* On the 12th just after lunch all 5 the Dogs were along the fence between the JAC House and North Gate. They've been spending more time in the North lately and it's actually a good thing since the Lions are more towards the West and the South.
* One of the Phinda Lionesses had given birth just behind the Lodge on the hill somewhere and I think it must've happened around the 30th of July. Maybe even before that. We haven't seen the Cubs yet, but I hope we get more land soon. We already have one Male, 5 Females, 2 Cubs and some more Cubs.
* In the same afternoon I also found 27 Buffalos between Base and North Gate. A lot of the Cows are still pregnant and I think we're gonna have more than 57 Buffalos anytime now.
* I also found 3 Rhino Cows coming from the Twin Pan cutline towards Mkhaya road and on the cutline I found the Cow with the very young Calf. Our Rhinos seem to be doing very well and the new Bull has been seen all over the reserve.
* On my way to South gate to pick up my guests I saw the Lion and 2 Phinda Lionesses on Main South heading up to Broxburn. The Lion lay down in the middle of the road and I eventually went off-road to get passed him so that I wouldn't be late for my guests. I picked up my 4 guests and showed them the Lions on Broxburn. The one Lioness definitely had Cubs, but it was strange to see her with the Male and her sister.
* On the morning of the 13th during Game Drive we saw an Elephant Bull on Main South/Ndlovu Highway. We went to look for the older Lion Cubs and tracked them towards the Concrete Bridge, but they went into the drainage and we didn't see them. The Lion and Phinda Females killed a Wildebeest the previous evening just around the corner from there.
* We were on our way back to the Lodge when I heard that the Wild Dogs had made a kill at the JAC House. We went there and found them all sleeping on the road. After a few minutes they got up again and started eating. It was an Adult Male Nyala. Somebody saw it happen and said that the Dogs tried to get the Nyala for a very long time and lay down eventually when they were tired. The Nyala walked away from them and they chased him again. They chased him into the JAC fence and killed him when he fell down. Even though it's horrific to see it happen I think it's amazing how good the Dogs are at making kills. Anyway, we watched them for a very long time and only got back at the Lodge at 11h00.
* After dropping off my guests I went back to the Dogs and watched them for a little while. One of them has sores on her body and I'm a little worried that it might be mange. We'll get a vet to come and have a look at them next week.
* In the afternoon we saw the Buffalos at North Gate and then had Vula Zulu. On the way back we saw one of the Phinda Lionesses just around the corner from the Lodge. I thought the Cubs weren't there anymore since the Mom was with her sister and the Male for two days, but now she's back with them. I would like to know how many Cubs she has and where exactly she's hiding them.
* On the morning of the 14th we saw the one Lioness walking through the Lodge and I found her again on the road below the Lodge, Ozoroa. The other one was there as well and they chased some Zebras up the hill. One of them went towards the Lodge again and we heard a Warthog squeal. The other Lioness also went there and we heard them eating, but we couldn't get through the Drainage to see them again. We left them and saw the Rhino Cow with the year old Bull Calf walk up Main South towards Phakama just below the Lodge. We looked for the Elephants and followed their tracks into a big block. I drove around the block a few times, but we couldn't see them.
* In the afternoon on the way to the Lodge I saw a Secretary bird on the Savannah area. It was really nice to see it there since we don't see them very often. My guests asked if we could go look for the Lion Cubs since they saw just about everything. We left the Lodge at 16h00 and I found the Lion tracks close to the Log Cabin. I tracked the Lions for a very long time and my guests were so excited that they didn't even want to have Sundowners.
I lost their tracks into the riverbed and drove around a block to the other side. It was dark by then and finding the tracks was a bit more difficult. I got to a place where a tree had fallen onto the road and got out to move it. I didn't even drive 20 metres when I saw the Lions next to the road. That was at 18h00. The 2 Cubs were playing with one of their older sisters and the other older sister and Mom were cleaning each other. The Cubs got up and ran into the bushes. To my surprise they came out with the Male. We watched them play, sleep and then suckle and left them at 19h00. That was amazing. It's great to see 6 Lions together. We actually have a proper pride now.
* On the morning of the 15th as we left the Lodge we found the one Lioness across from Room #8. She was calling quite a lot and I wonder if she was looking for her sister or for the Male. We left her when the other guides got there and went to look for the Elephants again. We found one Bull on Main South close to Broxburn and Madwaleni and heard the rest of the Herd in the bushes, but we didn't see them. We went back to the Lodge and I dropped my guests at the gate after Lunch. I went tracking in the afternoon and found the two Phinda Lionesses at lodge dam. The Lioness that used to have the collar on is the one that has the cubs now.
* We are starting with a Leopard Project here at Thanda and as soon as we know how many Leopards we have on Thanda and we have positive ID photos of them, we are going to expand the project and get ID pictures of Leopards on neighboring properties. That way we should be able to determine how many Leopards there are in the area since nobody is really sure. Michelle van der Merwe is helping me with the Project and hopefully we will be able to give some feedback on the project very soon.
* At the moment Michelle drives around with me so that she can get to know the roads and then she'll carry on with the monitoring of the trap cameras while I do the Wild Dog research. On the morning of the 17th we found a Female Cheetah along the fence next to the 600ha. She was very relaxed and walked right passed the vehicle. We also found the Buffalos on the Thambothi cutline.
* When we got back we went to Bayethi across the district road to speak to the owner about the Leopard project. They have a tame Elephant Bull there that they are using to educate people about Elephants. He walked passed the Lodge and we went down towards him. Never in my life did I think I would ever walk towards an Elephant especially one his size. We touched his trunk and it was surely something I'll never forget. He then almost walked over us when he started walking again, because he had a meeting to attend.
* In the afternoon of the 18th we went out very early to go and look for Leopard tracks and we found a tree with a lot of scratch marks. Michelle wanted to be a Leopard, but she fell out the tree. I guess there's more to being a Leopard than just to be able to climb trees. They drag twice their body weight up trees and we struggle to get ourselves up there. We also saw the Rhino Cow and her Bull Calf at South Pan wallowing in the pan. We went to find the Dogs and saw them on Nhlabeni on the hill for a few minutes before they disappeared into the bushes. We didn't see them again.
* On the morning of the 19th the Wild Dogs ran across Khohliwe up Ozoroa just below the Lodge. Three guides went back to the Lodge with their guests and watched the Dogs at the water feature from the top deck. The Dogs then chased some Impalas up the Repeater hill and we followed them. We lost them for a few minutes and found them back at the Lodge at Room #4.
On the walkway one of the Yearlings came jumping out the bushes and stood on the Walkway about ten metres from me. He looked at me for a few minutes and then walked on. We walked close to where we could hear them and saw them eating an Adult Female Nyala. From there they went to the Water feature and drank some water. They lay there for a while and then started playing in the soft sand and grass around the water feature. They then went back to the kill. In the afternoon they were sleeping on the hill behind the Lodge.
* One of the Phinda Lionesses had given birth just behind the Lodge on the hill somewhere and I think it must've happened around the 30th of July. Maybe even before that. We haven't seen the Cubs yet, but I hope we get more land soon. We already have one Male, 5 Females, 2 Cubs and some more Cubs.
* In the same afternoon I also found 27 Buffalos between Base and North Gate. A lot of the Cows are still pregnant and I think we're gonna have more than 57 Buffalos anytime now.
* I also found 3 Rhino Cows coming from the Twin Pan cutline towards Mkhaya road and on the cutline I found the Cow with the very young Calf. Our Rhinos seem to be doing very well and the new Bull has been seen all over the reserve.
* On my way to South gate to pick up my guests I saw the Lion and 2 Phinda Lionesses on Main South heading up to Broxburn. The Lion lay down in the middle of the road and I eventually went off-road to get passed him so that I wouldn't be late for my guests. I picked up my 4 guests and showed them the Lions on Broxburn. The one Lioness definitely had Cubs, but it was strange to see her with the Male and her sister.
* On the morning of the 13th during Game Drive we saw an Elephant Bull on Main South/Ndlovu Highway. We went to look for the older Lion Cubs and tracked them towards the Concrete Bridge, but they went into the drainage and we didn't see them. The Lion and Phinda Females killed a Wildebeest the previous evening just around the corner from there.
* We were on our way back to the Lodge when I heard that the Wild Dogs had made a kill at the JAC House. We went there and found them all sleeping on the road. After a few minutes they got up again and started eating. It was an Adult Male Nyala. Somebody saw it happen and said that the Dogs tried to get the Nyala for a very long time and lay down eventually when they were tired. The Nyala walked away from them and they chased him again. They chased him into the JAC fence and killed him when he fell down. Even though it's horrific to see it happen I think it's amazing how good the Dogs are at making kills. Anyway, we watched them for a very long time and only got back at the Lodge at 11h00.
* After dropping off my guests I went back to the Dogs and watched them for a little while. One of them has sores on her body and I'm a little worried that it might be mange. We'll get a vet to come and have a look at them next week.
* In the afternoon we saw the Buffalos at North Gate and then had Vula Zulu. On the way back we saw one of the Phinda Lionesses just around the corner from the Lodge. I thought the Cubs weren't there anymore since the Mom was with her sister and the Male for two days, but now she's back with them. I would like to know how many Cubs she has and where exactly she's hiding them.
* On the morning of the 14th we saw the one Lioness walking through the Lodge and I found her again on the road below the Lodge, Ozoroa. The other one was there as well and they chased some Zebras up the hill. One of them went towards the Lodge again and we heard a Warthog squeal. The other Lioness also went there and we heard them eating, but we couldn't get through the Drainage to see them again. We left them and saw the Rhino Cow with the year old Bull Calf walk up Main South towards Phakama just below the Lodge. We looked for the Elephants and followed their tracks into a big block. I drove around the block a few times, but we couldn't see them.
* In the afternoon on the way to the Lodge I saw a Secretary bird on the Savannah area. It was really nice to see it there since we don't see them very often. My guests asked if we could go look for the Lion Cubs since they saw just about everything. We left the Lodge at 16h00 and I found the Lion tracks close to the Log Cabin. I tracked the Lions for a very long time and my guests were so excited that they didn't even want to have Sundowners.
I lost their tracks into the riverbed and drove around a block to the other side. It was dark by then and finding the tracks was a bit more difficult. I got to a place where a tree had fallen onto the road and got out to move it. I didn't even drive 20 metres when I saw the Lions next to the road. That was at 18h00. The 2 Cubs were playing with one of their older sisters and the other older sister and Mom were cleaning each other. The Cubs got up and ran into the bushes. To my surprise they came out with the Male. We watched them play, sleep and then suckle and left them at 19h00. That was amazing. It's great to see 6 Lions together. We actually have a proper pride now.
* On the morning of the 15th as we left the Lodge we found the one Lioness across from Room #8. She was calling quite a lot and I wonder if she was looking for her sister or for the Male. We left her when the other guides got there and went to look for the Elephants again. We found one Bull on Main South close to Broxburn and Madwaleni and heard the rest of the Herd in the bushes, but we didn't see them. We went back to the Lodge and I dropped my guests at the gate after Lunch. I went tracking in the afternoon and found the two Phinda Lionesses at lodge dam. The Lioness that used to have the collar on is the one that has the cubs now.
* We are starting with a Leopard Project here at Thanda and as soon as we know how many Leopards we have on Thanda and we have positive ID photos of them, we are going to expand the project and get ID pictures of Leopards on neighboring properties. That way we should be able to determine how many Leopards there are in the area since nobody is really sure. Michelle van der Merwe is helping me with the Project and hopefully we will be able to give some feedback on the project very soon.
* At the moment Michelle drives around with me so that she can get to know the roads and then she'll carry on with the monitoring of the trap cameras while I do the Wild Dog research. On the morning of the 17th we found a Female Cheetah along the fence next to the 600ha. She was very relaxed and walked right passed the vehicle. We also found the Buffalos on the Thambothi cutline.
* When we got back we went to Bayethi across the district road to speak to the owner about the Leopard project. They have a tame Elephant Bull there that they are using to educate people about Elephants. He walked passed the Lodge and we went down towards him. Never in my life did I think I would ever walk towards an Elephant especially one his size. We touched his trunk and it was surely something I'll never forget. He then almost walked over us when he started walking again, because he had a meeting to attend.
* In the afternoon of the 18th we went out very early to go and look for Leopard tracks and we found a tree with a lot of scratch marks. Michelle wanted to be a Leopard, but she fell out the tree. I guess there's more to being a Leopard than just to be able to climb trees. They drag twice their body weight up trees and we struggle to get ourselves up there. We also saw the Rhino Cow and her Bull Calf at South Pan wallowing in the pan. We went to find the Dogs and saw them on Nhlabeni on the hill for a few minutes before they disappeared into the bushes. We didn't see them again.
* On the morning of the 19th the Wild Dogs ran across Khohliwe up Ozoroa just below the Lodge. Three guides went back to the Lodge with their guests and watched the Dogs at the water feature from the top deck. The Dogs then chased some Impalas up the Repeater hill and we followed them. We lost them for a few minutes and found them back at the Lodge at Room #4.
On the walkway one of the Yearlings came jumping out the bushes and stood on the Walkway about ten metres from me. He looked at me for a few minutes and then walked on. We walked close to where we could hear them and saw them eating an Adult Female Nyala. From there they went to the Water feature and drank some water. They lay there for a while and then started playing in the soft sand and grass around the water feature. They then went back to the kill. In the afternoon they were sleeping on the hill behind the Lodge.
Mariana Venter - Field Guide