Winter in the bush

It has been a long while since I have visited Kruger in the winter months. I had almost forgotten why it is still considered the best time of the year to visit the bush.

Besides the magnificent game viewing, it is just more comfortable in many respects. The mornings can be quite chilly, especially on the back of an open game viewing vehicle, but otherwise very pleasant.

I was also very fortunate to have my longest continuous stay since before I can remember. 16 days in total I was out in the bush and I loved every second of it. I worked for some of it, showing some new Italian friends of ours all there is to see. Spent some time with family and got to enjoy a 3 night wilderness trail, the highlight for me.

There is something special about walking out in the wilderness, at grass root level, so to speak that just can't be explained. There is so much that is missed when you are in a vehicle. Tracks and signs that tell a story of a different world, but yet right on our door step. Suppose that is just it, you can stand there and look around and think to yourself, this could be a century earlier and you wouldn't even know. Untouched wilderness, using animal paths to make your way through the veld. It is an experience I highly recommend to any one!

Hopefully in the near future I can get the chunk of footage I have, edited and up for you to see, it just can't be explained in words, so watch this space.

Keep well, cheers.

Leopard (panthera pardus)

This young lady sat in this tree right next to the road in Kruger. Giving us an excellent view and photo opportunity.

• Leopards hold territories and will defend them against others. However only against members of the opposite sex. A males territory can overlap with 3 - 4 female territories.
• Occupation of a territory is shown using urine and faeces, clawing trees and vocally.
• They eat almost any animal, fish, reptiles, amphibians and eat more other carnivores than other predators. They are especially prone to eating jackals.
  
• Its hunting methods are classically feline, stalking to within 10m of its prey. They will stalk prey that is slowly moving away over a couple of 100m, or wait in ambush if prey is moving toward it.
• Leopard cubs are bought solid food within 6 weeks of birth and at 4 months will leave the den to hunt with the mother. A month later they make their first kill, but still remain with their mother for another 18 months.
  

Shark Cage Diving

Hi all,

Thought I would quickly share a fantastic experience I had recently just off Aliwal Shoal, on the KZN South coast.

For many years now shark diving has been pioneered in this region, with divers interacting with dusky, black-tip and the amazing tiger sharks. Unfortunately for the average Joe, it has only been available to advanced divers. Until now that is, where operations have now started where people with no scuba experience can climb into a soft net cage and get a close up look at these magnificent animals.

Armed with just a weight belt and goggles, I was able to get beautiful visuals of dusky and black-tip sharks as the swooped past the cage feeding on sardines. Unfortunately, we did not see any 'tigers', even though they were definitely in the area. Can you imagine though? A tiger is double the size of the ones we saw and look in the photo how big those sharks around the cage are!! Don't get me wrong, I felt 100% safe at all times and it was just really beautiful and relaxing.

I am sure if a Tiger shark had come cruising by, there would have been the adrenalin factor as well.

Of course if anybody is interested, we can hook it up for you. Contact us here

Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)

These 2 posed so nicely for us in the morning sunlight.....






Continuing on with the '5 Facts' theme, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the spotted hyena next, after all being the arch enemy of the lion.

• Hyena are highly social, living in clans of up to 80 individuals. The females being much larger out rank any males, with 1 female being the dominant leader. With the rest all fitting in with a strict hierarchy, even the young cubs will out rank the males. A female cub automatically inherits its moms rank in the clan.
• Outside males are allowed to join the clan by following an induction ritual whereby they show submission to all clan members over a few week period. Once accepted, they will out rank all resident males. This will give them first mating rights, thereby bringing new genes to the clan and avoiding closely related family members from inter breeding.
  
• They are renowned scavengers, using smell, watching for vultures and even hearing the noises of a new kill to find food. Despite this reputation, they are accomplished hunters, killing 75% of their own food.
  
• They can sprint at 60km/h, but use stamina to run down their prey, maintaining speeds in excess of 40km/h over 4-5kms. Their prey eventually dies of shock and blood loss.
• They have a series of different calls, grunts and yelps, but it is the distinctive whooo-oop and their giggle or cackle that they are known for. The latter being used when feeding or being chased off a kill, giving them their other name 'The laughing Hyena'. The whooo-oop call is very easy to pinpoint suggesting it is used to inform of an individuals location.

Thank you, hope you enjoyed the info.

Cheers.

The Lion (panthera leo)

We saw this Pride of lions on the crocodile river road eating off a hippo carcass, along with these two little guys.....










So I thought a good place to start with our 5 facts, would be with the king of all animals the Lion:

• Lions live in family groups known as prides, they are the only ones of the cat family to form close-knit social groups. A pride consisits of 2 groups, a bunch of closely related females (sisters & cousins) and their cubs. Then a group of 2-6 males, who can be brothers but sometimes non-related who joined up when forced out of their own pride. The males are exchanged every few years, but the females are a stable core.
• A lions roar can travel 8kms and is used to tell other lions that the area is occupied or to contact straying members of the pride. The males come and go as they please and rely on this form of communication to link up with the pride, especially when a kill is made.
• A lion can reach a speed of 60km/h, which is a fair bit slower than most of their prey. They need to stalk to with in 20m to increase their odds of success, and is why they are the only cats to use co-operative hunting regularly. Like humans, some individuals are quicker and stronger than others and a co-ordinated hunt increases their chances.
  
• At a kill the males eat first and then the females and lastly the cubs. Starvation is the leading cause of death amongst cubs because of this. A lion will eat 15% of its body weight in one sitting and they will eat until near immobility before resting up somewhere to digest their meal.
• The gestation period is 3 months, the female leaves the pride to give birth and will keep her cubs hidden and away from the pride for up to 2 months. She moves the den countless times during this period, to avoid predator detection. All the females in the pride will suckle any cub, this collaborative behaviour is due to the genetic closeness of them all, meaning they are all helping to put the genes forward. A cub starts eating meat at 3 and is fully weened at 6 months.

Thanks for reading and if you want to write some of your own facts about lions on the discussion boards, please feel free to do so.

Later......

5 interesting facts.....

Over the past few months I have really taking to, trying to expand on my guiding knowledge. Stepping out of my normal strengths and learning about new things about our culture, history and fauna and flora.

As I do not study as such, but rather just read, quite often things don't always stick. So I started to extract certain points and facts that I would like to remember and writing them down. It is then that I got the idea to share this new found knowledge with you all. So I have decided to start this new blog, whereby I will give 5 quick, interesting, new facts about a topic, animal, bird or whatever. Writing it down will help me remember and hopefully give you enjoyment if you wish to follow.

My hope is that you will join this blog and/or my Face Book group and add any other interesting facts you may have on the subject, helping us to all expand our knowledge.

Thanks for reading, first 5 interesting facts to follow shortly.........

One simple act!

So probably for only the second or so time since its introduction did I actually recycle and re-use my supermarket plastic bags. It was so simple and got me thinking why have we all completely missed the point of the whole idea?
When it was introduced people complained at first, but understood that it was a step towards a cleaner environment, then as with most things it became just a way of life. A way of life, but not in the way it was intended. The idea was by making thicker, more durable bags and charging for them, people would re-use and thereby reduce the amount of plastic bags being produced and have less blowing around in our streets. Not, a way of life in that we just accept that we pay for our bags and then store them in our broom cupboard until we need them for other purposes, very rarely for the intended use of carrying groceries.
Our mindset seems to be all wrong, we are quite happy to pay the extra charge for plastic bags, it is a way of life. What we don't realise is that by the simple act of stuffing a few bags from that broom cupboard into our pocket or handbag as we head for the store, can in the long run have a real impact on the amount of plastic that needs to be produced to sustain our 'way of life'.

Thanks for reading, would love to hear your thoughts on other simple changes we can make to impact the environment around us?? Here is to a great 2011 everybody!