I wish you a happy and fulfilling 2011 !
I am sad to report that for us it has not been a very happy start to 2011.
Although the rhino poachers had their Christmas break, they did not waste any time in getting on with their unholy activities early on in the new year. Unfortunately they shot and killed and dehorned one of the longest-horned White Rhino in Motlala Game Reserve. Many of our previous guests at Marc’s Treehouse Lodge will have taken brilliant photos of this magnificent animal. Her horn was over 1,2 metres long and she was pregnant ! Please pray that the poaching will stop.
Shot, killed and dehorned Rhino - Shocking!
We are fortunate in having a good anti-poaching unit called Protrack that operate in our area. I really feel that the time is rapidly approaching when our rhino custodians must shoot at the poachers. I reckon that once the message gets around that we regard the poachers as the vermin that they are and that there will be no hesitation in shooting them, then perhaps they will think twice about risking their lives.
Thanks to Gordon at Satara, I have erected a poster at the entrance to Tremisana :
Delina and Pearl at the STOP KILLING RHINOS poster
I took the photo below of two of a group of four rhino that have been seen regularly on Balule Plains over the last two months. We can only hope and pray that they will survive these murderous poachers.
Two rhino regularly seen on Balule Plains
When I was a young child, I recall being taught at Catholic School that “ the love of money is the root of all evil ”. Are you aware that rhino horn is now more costly than gold ?
The price of rhino horn, which have an average mass of 7 kg, is R 400 000 per kg.
In London, yesterday’s price of gold was US $ 1345.50 per fine ounce which is equivalent to R 306 000 per kg. The rhino has been condemned to death by sheer greed, fuelled by dubious medical claims and human pride.
The elite in Yemen apparently carry daggers called ‘ jambiya’ with handles made of rhino horn. A stupid minister in Vietnam made a ridiculous statement last year that powdered rhino horn helped cure his cancer. According to the International Rhino Foundation, traditional Chinese medicine considers that rhino horn has curative qualities. Ground to a powder, when dissolved in water, the rhino horn apparently can be used to treat gout, rheumatism and fever. My doctor daughter has suggested that the same effect can be had by grinding our finger nails. Perhaps I can start a new business selling ground finger nails to the Orientals ………………………
With the increasing affluence of China and Vietnam, rhino horn has suddenly become a very sought-after commodity. It is a symbol of status, a means for the well-to-do to flaunt their wealth. It is not unusual for affluent Vietnamese and even government officials to give one another gifts of rhino horn. In November 2008 the Vietnamese embassy’s first secretary was even filmed buying rhino horn from a South African trafficker right in front of the Vietnamese Embassy !!!!
Last year the final total of murdered rhino was around 335. In 2007 it was under 15. To date in 2011 we are already close to 30 at the time of writing.
When will this madness stop ?
GAMEVIEWING REPORTS FROM OUR GUIDES
DECEMBER REPORTS
MARK submitted his report as follows :
It has been quite an eventful month in Balule this month as the lions have been around quite a bit. It has been great seeing them. I always regard seeing these lions as far better than those at both Tshukudu and Kruger.
My highlights are as follows:
Highlight 1 : 28 Nov
This is a special day primarily just for me as I saw my first Pennant-winged Nightjar on the sunset drive! Not only is this a special bird to see, but it is quite possibly the most southerly pennant-wing recorded thus far. I am waiting on Steve from Toro Yaka to find out for me.
Highlight 2 : 5 Dec
Had a wonderful day in the Kruger. We saw impalas (with lots of babies), zebras, wildebeest, waterbuck, kudu, steenbuck, bushbuck, giraffe, tortoises, buffalo, rhino, lions on a zebra kill. This would have been good enough but we also saw a cheetah on a baby impala kill and then watched him being chased off by 4 vultures! We had 19 wild dogs running down the road all around us which was just absolutely fabulous! Polly and I recorded 41 species of birds without even trying. Included in this was lappet-faced vultures, loads of bateleurs and 3 flocks of eastern-redfooted falcons, each one containing hundreds of birds.
Oh, and we never saw one elephant, the first time ever for me. I guess you can't have it all hey. haha.
Highlight 3 : Sat 11 - Thur 16 Dec
Four night drives in a row on Balule produced 14 lions the first night, 3 rhinos the 2nd, lions and chameleon on the 3rd, 4 rhino and 14 lions on the 4th. On the morning of the 16th, we spent the hours morning drive watching the lions on Olifants road, close to camp.
Other highlights for the month includes seeing more lions on Balule on the night of 29 Dec, lots of chameleons and tortoises, matabele ants on raids, 4 rhinos on a walk on 28 Dec, puffadder on a walk that came very close to zapping me and a guest! (14 Dec), on 4 Dec - some wonderful displaying by 3 water thick-knees to a water monitor as it walked down to the waters edge.
All in all it has been quite an eventful month. It has also produced little rain with intermittent cool to boiling hot days. The dams have not risen at all, so let’s hope the new year brings in the rains for us. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new year holds in store for me.
BONGANI submitted his report as follows :
0n 11-12-10
The pride of lions came to the lodge to look for buffalos. The monkeys were making a noise as well. The lions called for the whole night. Early in the morning we went out for walk. A few metres from the lodge there was a pride of14 loins sleeping on the road without moving, we spend one hour watching them play and roaring. Mark came to join us as we looked at the lions against a beautiful sunrise.
On 12-12-10
We had great luck with amazing sightings of Wild Dogs, for two days in a row. It was unbelievable because we saw two different groups in one day. The first group was twenty one and the second one was eight walking on the road towards Satara. Half of the group was on the road sleeping and others were looking at impalas. On the way back to the lodge we found them in same area eating an impala, which was clearly not enough for them. The following day we found them at Kingfisherspruit turn off. This is why I believe Viva clients are so fortunate : they see all there is in Balule and then also get brilliant sightings of animals like Wild Dogs which are not seen in Balule !
On 29-12-10
I drove to Balule Plains and was surprised not to see impala, zebra and blue wildebeest. At least we had good sighting of lions that tried to make a kill right in front of us. It was interesting to see the way the formed a circle. There was one zebra in the middle and all of them started to run towards the zebra. But they missed a dinner, because there were lots of youngsters in the pride without experience and I asked myself what want wrong. The following we want back to check if they had caught something. We found them with empty stomachs and sleeping for the whole day. The two big male lions later came to join them.
Happy New Year.
All the best for 2011 !
Take care.
Isaac Ncube submitted his report as follows :
MONTHLY REPORT FOR DECEMBER
On Christmas day the 25th December we experienced a number of things in the Park. There were long queues at the gate. Everyone was eager to view the animals. There were foreigners and locals.
At about 10h00 about 100m from the Orpen Gate two male Impalas were chasing the female Impala, but they could not catch up with it. They stopped and started fighting and the 3rd male came and chased them away. They had tried to challenge the dominant male within the female herd.
At 14h30 pm about 16km along the S 100, there were a couple of mating lions about 20m away from the road. They mated three times within a space of one hour.
On the 27th we started the trip as normal at 09h00. It was very hot. Before the Orpen gate we saw a cheetah and its 3 cubs resting under a tree. There was an elephant about 100m away. The Cheetah were keeping a close eye on the Elephant fearing that they might be attacked.
At Ngirivana Dam Around 11h30am we had a good sighting of a hippo along the bank. When it saw us it dived into the water. For a couple of minutes it submerged and then it came up opening its mouth widely as a sign of warning to us not to get too close. It started rolling and having a lot of fun.
After lunch we took the Sweni Road. About 4km along Sweni at about 15h00 we had a super sighting of a White Rhino having a mud bath. It then walked along the road for about 50m. After for about 15minutes it went into the bush, then took a nap under a tree where there was a cheetah. The cheetah had to make way for the rhino. The cheetah climbed a dry slanted tree where he had a clear view of the rhino.
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We spotted many lions this month
Mayneth Sondane submitted his report as follows :
11/12/10
The highlight was on S126 were we spotted a pack of 21 wild dogs lying under a tree. They were a metre away from the road under a knob thorn tree. There was not much movement as it was a very hot day.
12/12/10
On S127 we found a Rhino walking in the middle of the road and only two kilometres away from the Rhino we spotted two lions and a lioness that had just killed a wildebeest next to the tarred road (H1-3). One of the males was sitting right next to the road watching cars whilst the others were protecting the meat from the vultures that had surrounded them.
14/12/10
Nearing the end of our trip homeward bound l spotted a leopard sitting 5 metres from the road. It was a male leopard. There were only two cars at the spot so we managed to view the leopard for a good while until the other vehicles started arriving. The leopard then stood up and moved a further three metres into the bush.
14/12/10
It was a very interesting day which started with a sighting of a White Rhino 2km from the Orpen gate walking near the tarred road. About 500 metres away were buffalos resting in a pool of mud. On H7 there were two male lions lying under the shade near the tarred road. As the lions lay there four zebras approached unaware of the danger in front of them. The lions rose up as the zebras got closer. Quickly responding to the danger ahead the zebras fled and the lions went back to lie down.
On our way out at Nsemani dam we spotted a male Leopard lying in the tree. It did not move much - just changed position occasionally.
26/12/10
3 km from Orpen gate , a female cheetah with three cubs were playing very close to the road . On our way out we saw them again - they had not changed position.
29/12/10
We spotted a pack of 14 wild dogs on H7. They all lay about 10 metres from the road with very little movement. 3 km from the dogs we spotted a mating lion couple.
Raymond Khoza submitted his report as follows :
04/12/10
Our highlight happened at about midday on the H6 about 2km from the main road to Satara, we found a mating pair of Lions very close to the road less than 10 metres away.
21/12/10
On H7 at about 09h45 we found an old lioness battling with a tortoise shell trying to break it. It later gave up seeing that the shell would not break. Later in the morning at about 11h30 on the same road 800 metres towards Nsemani Dam we found a large Python in the middle of the road busy swallowing a baby Impala.
30/12/10
The highlight was the leopard we found on S40 about 2km from the main road towards Satara. It was lying in a tree with an Impala kill. More cars started approaching and the leopard decided to hide in the bushes below and it disappeared from our sight.
JANUARY REPORTS
Isaac submitted his report as follows :
11/1/2011
I was doing a sunset drive in the Balule Game Reserve and we came across many species and some had young ones. We saw a Giraffe which was wounded, The Red billed Oxpeckers were sucking blood from the wound.
At 18h00 we came across a big herd of Impalas. The rams were fighting because there was a mixup of different families. When one of the rams moved away about 100m away, the females joined it. At Impala Dam we stopped and watched a hippo which was opening its mouth to show aggressiveness.
When we went around the dam, 7 lions were coming to the dam. The waterbucks which were drinking water ran for their life. The hippo wanted to come out and graze, but the lions were ready for it and made their presence known to him. The hippo quickly went back into the water. The hippo ended up changing the direction of exit from the water and the lions ended up leaving. It was clear that this was a young inexperienced pride as I am certain that they would have been seriously battered by the hippo.
15/1/2011
There was lots of game at the Orpen gate. We saw Giraffes, Wildebeest, Kudus, Black Backed Jackal which was chasing a Swainson’s Francolin. As we drove about 3km along Orpen road we had a fantastic sighting of two Leopards on the tree at a distance of about 30m. There were just resting. We also spotted some vultures from a distance which showed that there was a carcass somewhere around that area.
At 12h30 on the S127, we had a brilliant sighting of three cheetahs that were trying to catch an ostrich. One of the private vehicles disturbed them. They remained hidden, as they saw some warthogs grazing and moving towards them. They waited in vain as the warthogs sensed danger and changed their direction. About 3 km along the S90 at around 13h00 we had a great sighting of a pride of 18 lions resting under a bush, only two metres from the road. A pair of mating lions was a bit further away from the pride. They all stood up and were all looking at us.
MARK submitted his report as follows :
it has been a topsy-turvy month with a fair bit of rain (the dams are showing signs of filling up now), a bit quiet with guests, but a steady flow nonetheless, and some lovely, and rare, sightings on offer.
Once again, I think my highlights will be a little on the different side. You all know what I am like as far as highlights are concerned!
Highlight 1:4 January
A day in the Kruger. Although the group was a bit difficult, it turned out to be a brilliant day for animals. About 300 metres from Orpen camp, we had a Cheetah mother with 3 young (about 3-4 months old). After watching them for no more than about 2 minutes, my guests said "ok, we can go now". I was so surprised that I decided to explain to them what a wonderful sighting this was. They decided to watch the Cheetahs for another minute and then said the same. Some people just don't get it hey! About 5 kilometres down we got another 2 Cheetahs, for which we barely stopped as it was drizzling and my guests were not happy about that.
After this weird and wonderful start to the day, things went a bit quiet until we came to a traffic jam in the road.....about 20 African Wild Dogs on the move and on the hunt. There were loads of cars around as it was still holiday season. This took a bit away from the sighting unfortunately, but it was none-the-less very exciting. Some of the Wild Dogs got hold of an impala and brought it out onto the road where they proceeded to tear it to bits in seconds, all in front of everybody!
After that the day calmed down, rain went away, and the guests got happier. We had some lovely ellie sightings for the day as well.
Highlight 2: 11 January
I had a lovely group of 6, and Polly joined us for the day as well. We were in the park for the day. It was not one of those "massive sighting" days, but what made it was a group that just loved everything that they saw for the day.
We had all the usual general game sightings, with lots of baby Wildebeest and Impala sightings. Good Giraffe, and quite a few old Buffalo boys. We saw Violet-backed Starlings, a Giant Kingfisher, and a baby Red Crested Korhaan chick!! (I have included a picture of it. It might be a common species, but it is pretty rare to see a chick this young) We had a bat in the ladies toilet at Satara (which both the men in the group went to go have a look at, much to the surprise and consternation of the cleaning lady !). We had lovely Elephant sightings, some close and some far, thus providing a nice mix. We had a good sighting of a lion walking in the grassy areas near to the Rabelais turn-off - a bit far but lovely to watch, and we had a wet Jackal interacting with two newborn Wildebeest (they kept chasing him around).
All in all, a lovely day had by all.
A baby Red Crested Korhaan chick
Highlight 3: 24 January
A day in the Kruger with four guests and Polly. A reasonably quiet day interspersed with some wonderful sightings. It started with a Lappet-faced Vulture in a tree, drying himself out. We had lots of baby Impalas and Wildebeest, a baby Puff Adder crossing the road, and three tortoises ( two were Leopard and one was a Hinge-back). We saw Buffalo and some good Elephant as well. We had two separate Lion sightings, one was of three males lying in the long grass just off the road on the way to N'wanetsi picnic site, and one was a male on the main tar road, about 10kms from Orpen. He was lovely and, as lions do, didn't care in the slightest for all around him. I had to put two wheels in the bush to get around him as he did not want to move.
Another highlight, this one being of a personal nature, was a busmans holiday that Polly and I took in the Northern Kruger during our days off. We went in through Phalaborwa gate, camped at Shingwedzi the first night, Punda Maria the next two, and Letaba on the last night. That north area of the park is still one of the most beautiful areas you can see in South Africa.
We saw amazing things! This included 147 bird species. I added about ten new birds to my list including Golden Weaver and White-backed Night Heron. We got some wonderful mammal sightings which included a pregnant Sharpe's Grysbok, two male lions walking within half a metre of our car for about a kilometre, and a herd of about 40 Eland with one huge male in the middle. It was a wonderful trip, one that we hope to do again soon.
Well, that's about it for this month.
BONGANI submitted his report as follows :
From 01-01-11
Balule game reserve and Kruger park safaris
It was a good month in Balule, because almost every day we saw lions, white rhinos, elephants and buffalos. We had a good sighting of a very large herd of elephants walking on the road. They had some really small babies. It was a beautiful sighting - as we were watching the elephants two hyenas came out of the bush because the elephant was walking their way. One of baby elephants followed the hyenas for few metres and made lots of noise. The Balule Plains is beautiful place to be, especially as the sun sets. We find different types of animals like impala, zebra, waterbuck and giraffe. I have seen lions there for many days in a row.
01-01-11
During our morning Bush Walk, we were lucky to have a great sighting of two hippos outside the water grazing and very relaxed. We spent a lot of time with them and enjoyed them because during the rainy season it is difficult to see them out the water. A few minutes after we left the hippos, we heard a hyena vocalising. We stopped to listen from which direction the call was coming. Suddenly we saw a baby impala running in our direction. Behind was the hyena coming after the baby but when it saw us it stopped trying to get at the baby. It came very close to us. After a few seconds it moved away from us, but very slowly.
05-01-11
KNP
In Kruger we had Wild Dogs walking on the road right in front of us for half an hour. I left the sighting because there were too many cars. On our way back we had another sighting of the Wild Dogs. They were eating but I could not tell what they had killed. It was something small like a baby impala or Steenbuck. All of them were active and looking around but they were surrounded by cars. We later saw impalas, elephants, zebra, blue wildbeest and giraffe.
Mayneth submitted his report as follows :
02-01-2011
Our first sighting was 21 wild dogs lying under the shade on H7. After a few minutes they started moving into the bush and half of the group remained on the spot.
As it was very hot, the weather changed and it started raining. We took the S100 and we had a really excellent sighting of a pride of 9 lions that were very relaxed. There were Zebras and Waterbuck nearby. The lions started moving away from the prey.
On H7 on our way back the same 21 wild dogs were now on the tarred road. The grass was wet because of the rains and it was now hard for them to be at the same spot. One km before Orpen gate we had a fantastic sighting of one female cheetah with 3 cubs crossed the road going into the bush. They looked very relaxed.
26/01/2011
On H 1-4 a lioness came from S89 walking very slowly. When it came closer it stopped for a few minutes and looked at our open vehicle, then walked along the road towards Olifants. About 500m further on the tarred it went into the bush then came out again with 7 cubs. Amazing ! She slept on the open area and the cubs were nursing.
27/01/2011
On the S100 about 200 metres away, a male waterbuck was chasing a female crossing the road. The male stopped chasing it and the female looked on the other side and saw four lionesses sleeping just 20m from the road. It promptly turned back and ran away. The lions were sleeping in different positions. One of the lionesses stood up and tried to chase, but the waterbuck had gone already. Then it came back where the other lions were sleeping and relaxed.
NEWS FROM OUR LODGES
TREMISANA has had substantial rain but Tremisana Dam is only a quarter full.
Our guests enjoy seeing the family of warthogs and the monkey troop while we serve breakfast in the Lapa. The monkey troop has some tiny new additions.
MARC’S TREEHOUSE CAMP has had a lot more rain than Tremisana. The Klaserie river is running very strongly and the Breakfast Dam is full. The Adventure Camp Dam is also full and a herd of 12 buffalos are seen wallowing there almost every day during the hot midday hours.
We have had very favourable reports about our new mosquito nets :
The new mosquito nets at Marcs Treehouse Camp
Email received
Dear Polly and Mark,
Hope you are fine and had a good start into 2011. Back to Germany, back to the grey, cold winter I remember the good time we had at Tremisana. Thanks again for your effort and dedication which really made our days much more fun and so interesting.
I started to make out the origin of the word flehmen but have to admit that I have not been very fortunate. At least I read that it was introduced as a term to behavioural science by the former zoo director of Leipzig in 1930, Prof. Dr. Karl-Max Schneider. Nonetheless, even our professor of linguistics here at university could not add more. Anyhow, we passed the question on to a specialist for the Dutch (to follow another etymological assumption) and will see if she can come up with something. I think the most likely explanation is that a word of dialect colouring was used which is no longer part of the actually spoken language. My reference here is my old mother (86) who was born and raised around Leipzig in Saxony. I am sorry that I did not come to know more about it.
On our way back to Pretoria I came across the crime story Blood Safari by Deon Meyer of which I am almost sure you know it – if not, get it. The story is set around Hoedspruit and Moholoholo! I really enjoyed reading it especially after being a bit familiar with the area.
Please pass our regards to Pearl -thanks for her unfailing good care- and Bongeni!
You two, all the best, have a splendid year, success and may all your dreams come true!
Best wishes
Sabine
NEWS FOR OUR TRAVEL PARTNERS
We have made a decision to accommodate Viva Safaris clients only at Tremisana and Marc’s Treehouse and Adventure Camps as from 1 Jan 2011. This means that the Cheetah Inn will be available to other tour operators. We shall be marketing Cheetah Inn once we have a grading from AA ( Automobile Association) Travel.
The overall feedback from our clients in respect of the new itineraries is excellent. The 4 hour game walk has been very well received. The vegetation along the Olifants River is nothing short of spectacular ! Of course, if there are any guests who really do not wish to go on the walk, then we can make an alternative arrangement and include an additional game drive. To date this has not yet happened !
The Olifants River
For me personally, the Olifants River has a great allure. The massive Sycamore Figs (that are way older than I am) produce a humbling effect on me. It is so good to know that these giants have survived the floods that we have experienced periodically. Their permanence breathes a gust of fresh air into our ever-diminishing wildlife environment. My hope and my prayer is that my great- great grandchildren will also one day look upon these magnificent creations and find time to bask in Nature and the God of Nature !
With best wishes
Until next month...
Piero
General Manager
Viva Safaris
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