Landscapes
The inundation is particularly high – and those in the know say the last time we had this much water in the area was in 2010. This was not unexpected however, as we had late summer rains this year, and at the time the seasonal inflow started coming through, the ground was already wet. The majority of our Vumbura Concession is covered with water, with the islands becoming a lot smaller for the predators. The turpentine grass is high still too.
Wildlife sightings
Our guests enjoyed exceptional predator sightings this month, with lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas and wild dogs making their appearances.
Elusive as leopards are, guests enjoyed incredible sightings of these creatures – despite being camouflaged so well in the vegetation… especially the sausage trees that they love so much, that are nice and green. Marang is the dominate female operating on the southern side of our camp, and she and her cub were spotted from time to time enjoying warthog, impala and red lechwe kills. She really does steal the show and is raising a male cub so well that it will become its own killing machine eventually. In fact, our guides toyed with the idea of calling her Killing Machine.
Cheetah are a rare sighting in the area, but we have seen a solitary male just trotting along, or lying in the high turpentine grass that is the perfect cover from prey. With the game viewers in sight, he gave our guests a treat, and ‘posed’ for the cameras, with the light just perfect in that moment.
A lioness with cubs was spotted around the airstrip. The youngsters were playing around and already at that tender age were climbing the trees and fooling around. Guests can’t get enough of their playful antics as they chase each other around, and the mother showed maternal affection, grooming these small creatures. The lioness made a zebra kill which saw the family feeding for a couple of days; this kill wasn’t far from a waterhole so they didn’t have to move too far to drink either. Tender moments shared between the mother and her cubs were just brilliant to watch and sent chills down our collective spine.
A wild dog pack of 22 resurfaced and graced us with their presence, after being absent for almost a month recently. With their distinctive mottled coat and round ears, we are really fortunate to have such a huge pack – that continues to grow. They had been denning just next toward the buffalo fence on the western side of our concession, and the new puppies were visible from a distance, with about eight being counted. Sadly, after a couple of days, two were lost to lions, which eliminate the mushrooming competition in the area. These endangered carnivores are arguably Africa's most charismatic, and this pack has since relocated their den after losing some family members.
Management team: Mike, Caroline, Tshidi, Khumo, Grace, OB
Guides: OB, Taps, Gee, Tsono, Willie, Speedy
Newsletter by Michael Ramontsho, Vumbura North GM
