I’m a big fan of memory lane style posts.
We have such an archive of photos and stories on our Blog and on the harddrives that are starting to become scarily large (I remember when 1 Terabyte was a lot of space; when you’re shooting video in 4K, that gets eaten up in no time at all!), that it’s fun to journey back and see what was happening on this day, however many years ago. Often I’ll just pick a random incident and do a write-up based on that specific animal or sighting, but today I happened to be going through a folder from May of 2014, and thought we could review the whole month, to see which characters were around then, and to revisit old faces who may be long gone by now.
Enjoy…
Many will remember the Marthly male; his torn ear, his huge territory covering the entire northern section of Londolozi and beyond, and his constant patrols up and down the Sand River. On this morning we had bumped into him on Londolozi’s far western edge and followed him down to the Sand River, but he unfortunately crossed it at a rocky, reed covered area that was impossible to access with the Land Rover. This photo was from when he had just emerged on the southern bank.
Tsalala and Majingilane. One group now gone, the other hanging on precariously. The Hip-Scar male always seemed to be the outsider of the vaunted coalition, and appeared suddenly out of the palm thickets in the Manyelethi on this morning. The Tsalala pride had young cubs at the time, and the young lioness from the 2011 litter (foreground) was concerned about the approaching male, having been chased by them for years. The sighting defused quite quickly after this photo was taken.
Male African Jacanas take care of the chicks after the female has moved on to find another mate. To protect them when danger comes close, he tucks them up under his wings. Little legs and toes can be seen jutting out in this photo as the male waits for the danger to pass. If my memory serves, it was an African Harrier-Hawk flying over…
The local buffalo population got hit hard in the 2016 drought, with a complete lack of grazing and the local lion population both doing their bit to lower the numbers. Thankfully big bulls like these two that were relatively common back in 2014, are starting to be seen more and more frequently.
The local hyena clan was on the backfoot 5 years ago; the Majingilane’s constant presence on Londolozi significantly impacted their numbers, and they shifted their dens to the periphery of the Majingilane’s territory. This big female was well known to the Londolozi Rangers and Trackers, her scarred-left eye being unmistakeable.
Many of you would have read Tony Goldman’s Mashaba female post from a few days ago. This photo was from the same time as Tony’s; just after her fight with the Nhlanguleni female. In fact I think this was literally minutes after the fight, as the Nhlanguleni female was found walking the other way only about 200 metres down the road, and both females were vocalising and scent-marking heavily.
What was then the younger lioness of the Tsalala female (born 2011) drinks from a pool in the Manyelethi River. Out of frame behind her was the pride’s litter of four, one of whom that would grow up to be the sole remaining female we see now, and who is regularly encountered at this same spot.
Zebra lips. I can’t think of anything more imaginative to say…
The Majingilane spent the month of May going back and forth across the Sand River. Here they pause for a drink whilst Mike Sutherland quickly snaps some shots before reversing out of the way. In fact I think Mike didn’t have his camera with him on this morning, so had to settle for iPhone photos.
The Scar-Nose Majingilane crosses once more, heading north whilst Ranger Melvin Sambo trails at a respectful distance.
The Camp Pan male, many guests’ favourite leopard over the years. He ruled Londolozi for half a decade before slowly deteriorating and eventually succumbing to old age just over a year after this photo was taken.
The Robson’s 4:4 male. This leopard was not often seen. Even rarer were good photographic sightings of him, as he was very skittish, most likely having moved in from the Kruger Park where he wouldn’t have seen many vehicles. He had been treed by the Tsalala pride in this photo, so unluckily for him we were able to take as many photos as we liked before he eventually snuck down and raced off.
The sun sets over the Escarpment to the west, as the western Koppies of the Sabi Sand Reserve are merely a shadow.
The Marthly male again, on the same morning as the opening photo, on slow patrol down Londolozi’s western edge.
The memories. Camp Pan was my favourite leopard. So many memories of the Magingilane and Tsalalas. Lovely to look back to wonderful times.
I was pretty sure you’d mention how Camp Pan was your favourite Marinda! 😉
James, Always like a flash from the past. Good stuff
Some of my earliest memories from this blog. Our first lion encounter was with the Scar-Nose Majingilane.
Interesting photos and stories!
Thanks James 2014 was when we first met. Looking back at my notes key sightings you introduced us to; 4×4 Robson, Young Tailless Tsalala, Majingilane, Tomboti and Tutlwa Females. Great to remember ! Finally the Mhungeni had just been renamed from the Tsalala breakaways!
Your memories are wonderful and we too have fabulous memories. Thank you Victoria
Love the male African Jacana photo! I didn’t realize they hid the youngsters under their wings and may not have noticed otherwise.
Is there a blog post with links to other blog posts that cover the story of the Tsalala pride from the beginning to present day? I thought there was at one time, but can’t remember. I often find myself wondering how the lone Tsalala lioness found herself alone and don’t recall.
What a trip down memory lane! I’ll always remember my first encounter with the Marthly male – Milton spotted him from about 1/2 km away, sitting on top of a termite mound. Just as Melvin pulled up, Marthly leapt up and grabbed a warthog midair, ending it’s life right next to us. I’ll never forget the experience!
Nicely done James. Seeing the Cape Buffalo reminded me that they have been absent from the blog for a while and now they are heading into winter and lowering water levels. But on the brighter side, the sunsets and sunrises over the Lowveld are always spectacular and your files probably have a plethora of them. Would love to see some of the best some day. Once again, really nice job James!
James, I often go through several photos and reminisce – I love going through them and remember what took place on the day when I took the photo. Our first trip to Londolozi was in 2011 – I took so many photos – great memories.
Enjoy these memory lane posts!
Thanks for the memories James! Our hard drives are bursting too and we know we will need to expand again after our next visit! You images are a reminder that the bush is unpredictable and ever-changing! “The real world” as Dave Varty reminded us!