The African Civet is generally a nocturnal animal so I was pleasantly surprised to receive from our guide, Christo, the photo posted below :
An African Civet spotted by Christo
Those of you who have been reading my newsletters for some time will recall that we had a fairly tame Civet visiting our Boma at Tremisana about 2 years ago. This was a regular nightly event until the local Honey Badger had a fight with the Civet and chased her off. Civets move on regular paths and we have one presently at Tremisana that drinks from the illuminated waterhole in front of the Lapa between 22h30 and 23h00. While it forages, the Civet moves slowly with its head extended towards the ground as it sniffs for food. It is unmistakeable and the distinctive black mask reminds some of my American friends of the Racoon.
Civets have a catholic diet and are active hunters of small animals such as rats and even go for animals as large as hares. They are known to consume vast quantities of millipedes when these are available and their latrines are often identified through the presence of millipede rings. I do not know of any other animal that consumes millipedes with such relish as the millipedes secrete an offensive malodorous liquid. I have personally seen a Civet eating the dung of antelope - I presume this was done to benefit from the vitamins therein.
I had a pleasant day in Kruger on 26 August and took this photo of a Saddle-billed Stork at Girivana waterhole.
A Saddle-billed Stork at Girivana waterhole.
I also took a shot of impala at sunset:
Impala at sunset.
On behalf of all at Viva, I extend our heartiest congratulations to former Viva guide, Bertus Britz and his wife Helaine on the birth of your son, Wynand. Well done !
GAMEVIEWING REPORTS FROM OUR GUIDES
BONGANI is presently enjoying a well-deserved rest and faxed me his report.
He conducted a Bush walk on Balule Plains and got to within 10 metres of an elephant bull. I really wonder what the guests must go through emotionally – when I am 10 metres away whilst in the relative safety of a vehicle, I reckon that it’s just about close enough, thank you ! Anyway he reports that the elephant was 'relaxed and friendly' whatever the latter adjective may mean. On the same walk, while returning to where the Landcruiser was parked, Bongani and guests were very close to a big herd of buffalos. He says that they then spent an hour watching the herd!
The guests and Bongani clearly made an equally ‘friendly’ impression on the Buffalo because the same massive herd moved from Balule Plains to Tremisana Lodge where they spent the next two days ! Unfortunately Tremisana is a regular hunting area for the lion pride and Bongani reports that one of the herd was killed the very next day ! Our guests had excellent sightings of the pride - Bongani counted a massive group of 18 lions on the buffalo kill !
Bongani reports his highlight in Kruger Park as follows : “On the 16 August, we had an early entry at Orpen and while we were drinking tea and coffee within the fenced area near the gate, we saw a cheetah walking on the road. A herd of zebra was cautiously following the cheetah at a distance. At Nsemani Dam we had excellent sightings of elephants and buffalos drinking water and wallowing in the mud. Then two White rhino joined them at the water. On the Timbavati road we found a young Leopard that was stalking impalas. Our Big Five sightings were completed with a pride of 10 lions on the S100.”
MARK has emailed the following :
It’s been a quiet month with nothing major as far as sightings is concerned. I've certainly seen loads, but there has been little to really stand out.
Balule is very quiet at the moment. I have not seen any family herds of ellies for about 3 weeks now. My 3 highlights were all in the first half of the month.
Highlight one : 04 August
I was driving up Nonwane west cutline, about 06h20 in the morning. I had 5 guests with me and we were on our way for a morning walk on Balule Plains. The next thing, out of the blue, we had one honey badger run across the road in front of us, and another (about 2 metres from us on the left), growling and running backwards with the tail up. The one on the right hung around and in fact came closer three times, giving my guests, and myself, a wonderful view of these amazing animals.
Highlight two : 05 August
In the Kruger, a good day for mammals, but it was even better for me as far as birds was concerned. Just north of Satara, on the main road, we saw 2 Kori Bustards, close and magnificent. About 2 kilometres later, we came across a group of Southern Ground Hornbills. Another amazing species and a bird very close to my heart as I helped start the Ground Hornbill Working Group, in conjunction with the Endangered Wildlife Trust. About 3 kilometres after this, we saw 3 Secretary birds together. One was chasing another all around the place. There did not appear to be major aggression, but there was a lot of chasing. They would run along the ground at high speed with their wings outstretched. It seemed to me that it was possibly a breeding pair that was in the process of ousting their offspring. This would be why there did not seem to be major aggression, but there certainly was intention. Wonderful to see three of the Big 6 birds one after the other like that.
Highlight three : 12 August
I was doing a morning walk at Marc's Camp - my first since returning from the UK. I had 9 young adults and Polly was with me as well. We were on our way back to the vehicle, group slightly spread out with Polly at the back. The next thing I heard my name being shouted, with some urgency in the voice. I looked around and, coming from the side out of nowhere, was a subadult male buffalo, running slowly but with determination. Three of the girls in the group were running to me. Polly was hanging onto another girl to stop her from running (something that most likely saved both of them from injury). I shouted to them to stop, loaded my rifle, and shouted at the buffalo. He stopped, thankfully. I spoke to Polly and got her to wait a few seconds and then told her and the young girl to walk slowly to me, which they did. The buffalo thankfully stayed back and we backed out of the situation. Needless to say, the young girls in the group talked about little else for the day. Nothing like a little bit of adrenaline before breakfast hey!
MAYNETH as emailed the following :
04/08/10
The day started off with good sightings near the Orpen gate with a breeding herd of Elephants drinking at the waterhole. We had a wonderful opportunity to see the whole herd crossing the road in front of us. We drove to Nsemani dam where we saw a large herd of Buffalo sleeping next to the road - there were 400 in number.
In the afternoon l spotted a pride of 16 lions lying under the shade of some trees. There were also plenty of Zebras and Wildebeest around the waterhole as it was a hot day. A few metres up the road a rhino bull was standing right on the side of the road. As we were about to leave the park a guest spotted a Leopard sitting on the branch of a Jackelberry tree (African Ebony).
06/08/10
The Safari started off with a herd of Elephants on the Rabelais Road (S106) - a large bull was eating next to the road. After a long quiet period we saw a leopard on a tree along the H7 near Satara. It was sleeping at the time of our arrival but got up to stretch a few minutes later. 500 metres from Satara 8 bull buffalos crossed the road in front of our vehicle.
After lunch, we drove along the S100. We spotted a leopard coming out from the riverside moving towards my open vehicle. Surprisingly the leopard did not run away but instead it came close by the side of my door and continued forwards walking right in the road and luckily there were no other vehicles. We followed the leopard for a while until it turned into the bushes and disappeared. After the leopard sighting,we got a pride of 11 lions on the S100 near the river.
15/08/10
Our first sighting was of a leopard on S40 lying on the branch of a dead tree. After 15 minutes it got up , stretched, walked down quickly and disappeared.
Further on the S100 we spotted a pride of 16 lions which were just a few metres from the road. The pride comprised of two large males and the rest were lionesses with cubs . The lionesses decided to move further away from the crowded place but the two male lions stayed put. We managed to also see one of the lionesses try and hunt a wildebeest. We waited for its return and it came back empty handed.
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Elephants bathing in Nsemani Dam
RAYMOND reports as follows :
On the 13th of August, the guests and l witnessed a battle between a Hyena and a Leopard. They were fighting for the carcass of the Impala on S100 2km from the Gudzani Dam. This spectacular sighting took place at about 11h30.
The highlight of the 17th of August was a lion sitting 2 metres high in the tree on S100 road 1 km from Mananga trails. A pride of 12 lions was spotted on the 23rd of August on the S39 about 1 km from Piet Grobler Dam. They were eating a giraffe. This was at about 11h00. Further on H7 3km from Satara heading towards the Orpen gate we saw a leopard with a Warthog carcass.
The highlight of the month was on the 26th of August: three different leopard sightings, leopard was seen twice in the tree and once crossing the road in front of the vehicle on H7 about 12km from Orpen gate . Two different prides of lions were spotted also.
CHRISTO has emailed the following :
I decided to focus all on Kruger this month, because my guests and I had wonderful sightings in August 2010, I had 5 extraordinary sightings as a Guide and all were all a first for me.
1.) We went in at Orpen Gate around 9:00 and it was a bit cold and windy, so the start was quiet. We drove for 1 hour seeing elephant, kudu, impala, waterbuck etc. When we pitched up at a few cars all over the road, I knew there was something good to see, and I was right, there was a leopard male just lying in the grass with only his head visible. According to some people who were sitting there for about 2 hours, the leopard did not move, so they decided to leave, but as always I decided to stay with the hope that it might get up and give us a good sighting - and it did. We were sitting there for about 15 minutes when the leopard male got up, standing and looking around, so I quickly spotted an open gap just right next to the road. I stopped there and switched the vehicle off. Then the leopard slowly began to walk towards the road straight to our vehicle and suddenly he charged with his mouth open, and it really looked like he was going to attack us but then he stopped about 3 metres away, smelling in the grass. With no one expecting it, suddenly 2 spotted hyenas jumped out from a thick bush just behind the vehicle and the one went full speed for the leopard, and started fighting right in front of the vehicle. The leopard quickly took off.
Under the road there was a drainage pipe where the hyenas was protecting either their pups or some scavenged meat. This was one of my best sightings as a guide, and it happened right next to my vehicle. Wow !
2.) On my next safari in Kruger the day was icy cold and windy. Because of the weather the day started very slowly and was very quiet game-wise. We decided to go down towards Tshokwane to see if we could find some good sightings as there was a report of a lion kill there. As we arrived we only found a buffalo carcass surrounded by vultures. I then decided to drive down to where the road turns off towards Lower Sabie and the drive back towards N’wanetsi via Orpen Dam. As we turned off we spotted four Cheetahs lying about 30 metres from the vehicle, in an open area. We were at the sighting for about 20 minutes and had no movement out of the four. We then left the sighting to drive back. After about 25 minutes on the gravel road we met another Safari vehicle. I stopped and asked the Guide if he had any good sighting for the day. He responded by saying “ It’s dry today”. I told him about the four cheetahs, and then left him. As I changed to second gear I spotted yet another two cheetahs right in front of us in the road, this was an amazing sighting as we were in the middle of nowhere in Kruger and we were the only vehicle there as well. Thereafter the drive up to Satara went better as we had some elephants, buffalo and some plains game as well. After lunch we headed back towards Orpen Gate. Just after Nsemani we found yet another Cheetah all by himself lying just next to the road about 10 metres away.
This was after all not a bad day as this was a first for me - to see 7 Cheetahs in Kruger Park on the same day.
3.) Another great sighting in Kruger Park was on the S100 where we found a lone Lioness, up in a tree where she was sleeping. Every now and then she would stand up in the tree and turn around, look in all directions and lie down again. We were at the sighting for about 45 minutes to see what would happen. This was another First for me as a guide - I think she was up in the tree for her own safety and was not certain of where to rest or where she would be safe and so chose the tree.
Great sighting of a lioness up in a tree
4.) After a great day in Kruger seeing Four of the Big 5 and loads of ordinary game, we still needed a Leopard to put the cherry on top for the day. After driving around looking for the leopard we needed to head back towards the main gate around 16h00. My last resort to find a leopard was the Rabelais Road nearby the main gate. We drove really slowly on the road and having no success in finding a leopard, suddenly I spotted a black and white spotted cat that was not a Leopard but an incredible sighting of a African Polecat in day time, another first for me.
5.) The last but not the least of my Highlights for this month was on the S90, after driving the S100,S41,S90 Loop having Elephant and One White Rhino on the S100, Elephant, Hippo and Mating Lions on the S41, we headed back via S41 towards Satara for Lunch to find a pitch black ball of dust on the horizon. I immediately knew it was buffalo and stopped the vehicle and waited to find the biggest herd of buffalo I have ever seen in my whole life. They started crossing the road right in front of our vehicle, about 5 metres away. I think the herd was about 1200 – 1300 strong - they stampeded and crossed the road continuously for about 30 minutes in a dust ball. This was an unbelievably great experience for me as well for our guests.
NEWS FROM OUR LODGES
We had a number of travel agents visit this month and I thank them sincerely for their honest and insightful appraisals of our venues. As a result, we are pleased to inform you that Tremisana is in the process of a major make-over !
Each and every one of the rooms will be improved as per the valuable suggestions made by our travel agent friends.
One of the renovated rooms
From now on, all breakfasts will be held at the Lapa overlooking the waterhole. The monkeys and warthogs are there regularly in force and the constant coming and going of numerous birds having their breakfast drink adds a new dimension to the game-viewing experience for our guests while they enjoy their meal.
Guests at breakfast
Not only did we benefit from advice on improvements at Tremisana, but our valued travel agents also gave us some pointers for Marc’s Treehouse Lodge and Marc’s Adventure Camp. I shall include photos and descriptions in next month’s newsletter.
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
The 2011 tariffs for safaris accommodated at Tremisana (including Fly-in safaris) and at Marc’s Treehouse Lodge and Marc’s Adventure Camp are available. Cheetah Inn tariffs are not yet finalised.
Trevor will be visiting agents in Cape Town in early September. He will see our usual supportive agents. Please feel free to give him a call on 0824509930 should you wish to make an appointment to see him at a specific time.
Below I include a few comments retrieved from our Guest Books. Once again, our grateful thanks to all staff at the lodges.
From Florence :
Remarks from Marc’s Treehouse Lodge Guest Book:
Daniel Yox, 18/08/10, USA
Terrific experience, great visits to the Kruger Park, excellent food and service.
The morning walk was very interesting.
Alex Devenish and Mark Everitt, 22/08/10, England
Superb guides, awesome accommodation and great food, especially the soup. Unforgettable experience.
John and Annette Wright, 24/08/10, Brisbane,Australia
Great spot, great staff, great food, great fun, great way to experience the South African safari bush camp way of life.
From Pearl :
Remarks from Tremisana Guest Book :
Sheila Stead , 6/08
What can I say, this being my 2nd visit even better. Highly recommended to the "older" person who is so well looked after and every comfort ensured by a highly trained and capable staff. Thank you Pearl, Bongani, Mark and Delina for a wonderful 4 days
Chris and Vicky Commins, 21/08
We have had a fantastic honeymoon. We are glad we chose the 6 days saw heaps of animals and got a good chance to know the staff. The rooms were well maintained and cosy, if anyone else is going to head this way we will recommend it and the 6 days. Could not have asked for anything better. Thank You from the bottom of our heart. Mark watch out for the Zebra bums hahaha!
Georgia Lorenti, 24/08
Thank you for the brilliant experience and for adopting me. I shall certainly visit again!
Until next month...
With kind regards,
Piero
General Manager
Viva Safaris
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