in Black Rhino kills. These are endangered and it may become quite a problem. I read in the newspaper that 34 rhinos, of which one was a Black Rhino, have been poached since the beginning of the year. I so wish that lions would frighten and terrify would-be poachers sufficiently to change jobs!
Thulane had a great day on 22nd August as reported : “ We saw lions feeding on a giraffe on the S 100; two cheetah on the S 140 standing on a termite mound; eight Wild Dogs about six km further on the same road and plenty buffalo, elephant and White Rhino. Missed the leopard, but got two on the 29th along the S 100.”
ANDRIES reports as follows : “The 1st August was for me a great day in that we had a sighting of 20 Wild Dogs near Orpen Gate. I have also seen a big male leopard on three occasions this month in the immediate vicinity of Orpen Camp. I was fortunate to see the same pack of Wild Dogs again on the 13th – great sightings , especially as I have never seen them on Balule ”
NEWS AT TREMISANA GAME LODGE
We are busy with construction. At Tremisana we are building a two bedroomed Guest House which can be used for guests or double up as staff accommodation.
NEWS AT MARC’S TREEHOUSE LODGE
At Marc’s we are busy building four rooms for the guides. These are positioned behind treehouses 5 and 8 and will make the clients feel a little more relaxed insofar as the guides will be within calling distance should something horrible and hairy become a nuisance.
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
September is Tourist Month and we hope that the international economic downturn does not dampen the good numbers of tourists we have had thus far in 2009.
I include a selection of comments entered into the Guest Books during August:
MARC’S TREEHOUSES
05-08-09, Niels Faber : “ Not only did the wild animals contribute to my great stay at Marc’s Treehouse Lodge, but the hospitality of all the employees made for an unforgettable experience. This place, along with the Kruger Park, was really great – I loved it and hope to come back one day to see more of the wildlife. More Success to you ! Go on ! ”
15-08-09, The Grooms from Kent, England : “ Flo was an excellent hostess – she was incredibly sociable and made us feel welcome. The guides were brilliant and knowledgeable and the camp was so amazing – great to be so close to the animals ! ”
22-08-09, Ramesh Pavadepoulle, Bangkok, Thailand : “ Enchanted by the songs of guests as well as the animals. Warmed by the sunrise and the friendship of the hostess. Amazed by the treehouses and the availability of the staff. This place is magical, full of warmth, love, friendship, kindness…One of the most fantastic trips I have ever had in many destinations in over 20 countries. Thanks to all the staff especially Lorey and Tolli. I will be back for sure – I promise ! ”
TREMISANA
08-08-09, Dagmar and Calvin Devereaux, Germany : “ It really was a great stay here. We loved all the game tours especially the walking through the Bush ! We are truly grateful for the time spent here and hope to come back some day. Thanks a lot !! ”
12-08-09, Sandy and Steve Halpeny, California : “ Thank you so much for a great five days – the experience far exceeded our expectations and will be remembered always - Pearl you are one in a million ! ”
13-08-09, Andrew Wilson, Australia : “ A heartfelt thanks to Pearl, Bertus, Tolli and Lorey and the rest of the team for showing me this wonderful part of South Africa – a truly amazing country ! ”.
LETTERS RECEIVED VIA EMAIL
From: Ryan & Carol
Went on a VIVA Safaris Kruger Trip on early July 2009, had an amazing experience. What can I say, keep the binoculars at the ready and be prepared for - as Bill and Ted would say “An excellent Adventure”. From a pride of lions, to a passing cheetah and relaxed Giraffe to name a few you will never be bored. Thank you Andries and Astrid for your incredible attention to detail and well organised tours.
One of the Irish Five “Oul Ladies….”
Slán
Carol
From: Jean Houlihan
(Safari 1st – 3rd July 2009)
Dear Piero
I am writing to let you know what a wonderful time my friends and I had on our 3-day safari experience with Viva Safaris in July this year. We stayed with Anthony in Johannesburg, who made our trip such a safe, informative and enjoyable one. We loved our accommodation in the Cheetah Inn also, with Astrid contributing to our pleasurable stay by making us feel so welcome and cared for.
Our safari experience culminated in seeing 3 of the big 5, including 2 cheetahs at the end of the day, and also a pride of lions resting in the shade after a big meal. Even the bitter cold weather at night could not deter our experience, where we sat in the welcome heat of the boma afterwards!!
The thrill of seeing all the animals made the adventure all the more exciting, but it was the Viva Safari staff which made the whole trip brilliant for us. You have a great crew working for you!
Thanks again to Anthony who looked after us like family. He is a wonderful credit to your company. I have already recommended Viva Safaris to all my friends, and hope to return again in the next couple of years with the rest of my family.
Many thanks again for a wonderful holiday.
Kind regards
Jean Houlihan
From: Benjamin Balak
Dear Piero,
I'm finally home after a series of travels which started back in May in South Africa with my elderly parents, my wife, & 2 young kids. We had an amazing time both at Marc's Treehouse & in Johannesburg & cannot wait to come back. Everybody from Viva Safaris was charming, knowledgeable, & very helpful but I must mention in particular 2 people who stand out: Rhulani who took us to Kruger & Abi who took us to Soweto. I have been fortunate to travel quite a lot over the years & have experienced many excellent guides but Rhulani & Abi were exceptional.
Beyond being able to find all big 5 + many more in just 2 days at Kruger, Rhulani was extremely knowledgable about the wildlife & easily able to share his knowledge at a very sophisticated level & for my young kids--as a professor I can trully appreciate his skills. I also particularly appreciated the relaxed but efficient way he managed the tours, & our conversations around dinner.
When we returned to Joburg we were in for a real intellectual & human treat. Abi took us shopping at the flee market & helped us find everything we wanted, but more importantly, we increasingly started asking questions about apartheid & the reforms since which is a topic of great professional & personal interest to me. The next day Abi took us to Soweto for one of the most moving days of my life. He exactly understood our interests & was able to strike a perfect balance between letting us explore some things on our own while adding his personal insights & experiences to fill in the gaps--once again, an outstanding guide.
Finally, I wanted to mention that I began discussing the possibility of organizing a student trip & possibly a separate faculty trip to South Africa at my college & look forward to having these remarkable 2 gentlemen as our guides. Academic administrations are quite slow so it may take some time before we can organize this but I want to return to South Africa & would definitely use your company.
All the very best,
Beni
As always, I thank the staff for having elicited such warm and heartfelt comments – you are great !
With kind regards,
Piero
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