Comments from some of our guests

2008

A Memory From The Bush
It was the 11th of March and we had arrived at the Djuma Game Reserve's Galago Camp. Ann & I were with Ann's sister Nancy & her husband, Gene, and my sister Susan and her husband, Gary. It was Susan and Gary's first trip to the bush while Nancy and Gene visit the bush 5 to 6 times a year (for over 30 years). During our stay we had a full array of 'sightings' including lion prides, elephant breeding herds, tons of impala, a leopard and her cubs with a kill, rhinos, hippos, a herd of cape buffalo, hyenas, black mamba snakes, etc. We witnessed, though, a most dramatic series of events that I would like to share with you. The events resulted in our experiencing an extreme range of emotional feelings from warmth and love to fear and sorrow.
It began on the 11th when our game ride ranger, Aubray, appeared for our late afternoon game drive. His question "What would you like to see?" was immediately (since this was Susan and Gary's 1st game drive) answered "predators - possibly, a lion kill". (ie lions making a kill).
He laughed, said it was a tall order, but he would focus on it.
An hour and a half into the drive the ranger and tracker followed lion spore (tracks) to a watering hole below a 30 foot high dam, where we spotted a male lion and a nearby female and cub. We crossed the dam and drove down to the watering hole parking about 20 feet away from the male. As we sat there basking in the success of our sighting, Susan taking 10 to 15 photos, another lioness appeared at the top of the dam. She descended to the lake…three minutes later another lioness appeared at the top of the dam and descended to the lake. This occurred three more times approximately 3 minutes apart. Everyone was aghast with excitement at see so many lions. Then out of the bush behind us came three more lionesses…. with 13 cubs, ranging from no more than 12 inches in height to maybe 20 inches. We watched with astonishment as all 9 lionesses and the 13 cubs stood abreast drinking out of the watering hole. It was quite a sight to see and we immediately informed Susan and Gary how fortunate they were to experience this event in their 1st hour and a half in the bush (people have spent years going to the bush and never had this experience). The gals were 'oowing" and "aahing" and expressing how cute the picture before their eyes appeared. One particularly independent cub struck the fancy of the ladies and picked up the name 'Independie' as he wandered with significant curiousity.
Later that evening we returned to Galago Camp (a five bedroom colonial house, with a boma area facing 'the plains'). We planned on dinner, drinks, early to bed, and up for an early morning game drive at 5:15 AM. The boma and outside dining area were great for viewing game. There was a small pond in the center of the plains that was frequented by all forms of game (impala, wildebeest, hyena, elephant, etc). That evening, while eating dinner, we heard a loud cracking noise. Gary immediately ran to turn on the spotlight. To our amazement there were five large male lions, not far from the fence of our house preparing to attack a herd of cape buffalo. The spot light startled the herd and the lion pride was unable to make a kill. We later learned that these male lions were the Mapogo pride, a fierce group of brothers with a growing reputation for their intention of dominating the entire Sabi Sands region of the bush. This would not be our last encounter with the Mapogo gang!
On the morning of the 12th, we set out on another game drive. We saw numerous game including a large male leopard, but soon we were able to locate the large lion pride, cubs and all. Most of the lioness and cubs were sleeping and tightly hidden in the bushes. The male was lying outside of the bushes and would have probably been sleeping if it hadn't been for the cub "Independie", who was frolicking nearby, crawling on his stomach toward the huge male, then licking his whiskers. My limited experience with male lions and cubs led me to believe the lion would ignore the cub or swat him away. Instead the male turned gently to 'Independie' and licked him back for several minutes. "Oohs", "aahs", "how cute", "how precious" accolades spewed out from Susan, Ann and Nancy.
Later that day we went out on our evening (late afternoon) game ride. We had wonderful sightings but toward the end of the drive we came upon a number of the lion pride again near another lake We have since learned that this pride of lions are known as the Nkuhuma pride. Up until a month previous there had been two males but one had been killed. Several of the lionesses were lying by the lake with their cubs. One lioness had six cubs. As she was lying on the ground all six cubs were snuggling up to her, licking and cleaning her fur. She in turn licked each of them from head to foot. More oohing and aahing, more 'this is unbelievably precious and cute" comments reined from the girls. An amazingly successful safari trip whether it was your 1st or 50th.
At 5:00 AM, the next morning, the 13th of March, we arose for the early morning game drive. We mentioned to Aubray that we had seen almost everything but giraffe and wild dog - what could he do? As we headed away from the camp we felt comfortable with the success of our trip and we relaxed knowing that we had seen it all (we had seen crocodiles, leopards with a kill, a black mamba, rhinos, elephants, etc.). Shortly, Aubray received a radio message from another ranger - the 'prides' had been spotted. He turned the open land rover around and hurriedly headed off in the opposite direction. Our tracker, William, located, on the road, the spore (tracks) of the Knuhuma pride and followed them along the road until they turned north into the bush. We hurried about a hundred yards to a crossroad and we turned north - to our surprise this road had the spore of the Mapogo pride heading north - parallel to the other pride!! This could be a disaster, Lions are territorial and one of these prides had already developed a reputation for ferocity in attempting to dominate the area. It turns out that the other male in the Nkuhuma pride had been killed by the Mapogo gang a month before and since that time the Mapogo pride had been stalking the Nkuhuma pride with the intention of cleansing the gene pool - killing or running off the male and killing the cubs. With the death of the cubs the females' would enter estrous and result in mating with the Mapogo pride. Male lions don't want to look after and protect cubs of other males when they will have to protect their own.
As we proceeded north, suddenly three lionesses hurriedly crossed in front of us-followed by a single cub, Independie!! We sat, four or five minutes, waiting and listening in the vehicle, wondering what had happened or what was going to happen, hearts were beating 60 miles per hour.
Suddenly, a huge male from the Mapogo pride rushed out - stomping, roaring, spraying every bush in sight, sniffing the ground searching for the scent of the Nkuhuma pride (I edged myself from one side of the landie to the other avoiding the side the angry predator was passing by. After several minutes (it seemed like an eternity) he headed back into the bush. We headed forward but less than a mile away we came across a site that none of us will ever forget. One of the other female lions was lying at the side of the road, dead, with a couple of puncture holes in her neck. Rarely are females killed in these situations since they are one of the spoils of the battle. Undoubtedly she died defending her cubs. A large Mapogo male was lying in the grass several feet away. As he turned his head to face us he had a partially eaten cub in his jaws. A short distance down the road laid another male lion with another dead cub. The oohs and aahs turned to sighs and tears. No one wanted to stay for very long, but everyone wondered what had happened to the male, other 8 females and 13 other cubs (two cubs were so young that they had not been introduced into the pride yet) and what would happen to them. We completed our game drive later that morning and returned to Galago Camp. During the afternoon we talked about what we had witnessed and what we feared would occur.
On the late afternoon game drive we were pleasantly surprised to hear that there had been no other attacks reported. At the end of the game drive we spotted the Mapogo pride, they had killed a waterbuck and their bellies were full and swollen. In fact they were all lying in the middle of the road preparing for a goodnight sleep.
As we headed out the next morning on our final game ride we wondered what had happened to the lionesses, the male, Independie and the other cubs. Radio reports indicated that there were no new reports of attacks. We were pleased but down deep we all felt the Nkutumu pride had a risky future. In the latter stage of our drive we were crossing a dam when hurriedly crossing in front of us was a lioness and her two cubs. Suddenly, we concluded that there was a possibility that the Nkutuma Pride just might survive. Nature takes many different turns, but regardless of its results, we will all remember this experience for along time.
Note - The Mapogo pride has become famous for their ferocity. You can gather info on them as well as the Nkutumu pride by googling them (you will find many stories recounted about them, see their pictures, see videos, youtubes, etc). For your info - as of the 23rd of March there had been no other attacks, the Nkutumu male has been sited and heard roaring and calling his pride back. Several of the females and their cubs have been sited eating at various kills. There is an 8 minute tribute to the dead lioness on the net. A day after her death there had been no appearance of scavengers (hyenas or vultures) at the site. Speculation by a ranger was that the scene had been so violent that the scavengers were keeping their distance.
Dennis Vohs
USA
March 2008

Dear Beverley,
We arrived home in Lucerne safely this morning. The trip overall was excellent. Thank you for all your arrangements and suggestions all worked out very well. Vuyatela was delightful. Hard to describe. Its between rustic, elegant and comfortable. We saw all the animals the kids imagined seeing and more. Got to chat with the owner and her daughters yesterday. Staff was particularly professional and fun/relaxed to be with. A very good choice.
Thanks again
Daniel Posen & Family
Switzerland
April 2008

Dear Warren,
We just wanted to thank you very much for your warm hospitality during our stay (23/03 - 26/03/08). Although we missed our first game drive due to our late arrival on 23/03 (late arrival of BA into Johannesburg) and missed the huge 'lions kill' of a buffalo and three male lions roaming near the camp (which I gather is rather rare...), Graham and Jimreeves' effort to chase just about all the animals which exist in the vast Savana in such a short stay more than made up for what we missed on the first afternoon. Graham in particular, was absolutely an amazing ranger; so professional, so knowledgeable and so sensitive to the wildlife which he obviously lives for. We have returned home so much more educated and appreciative of the African wilderness and our environment in general that my husband and I think that it was the best holiday ever for ourselves and especially for our teenage sons.
We found the facility to be very original (we much prefer the African style to the 'Colonial' style), pretty, clean and practical. The food was absolutely wonderful and just right without all the unnecessary excesses one finds in most luxury hotels. The staff was utterly efficient and friendly......
We will certainly recommend Djuma and especially Graham Cooke to many of our friends here, and are already contemplating of returning in the very near future. Thank you once again for making our first experience in Africa very special. Please convey our thanks to Graham and also, please tell him that we finally managed to spot a huge herd of buffalos from the light aircraft on our way to KMIA on the last day as Graham was waving goodbye to us from below.
Sincerely yours,
I. Mondelli
UK
March 2008

Hi Char,
Below is very quick good feedback from the Holder Family:
"Djuma was a nice entry point to the Sabi Sands experience. They had hired a freelance guide for us which really made the trip special. Graham was a salty character with years of bush experience which made our first two safari rides memorable. If I'm not mistaken, we saw the big 5 on those first two rides, and even glimpsed a leopard. We saw a group of 14 lions eating a recent kill, and later found 3 of 5 males that are making their dominance of the area well known. The lodge itself was very comfortable and we did take the opportunity to go see two local villages."
Thank you for taking care of them.
Cheers
Kirsten
USA
March 2008

A very flattering page on Djuma Game Reserve in an article on Fair Trade in Tourism in the Guardian. Click here.
UK
February 2008

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