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Tuningi Ranger’s Journal November 2018
November was a short month for me but we saw some wonderful things with amazing guests.
We have not had any real rain which had an impact on water levels, all of the natural waterhole are dry and those with solar pumps are barely keeping up. Some trees did push out green leaves while most of the grasses are still dormant.
The eagerness of nature to grow is inspiring.
With no rain, the waterholes that do have water produce amazing interaction between species. Elephants are bullies when it comes to water and they will try to chase most things away to have the water to themselves. Even birds are chased from the waters edge by thirsty elephants.
It was the first time in a while I had the opportunity to use the hide at the lodge and, oh my, does that change the way you see things. This new perspective of photography allows you to shoot from a different angle and to witness the interaction up close and personal.
The lions from our southern pride did move further east. They did that because the northern males spent more time on the ridge bordering their southern territory. We did get to see them a few times with the Chimbro males that recovered well from their injuries they sustained in a fight with the northern boys.
The Matlapa female lioness with her three boys the Mahiwa’s are back in the south for the time being. This is after all, were she was raised by the Mica female. She’s been gone for a good three years after the fathers of her three boys were chased out of the territory and she was scared the new males would kill the youngsters.
She left to keep them safe and did an amazing job in teaching them to hunt and look after themselves.
We never see her or the boys hungry, they always have full bellies.
Munye, being a master of elusiveness, was not seen too often but we did have a glimpse of him.
Tsala the local female leopard, was seen a few times. One morning after following the sound of a jackal in distress I found her in a big Marula tree eating on a young Caracal.
Jip, a caracal. Leopards are extremely adaptable and can live off anything.
The Wild dogs also made their appearance a few times on our side of the park. We saw 11 adults together, the only dogs in Madikwe for now. There are however, a strong possibility f0r more Wild dogs from a new blood line to come into the park.
Exciting times ahead, hopefully the Wild dog population can recover and restore the Madikwe’s Wild dogs for what it is known for.
We did see the Black Backed Jackal pups. Later than usual, but on the airstrip there is a den with 3 pups. Early mornings are when they most active and over the past few weeks they became a lot more relaxed with the vehicles.
For a short month we were very lucky with the amount we saw, sunrises and sunsets, and everything in between!!
We hope to see you all again.
Regards
Cornelius and the T-Team
5 Reasons to Choose Madikwe Game Reserve as Your Next Safari Destination
Tuningi Ranger’s Journal October 2018
When you don’t know what to talk about, weather always comes up first. Then everyone relaxes and real conversation starts.
So, the temperature has improved massively over the last month and we even had days in the high 30*C. With the hot days it became noticeably dryer. The bush was eager to grow and produce food, some greenery became visible very quickly after the first drops of rain. It wasn’t much, but after 5 months of no rain any thing will help.
The retuning moisture produces amazing sunrises and sunsets.
Thankfully we saw a big variety of animals as well this month, so the weather won’t be the only topic, everything from birds to the elusive leopard.
The southern pride of lions are doing very well and keep us on our toes trying find them.
The two males from the north came into the southern territory and all the lions is the south scattered. The lionesses with the sub adults moved into unfamiliar areas to get away from the intruders. The two Chimbro males also made them selves scares.
We did see the northern pride with the youngsters a few times. All four young ones are still around and are safe with the Kwandwe and Monamogolo males keeping the territory clear from invaders.
The males are still very patient with the youngsters when they wake up looking for someone to play with.
The Wild dogs made their way into our area again, but only 6 of them with 1 pup. We are not sure why they have split up, but the two groups consist of 5 and 6 adults.
Unfortunately nature is cruel, none of the youngsters made it. We saw them the one morning with only one pup and a couple of hours later they had a run in with a lioness and the last pup was killed. We can only hope that they could be more successful next year.
We saw the two male cheetahs in the south of the park a few times. Some times resting the shade on hot days and other time very active. We were fortunate enough to see them hunt late one afternoon and successfully kill a male impala. The stalking takes up all the time, because when they start running nothing can keep up with them or get away from them.
There was a giraffe that died from natural causes, most probably old age. We did not have major lion, hyena or even vulture activity, but every few days we got to see a brown hyena grinding on the bone or dragging a piece away.
Big herds of buffalo spent their time in the south this past month and we saw them on a regular basis, whether at a waterhole or in the open plains they have so much attitude. They would split up into smaller herds to make feeding easier but when you see 200 in one herd together you do not know where to look.
Our local male leopard made his appearance in the south of the park again a few time, mostly on a kill. He had two impala kills that he stashed in trees. He is not the most comfortable cat up a tree but he kept his food safe in some very awkward positions.
The variety this month was incredible. Let’s hope for more rain and that great sightings will continue.
Regards
Cornelius and the T-Team
Tuningi Ranger’s Journal September 2018
Welcome back to a very dry and parched landscape which is Madikwe this month. And with the rains only expected in November, things are not going to get any better for now.
The winds have been relentless, blowing dust into the air, which creates some seriously frustrating moments for us on safari, as you stop for a sighting, and the dust envelopes the vehicle, but… it also creates some awesome sunsets and sunrises, as the dust illuminates in the crepuscular times of the day. The winds are called the TRADE WINDS, and are a very important part of the weather cycle in south Africa, as they bring the moist air in from the equator downwards to us, as described next…..
As part of the Hadley cell, surface air flows toward the equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles. A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known as the doldrums,[7] near-equatorial trough,[8] intertropical front, or the Intertropical Convergence Zone.[9] When located within a monsoon region, this zone of low pressure and wind convergence is also known as the monsoon trough.[10] Around 30° in both hemispheres, air begins to descend toward the surface in subtropical high-pressure belts known as subtropical ridges. The subsident (sinking) air is relatively dry because as it descends, the temperature increases, but the absolute humidity remains constant, which lowers the relative humidity of the air mass. This warm, dry air is known as a superior air mass and normally resides above a maritime tropical (warm and moist) air mass. An increase of temperature with height is known as a temperature inversion. When it occurs within a trade wind regime, it is known as a trade wind inversion.[11]
The surface air that flows from these subtropical high-pressure belts toward the Equator is deflected toward the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis effect.[12] These winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere.[13] Because winds are named for the direction from which the wind is blowing,[14] these winds are called the northeasterly trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere and the southeasterly trade winds in the Southern Hemisphere. The trade winds of both hemispheres meet at the doldrums.[7]
So, besides the dust we have had a good month, and we will start with Munye… that’s our local male leopard for those who don’t know, and he also felt the need to pack his bags and go on a holiday to the north west of the park. Yes, he walked from one end of the park all the way across to the opposite end, and spent a few days up in unfamiliar territory, even killing an impala and relaxing in a very tall tree for s couple days. He has since come back home, and has got a lot of us puzzled as to the need of his traveling ideas!!
The wild dogs have also come back to town, and have spent most of this month in our areas close to the lodge, and of the reports that started with 12 puppies been seen, only 2 are now left, and we think that they have had contact with either lions, hyenas, which killed the other pups… this is all speculation though. But they still get the blood flowing when they go hunting, as the excitement amongst us guides gets very high, as we know that if you can stay with their pace, you may experience a wild dog killing its prey.
On the lion front, the local boys have been chasing the threat from the east, and have in fact managed to kill one of the invaders. So peace has now resumed, and the pride is still not together as much, because of this. However the males did give us a very good sighting when they managed to kill a zebra for themselves.
The cheetah boys who we see almost on a daily basis, have also been spoiling us with amazing sightings once again, and we had them in hot pursuit of many prey items this month, and they seem to have a fetish for young zebra. Watching them get up to speeds of over 100km/hour is something you want to come and see for yourself, because it is blistering !!!
That’s it for this month..
Hope to see you all here for the first rains, and the transformation of this dry land to the amazing fresh new growth coming soon…
Regards,
Gavin and the T-Team
Operation Phoenix: the resurrection of Madikwe Game Reserve
Tuningi Ranger’s Journal July/August 2018
Welcome back to our monthly wildlife report….
This month has seen the true colors of winter kicking in to full swing, as the bush thins out and waterholes become the place to be during our safaris out here in Madikwe.
Lets start with a group of Askari’s that even with a mild temperature in the air, could not resist the temptation of that “Feel good all over “ feeling and had a mud bath just meters from the vehicle, provided a spectacle for our guests which they will never forget, after having to wipe some mud off of them as the elephants went wet and wild in the waterhole.
Another good spot to visit this time of the year is the “Mineral hotspots” which are certain areas in the park which all ungulates are drawn to, to ingest the soil which gives them minerals such as calcium, magnesium and sodium which they don’t get out of the vegetation that they eat in the winter months. It is also a social get together usually later in the mornings, when they know that the predators are sleeping.
The bigger herds of buffalo are also forced from their habits of living in the thickets to come out to the waterholes more regularly, and will get your creative juices flowing while trying to at least capture some form of emotion from these gnarly beasts.
The cheetahs in the park are still doing well, and the 3 females which were recently released, are also doing well, and are still proving that they are doing well in a wild environment which they are not accustomed to from where they came from. The boys as always have given us some awesome sightings this month, and have been more active in marking their territories and making sure that every prominent tree that they bypass gets a fresh dose of cheetah “business card”.
On one occasion we had an unbelievable sighting, after we found the 2 south boys shortly after killing an impala ram. They were peacefully eating for around 30 mins before they started staring to the bushes beyond, and then continued eating frantically. This could only mean one thing.. a threat was on the way… And sure as it was, a brown hyena pitched up on the scene, and what happened next was something that us rangers live for on a daily basis out here, to be able to capture the interaction between different predators on camera.
The brown came in with a confident gait, and went straight in for the carcass, and on arrival, the hissing cheetahs could only but take a not so confident swipe at the marauding thief. The cheetahs gave up the carcass to the stronger bodied enemy, but tried once or twice more, but to no avail as the brown clearly thought this would be his early Christmas gift from the cheetahs ….. thank you very much !!
The apex predators in the park have been doing not so well, as we discovered that the Bolakega female from the north pride had an injury to her underbelly, which we think could have been caused by a horn of one of the prey animals she could have hunted, which had caused a gash between her teats. This was obviously not good for her, as she had some difficulty feeding her cubs, and she was not enjoying the discomfort. She has however made a good recovery from the injury, and seems as if it is healing nicely. The cubs have also given us some amazing sightings this month, especially around carcasses, as the cubs are exercising those muscles, to be able to kill like their mom one day.
The south pride have been split up somewhat, due to the pressure from the 2 males from the east wanting to enter and disrupt the 2 remaining Chimbro males cushy lives. However they were surprised when one evening the Chimbro males had enough of the tormenting brutes from the east, and chased them back to the deepest part of their territory and since then it has been quiet on that front.
One icy morning after a hectic cold front came over, leaving frost for the first time this year in the low-lying areas, we had an unforgettable experience, as we were just minding our own business, tracking lions as per usual, when we started hearing the distress calls of impala in the distance. On investigating the scene I managed to spot a leopard among the long grass, and with that a commotion to the left of us. On approaching the strange noises we found that the south pride had in their claws an impala which I think must have just been stolen from the leopard minutes before our arrival. I will let the video do the last of the explaining… (not for sensitive viewers)
The wild dogs have been very scarce this month, and we have had no sightings of them being due to the fact they have a den site deep in the mountains in the east of the park, and their modus operandi is the following….. They are coming down very early in the morning to hunt, they kill, they return to the den, so if you are not there to catch them coming or going back to the den, your chances are slim. But we are looking forward to the day when they bring the puppies out for their first run. And on this glorious morning they showed us that they have 2 pups. Apparently, there were reports of 9 pups at one time, but something must have happened, and now the result is only 2 left for this years litter.
The leopard sightings have been getting better and better every month, as Munye and Tsala, and Tshimegha have been appearing often. There are also more and more reports of relaxed leopards coming from all over the park, and is proving that we are doing something right in here to habituate these normally shy creatures.
So… I think this months’ newsletter should get you wondering if you should get your bags packed for TUNINGI SAFARI LODGE AGAIN…… So get busy and book soon….
Wishing you all the best from Gavin and the T-Team.
A Visual Tour of Tuningi Safari Lodge
Madikwe Game Reserve Game Viewing Guide
Tuningi Ranger’s Journal June 2018
After being absent for a month, we are back. We did some renovations at the lodge, some more obvious than others, with the decks refurbished and the kitchen overhauled we are now in full swing. Everything to make your next stay even more enjoyable.
With the lodge being closed for some time we had less time for game drives but in the shorter time we had some of our best sightings.
The lion pride from the south of the reserve was very illusive and we only saw them a couple of times. The main reason being that two males are pushing into their territory from the east, so the females are moving around to keep the youngsters safe.
Some sad news though, the Bafefo male lion was found dead in the northern territory. He sustained injuries from fighting with the lions from the north.
The two Chimbro brothers are still in control of the south west of the park.
Most of our lion sightings happened in the north of the reserve with the female and her four, four month old cubs.
We followed her the one morning just as she picked up the cubs returning from a hunt. We knew she has been successful with the blood all over her. She needed to motivate the cubs every now and then to keep moving.
It was more than 6 kilometres before they reached the carcass. The female moved more than 18 kilometres from where she left the cubs to go and hunt, fetch the cubs and back to the zebra kill.
Cats were plentiful this month.
It was the first time in many months since I saw a Caracal. This was a super relaxed female that was hunting around our vehicles. We stayed with her for more than an hour.
She stalked and killed two mice in that time and missed a bird with incredible jumping manoeuvres.
The male cheetahs have made their appearance a few times. As always with a full moon, they surprised us with the unbelievable distances they can cover. We would see them in the south and the next morning the same two males would be found in the north.
We love our leopard sightings, however we struggle for quite some time to relocate our favourite leopard. Somehow he ended up in the north west of the park.
We were worried that he was gone for good from our side, however, a week later he was back in the south where I had one of my best sightings of him.
Winter sun rises and sun sets never disappoint us or our guest. With the vibrant colours and beautiful silhouette it was difficult not to be mezmerized by the beauty of Africa.
We really had spectacular views from dawn till dusk. The waterholes are holding their water incredibly well and with the warm afternoon sun these spots are produced very spacial sightings.
Come for a visit, a return or a double return and experience all of this and more with us!!!
Kind regards
Cornelius and the T-Team
Tuningi Ranger’s Journal April 2018
This past month had a few firsts for me. What made it even more special was to share these amazing sighings with our wonderful guests.
I’ll just start with the best.
Leopard sightings was pretty incredible. Not only the quality of sightings but also the different leopards we saw.
So lets start with Tsala’s cub! We got to see the two of them together quite a few times. All their sightings were incredible.
After a quite a search and help from fellow colleagues in the park we saw the pair in a Marula tree with an Impala kill.
This young boy is so big already, from a distance I could not tell which leopard was the baby. They were both happily resting on the big open branches when we arrived.
After stretching and yawning Tsala moved to the kill and fed for a bit. When she finished it was the young boy’s turn. We spent quite some quality time with them and the next day they were gone.
More leopard news. Munye, the male from the south was seen mating, twice actually. The female that he was after for quite some time time has finally given in.
They were mating only about a month ago and I got see this for the first time in my career at the end of April. As secretive and elusive as leopards are, to see a mating pare in the wild was the absolute highlight of the month.
With all the rain we had the beginning of the month, everything is still green and lush which made the spotting of game slightly difficult. This also made photography a little tricky.
The waterholes all filled with the late rain ensured animals had no need to move far to get to water. With all the water around, the main lodge waterhole were fairly quiet.
We struggled with the cheetahs due to the long lashing grass, however as Lady Luck would have it, they appeared as I was waiting for guest at the main admin building of the park.
Tarmac was not the best backdrop for the photo but I had time on my hands waiting for guests. Time well spent.
The lion pride of the south in Madikwe kept us entertained. Two male lions are pushing into their territory from the east and this is creating a higher stress level in the pride, so they are moving more west to keep the youngsters safe.
The two Chimbro males kept the territory safe from the north.
The skies, sunsets and sunrises did impress a lot. Sometimes we were lucky to have a beautiful subject to photograph with the setting sun.
We hope to have good news in the next few months, maybe some more baby leopards.
Warm bush regards
Cornelius and the T-Team
March 2018 Newsletter
Hi to all our Tuningi Fans once again !!
We hope you have all had a splendid Easter period, and are all well rested for the next onslaught of what we call work…
So, this month has been rather wet… Yes we have had the best rainfall figures in March for many years, which has resulted in the bush looking mighty healthy, and is the best I have seen it in the last 5 years. Now we are not sure if the rainfall pattern has moved on a couple months, but we will take the much-needed life giving resource.
Lets kick off with the best news that happened this month, which was that Munye, our resident male leopard managed to drop jaws and widen eyes, as we found him for a period of 4 days mating with a new female in the south western corner!!
To put it into perspective, most guides in Madikwe have never seen such a sighting, including Jacques, and the expression on his face was priceless, not to mention that the guests were knocked out of the park to having been privy to this once in a lifetime spectacle.
So we are now going to focus on figuring out where exactly this new females territory is, and try to keep a close eye on her movements, as she will give birth to some cubs in around 110 days from now.
The larger paciderms such as the elephants and rhinos have been loving the lush green conditions with abundant food everywhere, and they have been really enjoying the grass plains of which is making up about 80% of their diets right now. They are fattening up nicely, and I am sure that they will get through this winter with a few pounds around the waistline to spare.
The Mica pride is, as always doing very well with the cubs growing so fast now, as their caring mothers and aunts have been providing food for them on a regular basis. The cubs have a level of energy that at times never seems to want to end, as they pounce and stalk on each other in a bid to hone their hunting skills and develop those muscles in a couple of years for when they will also be partaking in the providing role for the next batch of lion cubs.
The 3 Males looking after the pride have got what seems to be a winning recipe in keeping the pride safe from intruders, in that the Bafefo male always stays with the pride, while the 2 Chimbro boys are hanging out on the ridge to the north keeping the threat of the 2 males from the north well clear of their precious cargo in the core of the territory to the south.
The Chimbro boys can be away from the pride for weeks at a time, and during that time they need to eat, so they have been very efficient this month on their own by making a few nice kills, and prove the theory that male lions don’t hunt, completely bogus.
With the amount of dampness around, the morning game drives have been absolutely stunning with the large amounts of dew forming in the mornings, which has created very beautiful scenes as the sun rises, capturing the light in all the water droplets in the grass and spider webs teleporting you to a fairy land in a split second.
The update on the cheetahs, is that they all doing very well, and the 3 females which were released last year have proven that they will survive, and are doing very well. 2 of them are moving and hunting together, while the third one has gone solo, which is the norm among female cheetahs, and even she is doing very well. They have encountered the males on a few occasions, but nobody has seen them mating yet, so we are still holding our breathes for this to happen, and would be the best news for Madikwe ever !!
Tsala, and her cub are also doing very well, all be it a bit elusive at times as we struggle to find the leopards in the tall grass and dense bush at times.
The wild dogs have been gearing up for the mating season, as the alpha male and female will pair off this season. However we have not seen them much this month as they are spending 98% of their time in the far north-eastern section of the reserve, and even making regular excursions into the private land on the eastern side of the Marico river. They will be looking for a den site soon, as the gestation period is only around 70 days. We will be following them closely over the next few weeks, to see where they will be denning this year, and we are hoping with bated breath, that they come back to the south.
So, until next month we hope to see you soon back at Tuningi….
Regards,
Gavin and the T-Team !!
