The three stooges of the Kgalagadi.

In all my times in the Kgalagadi, there are 3 players that always stand out and always get my attention. The pale chanting goshawk, the ubiquitous jackal and the star of the show, the honey badger. I have taken to calling them the 3 stooges of the Kgalagadi.

These inseparables, or so it seems, are always up to something. Of course it is the honey badger doing the heavy lifting just poking his nose into everything looking for food and the other two just hang around waiting for leftovers. As the world is, some people willing to work and others willing to let them work. LOL. Anyway i hope you like the photos.

One hot day at the waterhole.

We were in Kruger PArk heading for Satara camp from Tshokwane after a quick breakfast we noticed a herd of elephants heading north as well and slowed to keep pace with them. They were looking like they might cross over and head for the waterhole just ahead so we took up position facing the waterhole and sure enough there they came. The thing is that we had not seen the whole herd yet. So as we were parked there they came across the road and heading down the slope to drink and it was then that I realized that the rest of them were on my left and now the car was between two groups from the same herd.

One female was none too pleased about this. She was suddenly apart from the herd, that itself gave her cause for concern. She turned at the waters edge and gave me a couple of real dirty looks but she passed around the back of the car to the rest of the gang giving me and the car a wide berth with no incident at all. It was a bit hairy however having her behind the car and me parked on the embankment but she just passed over and was fine with the rest of the herd.

It’s a delight to watch a herd of elephants relaxing at the waterhole. There are so many special little interactions and it is not unlike a big human family gathering. The older ones more sedately drinking cuz of course they need a LOT of water. The youngest ones with moms and nannies around to keep them safe and the youngsters were pushing shoving ducking and spraying and generally goofing off. A great sighting. Kruger rocks!

Waterhole wary!

We were driving along one afternoon in the Kgalagadi and came up on an ostrich right there onthe road. It was pretty obvious what she wanted to do and he attitude and posture shows it clearly.

The other animals had cleared off and now there was space for an ostrich to drink at the waterhole. Kgalgadi waterholes are pretty dangerous, especially in the summer time. Lions lie in ambush in the nearby bushes and are pretty successful there. I always thought thats cheating, i mean come on, everyone needs water, so leave it alone. But its a jungle out there, whaddaya know, and its all like "I am in for me and the Devil take the hind most." So its good she just bided her time and got a nice drink. She was eyeballing me all the while though.

The eland herd and the waterhole.

One hot Kgalagadi morning we saw an amazing sight. A large eland herd was walking along the Auob riverbed. This is a rare sight and eland are not the easiest of antelope to watch, they tend to be skittish and like to watch us from far away.

This herd how ever was obviously heading for the waterhole up ahead. We watched for a while and then drive straight to the waterhole about 1 km ahead to wait for them to come and drink. Or at least that is what we thought would happen. But the Kgalagadi is famous for surprises. What did we find there but the king and his current flame coming for water from the other side and drinking.

They had no idea the herd was coming and were obviously intent on continuing their romantic interlude. They drank and then went a lay down among some trees in the shade.

Its just amazing how animals get a feeling of something wrong, or they are just extra careful especially when getting to an open space where there are trees close by and they are going to be drinking with heads down. The herd never arrived. About 300 meters before the waterhole they drew up and within seconds were over the dunes and gone. The lions had noticed them, but the wonderful part is that they had noticed the lions.

Tan colors, one on top of the other, in the shade, we could hardly see them properly, and we knew exactly where they were. But those eland had picked them out as well and the ones in front led the thirsty troop off and out of harms way. He who does not drink and walks away, lives to drink another day.

Thieving hyenas!

Cheetahs are delicately built creatures and have literally no defence sytem at all except to run away. Especially when faced by animals like leopards lions or hyenas who could do them serious harm or death retreat is the first and only option. This puts a lot of stress on cheetah moms who have to hunt daily to feed their brood. A cheetah kill is often a spectacular sight. A high speed adrenaline charged chase across the savannah that can attract a lot of attention from far away even. So when this mom and her 2 surviving cubs were eating a group of 3 hyenas barreled right in and took over the carcass. It was my first time to see this takeover attempt and I was amazed at how fearlessly the hyenas just barged in with no regard for anything and just took over the kill. The poor cheetahs had no option what so ever to resist.

There is a reason they cant resist and that’s because even a scratch or a bite from a hyena can take their performance down by 10% or 15% for a few days. The margin between predator and prey especially for cheetah is very narrow, its prey has a 100meter head start and runs very fast as well. So if the cheetah is not performing at optimum then its likely she will miss much more and that could be life or starvation for cheetah mom and her cubs. She just walked away and gamely started scouting for her next hunt. The hyenas were the victors on the battlefield once again.

THE HUGE MALE LION AT ROOIKOP.

This is a story about the lions of the Kgalagadi. Specifically the huge male I saw at Rooikop. I left Nossob camp a little late cuz we were moving camp and I was a little put off about missing the ‘early’ morning, it was already about 730am and I had lost an hour. But when the Kgalagadi delivers, it happens in spades. So we are driving along and suddenly I hear a low grunt/roar. And there on the left, high up on the crest of the dunes is movement. So I stop, we all watch and bingo it’s a male lion, walking parallel to the car and in the opposite direction. I reverse for a bit and then flipped the car around to drive along the same path when he cut across and came straight down the slope towards the Rooikop waterhole.

The sun caught his beard as he came through the bushes and it was then that we saw him in all his glory. 4 meters in front of the car he walked majestically unhurriedly across the road. What a lion! Certainly the biggest most magnificent Swart Manhaar of all time. Well at least for me. Swart manhaar is the Afrikaans word for black-maned lion, that’s what they have in the Kgalagadi. He was heading for a drink. I positioned opposite him and took some pictures and watched him. He came around and sniffed the ground for news of his family and as I moved the camera it caught his eye. He gave me a look that was simply heartstopping, especially as this massive lion was just 5 meters from the car. He held my eyes for an eternal minute, and then went back to sniffing.

My breath came out in a burst, I had not realised that I had stopped breathing. I pulled out the phone to make a video as he walked away roaring as he went, calling to let everyone know he was here and a message to his family letting them know where he was. The whole group in the car looked at each other, we all felt the same way. It had been an incredible experience. Kgalagadi can be tough, but as I said when it delivers it leaves you speechless.

NOW YOU SEE ME......

In the bush you have to be in tune with your surroundings and sensitive to the animals you see and what they are feeling. Its not always simple to do and often you don’t get a amazing reward for it but when it clicks its very special. I was driving along the southern river road and we had stopped to watch a herd of elephants walk by. Lovely to see those majestic animals walk across the bushveld. Just as I was moving along I noticed 2 female kudu looking at a clump of logs and bushes rather anxiously. Seemed like there was nothing there at all but the 2 kudu females were convinced there was something there. So I stopped and looked from where they were, nothing. Moved forward a bit, nothing. Moved directly in front of the log covered with bushes and switched off the car. Got the binoculars out and stared into the clump of vegetation. All at once I saw movement. There was something there!!! But what?? Was it worth spending time here for what could be a sleepy warthog? Anyway, the kudu were still anxious so I kept at it.

Soon enough a little head peeped up through at me and I go the jolt of my life. It was a baby leopard. ‘Leopard’ I shouted to my guests in a stage whisper and every one glued their eyes to the bushes hoping for a new glance. Now I was a little concerned. If this little bloke was here alone and we attract attention then jackals, hyenas, honey badgers and worst of all lions may find him and that would be the end. No trees in the vicinity less than 30 meters away. It would be curtains for the poor bloke. Then some one said ‘That’s not a cub’ followed by someone else ‘Seems like there are two’. All this while I have been taking pictures and hoping to catch the movement into something tangible. So I went back over the photos, one by one. Sure enough. Mom and the little one were together. It would have still been hard to take the little one to safety from where she was so another couple minutes and we were off. What a cool sighting. Nobody in sight to tell either. The kudu were right to be nervous, but they outweigh a leopard almost 3 times so no real danger there.