November 2009

Nottens Female Leopard Feeding

November 25, 2009

The Nottens female leopard had hoisted the impala into the upper echelons of the Marula tree. It was so typical, so predictable, yet so effective for her purposes. Tried and tested methods worked the best when down below scavengers were already arriving on the scene. These hungry animals were completely willing to pilfer from her in the desperate hope of a free meal. Click on the heading for the full story and video.

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The Contagious Enthusiasm of Young Lions

November 22, 2009

She lay flat. Her body pressed tightly to the ground. Taught and ready, she was waiting for her sister stumbling unaware towards her. When the distance narrowed, the coiled energy unleashed itself into an explosive ball of fur and muscle. Eyes narrowed forward, ears pinned down, the wind streamed down her back and off the end of her tail. She could see the ‘prey‘ turning slowly and unaware. Her muscles burned to reach the target before it was too late. With clumsy grace, she reached her sister just in time to deliver a firm swat to the head and tackle her to the ground for the fiftieth time that day. Click on the heading for the full story and video.

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The Big Wheel Turns

November 19, 2009

Today, however, the wagon arrived. Walking at its side as we made our way to Pioneer Camp, I could not help but be struck by an overwhelming sense of completion. Watching the wheels go round I saw how things never really have a beginning or an end, rather just a moment. And in these moments what really matters are the people walking beside you. This is a lesson as old as time but the reaffirmation of it was the gift for me today. My Great Grandfather, Charles Boyd Varty, arrived at Londolozi via a wagon such as this in 1926. He had a compass bearing and it took a 5 day round trip to reach his location.

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Vultures and Hyenas Fight Over Hippo Carcass

November 17, 2009

The scavengers were quick to arrive. The hippo had been dead less than 24 hours and already there was a plethora of vultures and hyenas gorging amongst each other for the feast. This was a large bounty and for every animal there, it was highly important to grasp as much meat as possible.

In between shrieks from the hyenas and hoarse squawks from the vultures, the feeding party tolerated each other. As the carcass slowly deteriorated the rampant rapacious conflict begin. It seemed to me that greed was ever present…at first lingering, then quite suddenly the sole purpose. Desecrated scraps of flesh and sinew became items of wealth and the previously permissive creatures quickly turned on each other in their own selfish pursuits.

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Nottens Female Leopard takes over 3:4′s territory

November 14, 2009

The other carefully aimed kick would be for not capturing the Nottens Female in her mothers’ (The 3:4 Female ) old haunts. Marking territory, rubbing up against trees, watching over her savanna from prominent termite mounds and reclining on the same rocks that her mother hid her when she was no bigger than a scrub hare. Nottens has taken the 3:4 females territory and this, for the rangers and trackers of Londolozi, is exciting stuff. No longer will afternoons on Nyamakunze Crest be filled with the ghost of 3:4 and now the Tugwaan Drainage Line will quite possibly have cub tracks in it once again.

The 3:4 female, in case you missed her, was part of a remarkable leopard lineage that stretches back to the original mother leopard who was first encountered in 1979 by John Varty. Rangers and Trackers have followed the mother leopard’s family for 30 years. Sentimentality in the bush is not typically encouraged, we are supposed to be passive observers, however it just seems so fitting to see the next generation of this magnificent family line continuing unchecked in their ancestral heartland.

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Growing into adulthood – 3:2 and the blind hyena

November 11, 2009

The 3:2 Maxabeni Young Male had sharpened his instincts. He saw the hyena coming from the other side of the river. Tensing his muscular body into the tall grass, he watched the unwitting hyena draw closer. For a brief moment the hyena stopped and stared at the young male leopard. Blinded in one eye, cyclops sniffed once, unsure of whether he was seeing the patterned cat or if the windswept grass was playing tricks on him. He could smell nothing in the stiff breeze. He sniffed again…still nothing. Loping forward, he moved into the bush unaware of the potential conflict he could have begun.

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Days of our Lives

November 6, 2009

One of the unexpected perks of guiding is on the job learning. I’m not talking about observing wild ways and adding that to the repertoire of guide speak – I’m thinking more about what you, the guest, teaches us.

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The future is here

November 2, 2009

Climate change, destruction of eco-systems, carbon emissions and natural disasters are increasingly more common. How many of us set the intention to take responsibility for these issues? We should act on Gandhi’s advice by being the change we want to see in the world.
Eco tourism is the most fitting place for a sustainable approach to be taken. Yet still we all drive game viewers that emit fumes, utilize electricity powered with fossil fuels and use products that are nonessential.
Developing a sustainable lifestyle does not come about overnight though. It is a gradual shift in thinking and requires all parties concerned to understand the higher ideal. It is comprised of many small, achievable acts of kindness to the planet that generate momentum for the collective consciousness and culture.

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