14 July
PM
We started off the drive with sightings of Zebra, steenbok and Giraffe. After stopping for a short sundowner we resumed with first a rare sighting of a reedbuck female, a real treat!! There was one male Leopard (Newington male) found to the North of Nkorho Camp and we followed him for quite some time as he attempted to hunt a herd of Impalas. All his attempts were unsuccessful and after giving up we left him heading West in the direction of Djuma Bush Lodge. Also seen were Hyena, Spotted Eagle Owl and a Genet.

15 July
AM
We started with an abundance of general game, including Zebra, impala, giraffe, kudu, baboon and wildebeest in the Cruse camp area. A large herd of buffalo was found at Jonno's Clearing south of Sussen's dam. Elephants were found at Buffelshoek dam.
Also seen were slender mongoose, dwarf mongoose and a giant plated lizard.

PM
We left camp on a sunny afternoon and headed straight for water hoping that everything would be out and in search of a thirst quenching drink. We first stopped at Buffelshoek dam where we found4 Hippo lying on the bank enjoying the late afternoon rays.
Next stop was Jordaan's dam where five Elephants having a drink and enjoying a mud bath on the bank.
After a short "sundowner" We headed to Bushbuck dam where there were two more Elephants and a White Rhino Bull.
The Hyena den was as active as always, providing good entertainment to all.
Also seen were Impalas, Zebra, Kudu, and white-tailed mongoose.

16 July
AM
The hyena den was a bit quiet as none of the pups emerged from the safety of the termite mound. There were three large females patrolling the vicinity and it is quite possible that there was another predator in the area. This would explain the Hyenas caution. Three Rhino were seen at rubbing post dam. A herd of Buffalo was seen at Cheetah pan. 3 Lionesses (Skuthane pride) were found at Sussen's dam, they moved off into the Shade of a Guarri Bush thicket giving themselves a great vantage point over the dam and all that come to drink during the day.
Also seen were giraffe, waterbuck, wildebeest, zebra, impala and Kudu

18 July
AM
This morning's drive started with a frantic call from one of the Djuma staff calling us on the radio to alert us that he had seen two Cheetahs on his way to the gate on the Vuyatela access road. Little did we know what events would unfold shortly after arriving at the sighting.
The two young male Cheetahs are the same two we have been seeing on the reserve on a regular basis recently, except for the first time their mother was not present, perhaps a sign that she's left them permanently to fend for themselves. The contact calls they were making to try alert the mother is a sure sign they are not taken kindly to their new independent lifestyle.
They managed to kill a female Duiker and in true Cheetah style, started devouring it almost immediately after a short rest to catch their breath. Not long after they had begun, a large female Leopard (Safari) arrived at the scene, and managed to successfully chase the two cheetahs from their "breakfast". Not long after this act of piracy had taken place, another pirate arrived on the scene. This time a spotted Hyena, but it was not to be lucky, as the leopard saw it approaching and had enough time to drag it up into a nearby Knobthorn Tree, leaving the Hyena to eat the scraps dropped from above. This sighting took up the entire duration of our drive, but on the way back to camp we did see Impala, Nyala, Waterbuck, Giraffe and a "live" duiker.

PM
This afternoon we set out to the South of the lodge to see if we could relocate a Leopard that had been spotted to the South of Bush Lodge, and he was soon found resting in the shade of a termite mound (it was Ncila, the young male). He started moving a short while and was followed until he crossed the boundary to the reserve on the South of the reserve.
Three White Rhinos were found on Philemon's Cutline, they were found at dusk so were left heading North towards Vuyatela.
The Safari female was still on the Duiker kill she had stolen from Cheetahs in the morning, feeding high in a tree, with a Hyena below.
One female Leopard (Beacon Female) was found at Nyala Dam, where she moved south in the donga. The good news is that she looks like she is lactating and perhaps has her new young hidden somewhere in the area.
Another Leopard (The White Cloth female) was found on Gowrie main road heading east before she went south after a herd of Impalas.

19 July
AM
The morning was spent trying to track down three different groups of Lion, but unfortunately the tracks all headed to dead-ends.
There was a big herd of Buffalo found at 2nd Rock moving west. We also saw Warthog, Impala, Kudu, Steenbok, and Duiker.

PM
We started drive and immediately resumed tracking the Lions where we had left the tracks earlier in the day. We tracked them for another hour or so before we found them lying down in the middle of the block South of Second Rock. (It was the three Skuthane pride females)
Two Cheetahs were found lying down at Sidney's Dam. They were left relaxing in the clearing as it started to go dark.
There were plenty of Elephants in the Bush Lodge and 3 in a row pan areas to the South of the reserve. Many bulls and at least three big breeding herds.
The big herd of Buffalo was at paradise beach drinking.

20 July
AM
We started our drive with some good sightings of Kudu, Baboons, Monkeys and Zebra.
We found 3 White Rhino at Vrystaat Clearing in the north west of the reserve, they were very relaxed and after feeding a little they lay down and fell asleep in the middle of the clearing.
Three Lionesses (Skuthane pride) were found at Guarri pan lying down.
Two Cheetah were found west of Vuyatela where they had just been robbed of a kill they had just made by a large male Leopard.. The leopard(who we couldn't identify) made off into some thick bush and wasn't found again.
We decided to stay with the Cheetah and were rewarded about a half hour later when one of them was able to catch a young Duiker. These two young Cheetah have just gone independent from their mother and with a lack of experience have been losing quite a few of their kills, and we were able to find out first hand just why.
The kill happened only twenty meters from our car so we were on the scene immediately. The Cheetah was unable to get a clean bite at the throat of the Duiker and as a result the duiker let out loud distress calls for over five minutes allowing other predators within earshot to hear. Eventually the kill was made and after a short rest the Cheetah made some characteristic high pitched contact calls to his brother and soon the two were united and began feeding together.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

ARCHIVES