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!

SA Venomous Snakes

I am often asked when out on tour with my foreign friends about snakes or more accurately poisonous snakes. So immediately my first response has to be; snakes are termed venomous not poisonous. The reason being they inject the poison, which then classifies it as a venom not a poison. So an easy way to remember is, venom is injected and a poison is ingested.

So venomous snakes of South Africa they ask, and I tell them 'they are there, just not so easy to see'. Lately however, I have had the fortunate experience of confirming this statement. In fact, 3 in just 2 hikes, and in small reserves but a stone's throw from the urban environs. First we crossed paths with a mozambique spitting cobra, which reared up to display its hood before turning tail and disappearing in a split second.

Then on another hike whilst walking a trail that follows a small cliff face, known for its population of rock dassie, a movement caught my eye. I turned to see a 2.5- 3m black mamba slithering through the branches next to us, so close I could touch it. Adrenaline kicked in and we froze, and watched it poking its head into the crevices as it moved along in the same direction we were moving. We watched for what felt like forever until it came down towards the path about 10m in front of us and then decided to high tail it out of there in the opposite direction, taking the long way home. For those that don't know, the black mamba is the most venomous snake we have and depending on the amount of venom it discharges, can kill you in 20min. It is also the fastest, as we got to witness first hand.

As if that wasn't enough when we got back to camp we were then treated to a sun-bathing vine snake (pictured above). They use camouflage as their means of hunting, making themselves look just like a branch. Although their venom is also very potent, their fangs are situated far back in the mouth, therefore unless bitten on a finger the snake would battle to penetrate human skin.

Interestingly enough, we not only encountered 3 venomous snakes, but also 3 that each carry different types of venom. The cobra has a concoction of cyto- and neuro- toxic venom, but mainly cytotoxic. Meaning the venom attacks your skin tissue, breaking it down. The mamba, and is the reason it works so quick, has a strong neurotoxic venom, that attacks the nervous system, which when reaching the heart causes paralysis and death. The vine snake has an unique venom, haemotoxic, causing the blood to thin and its victim to bleed from all orifices. Until very recently, like 3 months recent, the only way to survive a bite was to have a full blood transfusion, but an anti-venom has finally been found.

So to conclude, 'are there snakes in SA?', do a little exploring and find out for yourself, I can certainly vouch for it.

Thanks for reading, cheers till next time.

Remember to visit our new website here!!

Take a hike in a gorge, mountain bike on a coffee farm, canoe up river, swim with the dolphins, hike to beach fossils, do a gorge swing, 4 by 4 over a montain, take a wilderness walk, track wild animals, go kayaking, go white water rafting........Learn to surf, play with some cheetah cubs, experience an unspoilt beach, snorkel, catch some rays......(sun rays that is)!!! Go game viewing in a World Heritage site, get up close and personal with hippos and crocs and top it all off with some big 5 game viewing in Kruger!!!!

Seem like a lot?? Well it is and we managed to squeeze it all into 15 days! KZN once again proved it is of world class quality, offering diverse amounts of adventure, coupled with natural beauty and even a little time to take it all in and chill.

Unfortunately I have no video or even photos as my electronic equipment packed up on me, but watch this space as I am sure our adventurers Mike, Ryan and Jamie - James Bond will be sharing their amazing pictures and videos with me soon.

As usual after an already amazing trip filled with all the above activities the 'cherry on the top' Kruger delivered more in 3 days then we could ever ask for. The most memorable being the beautiful young leopard that strolled across the road in front of us with a franklin in her mouth. The silent killer must have stalked and killed it less then 50m away, whilst we were viewing 2 African Hawk Eagles.....we never even heard her!

http://www.endless-summer-tours.co.za/tour-packages/adventure/14-night-adventure-package

Thanks to our new friends for an awesome trip, we hope to see you in the near future.........