Monthly Archive for March, 2009

Water Sports: Video

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Wildcaster
on March 31, 2009
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I’m not sure when the new waterholes got built, or why they put them in the middle of the roads heaven only knows. I was in search of some elephant movement today, I soon found myself slipping and sliding around in some huge puddles of water - and I couldn’t find any elephants.

Puddle bath

The ground is really soaked from the rain, it is still cloudy and I’m not making any predictions about what the weather is going to do. The Ground Hornbills were back on the airstrip today, I could hear their calls from base camp this morning - incredible birds to watch.

Ground Hornbill

After my failure on the Elephant front, I headed west towards the Chiredzi River, I thought that the water might be flowing bank to bank with all the rain, but this was not he case. These animals are not playing the game after the rains, so the only way forward for me was to hit the Malilangwe Dam to find some animals a little more sporting.

Hiding from the rain

The sun was breaking through the clouds after a small drizzle and there was some good light down at the dam. I ran into a Water Monitor soaking up the first rays of sun in a while.

Malilangwe Dam

The dam is teeming with life, one just has to look for it. I hit the top the hill that overlooks the dam to take a breather and to check for signal on the Lions, just in case they were in range. This was not the case, but we will keep checking. Kim will be back in the driving seat from tomorrow and will be keeping you updated with movements in the bush.

Quelia Feast

Buffalo Stare Down: Video

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Wildcaster
on March 31, 2009
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Holding my breath, I listened to Kim finish his story of today’s experience with the Wild Dogs. The dogs were waiting around again, calling for three pups that had gone off on their own and not returned. An hour had passed before they finally showed face from what seemed to be a serious detour during the morning hunt. What a relief to know they were okay!

3 Dogs in a Row

I am busy swallowing my words from yesterday about the weather man probably being wrong – it rained heavily all night long. It had slowed down in the morning leaving us with some time to spend out in the bush. I took a quick look at Malilangwe Dam on the way out, but I didn’t find any movement there.

Marabou Stork

I took my regular swing past Banyini and Nyari Pan, but I only found Impala herds still seeking shelter under the cover of the Acacia trees and a few lonely Giraffes. I then headed for the Chiredzi River, the roads are heavily soaked, but I managed to crawl my way to the Chikwete Cliffs. I didn’t find many animals out, but looking out over the cliffs, the scenery is incredible. I saw quite a few herds of Zebra all looking like they should appear in an “OMO washing powder” advert.

Rainbow Sunset

Everything is wet and muddy, and it didn’t look like the rain had come to an end. Dark clouds were appearing on the horizon and I had to expedite my morning drive. I arrived back at base camp just in time – the heavens opened up!

Jackal Trails: Video

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Wildcaster
on March 30, 2009
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The weather forecast shows heavy rain for the next few days, just when we thought the rain was over. However, they have been wrong before and it might just blow over. I was out on Banyini having a look at the bird life making it’s way back to the water, which had dried up since the rain, but the water is now being pumped back into the area.

Blacksmith Lapwing

This area is our best filming spot, it is open and picturesque. I had a few drops of rain fall, but that wasn’t going to scare me away. I was trailing two Black-backed Jackals foraging in the long grass for whatever tickled their fancy. They will take a wide range of food items from carrion to wild fruits and berries. Anything goes for the old Jackal, but I really just enjoy watching them mess around in the grass.

Black-backed Jackal

They find all sorts of things to entertain them and love giving the Impala a hard time. I love the nature of the Black-backed Jackal and these two seemed convinced that I was not a threat to them.

Impala Standing Ground

I’m hoping to stumble upon Magwaza and the cubs again, at the moment they are out of range for my radio tracker, but I will be sure to keep checking the hills until I get signal. Autumn is kicking in here on Malilangwe, even the leaves of the Baobab are turning colour. The golden leaves punctuate the landscape, breaking the uniform green vegetation, it is yet another incredible transformation of the land to witness.

Autumn Baobab

Hyena Left for Dead: Video

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Wildcaster
on March 28, 2009
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Today is World Energy saving day, or E-Day for short. I wouldn’t know the difference between this or a normal day, because we live in Zimbabwe, where everyday is E-Day – in fact, E-Day is a breeze compared to our load shedding schedule. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, maybe we should learn to do without a few luxuries, the fate of the planet may depend on it! Viva Green Freaks!

My road or yours?

Last night I went out to find those cubs hoping for a better look at them, this was not to be, once again the Lionesses pulled a Houdini on me. I heard this roaring nearby, weaved my way into the bush, and found that I wasn’t the only one who had been ditched that evening. Chawhiwhi, the male lion, was also left wondering how this happened. Well at least it was a night of seeing a lion, which is better than seeing nothing. He had a good few marks on him from the tussle with the Hyena the night before, which left the Hyena for dead. This morning I felt like Scotty from Star Trek, “I just can’t do it captain, I don’t have the power”, E-Day seems to be contagious! I persevered, whipped myself out of bed and headed for the hill to see if those Lions would evade me once more – that would be an affirmative on that one.

Hippos at Sosigi Dam

Not to worry, I wanted to check out Sosigi Dam for a change anyway. The hippo’s were still there and it looked like they now have a little one of their own to look after. The White-faced Ducks have also moved in, the biggest flocks I’ve seen so far.

Water-thick Knee(Dikkops)

It is one of my favourite spots to hang around and just enjoy being out doors. It has incredible bird life and is full of different sounds. Kim has been hoping for the return of the lost pup and even checked out on the tar road for any signs. We can only hope that he was not injured and has just gone on his own mission.

Poised

So as it turned out, I was full of beans this morning despite my brain wanting to do otherwise. By the way, in the UK, E-Day didn’t have any effect on the over all power usage – can you handle that!

Lioness with Cubs: Video

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Wildcaster
on March 27, 2009
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I managed to get a later start than usual this morning – around six thirty. Kim returned yesterday afternoon and has gone out to the dogs to spend a bit of time with them. There is still no sign of the missing pup named Wave. I took the opportunity to look for Manyari where I had signal last. It didn’t take long and I had forced my way in through some dense Mopane to find her lazing around a dry pan. She gave me a sharp look which could have gone along the lines of, “not this idiot again”, while I’m talking nicely to her - that would obviously be because she is a lion and lions can eat people. I eased my way in a little closer and what do you know… the cubs!

Hidden Away

They were peering through some long grass under a dead branch. Not a good sighting, but at least we have the pride back together with the males accepting the little ones. I only saw one of the males, it looked like Chawhiwhi, he had a tender mark on his snout and it looked like he had been fighting. A littlle repositioning to get a better look and I saw Magwaza close by.

Circling for a feast

The cubs came and lay in the shade behind her, it looked as if she was shielding the cubs from us. She executed a small mock charge to let us know who was in charge, and we humbly looked away to break the tension. All in all, she was quite calm, after a while she moved off to another spot where she felt more comfortable. An Eland kill was discovered on Banyini area, so I went to check it out.

Marabou Take-off

This is probably why the lions are so fat, they had really over done it on the food department. Anyway, the only thing left of the Eland was bones, but I discovered the reason for Chawhiwhi’s injury – a dead Hyena.

Dead Hyena at Banyini

The poor guy looked like he had been lying there all night and only recently died, the Marabou Storks had only gotten his eye so far. The bite marks down his back would indicate a lion attack. Lions have this inherent hate for Hyenas – something comes over them and they just want to kill. Africa can be a harsh place, where you see harsh things – it’s just one of those things.

Wild Dog M.I.A: Video

Published
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Wildcaster
on March 27, 2009
in videopost
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I feel like I’m driving to Timbuktu everyday, these dogs are so far from where we stay, I need a new job description. It is all worth it when you get to chill with dogs. I tracked the dogs west along the fence line and when I caught up with them, they were lying in the road like they were waiting for something…or someone.

Listening....

“Huston we have a problem,” one of the pups is missing in action. It turned out to be a sad day, they were hanging around yelping and calling and the pup just did not show up. He must have gotten lost along the way when they were hunting, or I hope he hasn’t hurt himself and now lying somewhere. I left them late hoping to see the pup arrive, I drove along the fence to make sure he hadn’t gone exploring, but found nothing.

Next step

In the afternoon, they were looking sad and still calling for the pup. It is quite heart breaking to watch, they really feel the loss of the pup; even the other pups weren’t in the mood for playing around - they didn’t even hunt. Eventually one of the pups initiated a search party, and they back tracked all the way until where they were that morning – nothing.

Armoured Cricket