Little nocturnal critters

By Liezel Holmes, Head Ranger, Kapama River Lodge, on October 4th, 2010

After watching the sunset with a glass of wine we continued with our safari. I explained to my guests what kinds of animals we could expect to see after dark. Everyone immediately thinks of lions, leopards etc. and some of our smaller nocturnal friends are often overlooked. This evening we found something different around every corner. Our first spot was a chameleon which my tracker Give saw from far away – very impressive! After that we saw a small spotted genet sitting towards the top of a dead tree. They often do this to escape a predator’s notice! They are carnivores and their usual diet consists of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, eggs, fish, invertebrates, and occasionally, small amounts of wild fruit. Genets will usually take their prey to a hiding spot to consume their meal in private. It was an unusual sighting because the genet was easily visible and not scampering around as they often are. So rather than just a quick glimpse we were all able to see the beautiful detail of the animal through our binoculars. Following that we saw a pair of African Civets foraging. They are solitary nocturnal animals and so we deduced that it was a mating pair. The civet has black bands surrounding its eyes and looks a bit like a raccoon. It also has disproportionately large hindquarters. Interestingly the civet is capable of eating poisonous invertebrates such as the millipedes, which most other species have to avoid. We also saw a pearl spotted owlet, one of our smaller owl species, perched in a tree, followed by a pair of bush babies. But by far the most exciting sighting and definitely the most unusual, was an aardwark!!!! He did not hang around for long but we managed to get quite a good look at him. Aardwarks usually wait until dark before emerging from their burrows and can travel as far as 18 km in one night!!!
Story by Sarah-Estelle Sangster, River Lodge Ranger,

Great Safari mock charge by gecko

By Liezel Holmes, Head Ranger, Kapama River Lodge, on October 2nd, 2010

It was a very hot day and the animals were very active during my afternoon safari. My safari started with a great elephant sighting. The elephants took a nice mud bath whilst drinking and went straight from there to take a dust bath. After the nice cool down they went back to doing what elephants do best and that’s eating. We left the sighting to continue our safari and came accross some dwarf mongoose on the move. We saw a troop of twelve individuals making their way through the bush trying not to draw too much attention to themselves, but we were lucky enough to see them. The general game viewing was great. We stopped and made a toothbrush out of a branch from a Magic Guarri bush and looked at some plants with various medicinal properties. We also encountered a male lion flat out in the middle of the road doing what lions do best – sleeping! It is a lion’s prerogative as the king of the bush to do whatever he wants whenever he wants! Our safari ended on a high note when we found a gecko. I immediately jumped out of the vehicle to try and show the guests and tell them more about it. But I clearly got too close…. the gecko ran straight for me and bit me on the finger and with one girly scream I was finished with the show and tell and we made our way back to the lodge!

Story by Frikkie Kotze, River Lodge Ranger

Clash of the Warthogs

By Liezel Holmes, Head Ranger, Kapama River Lodge, on October 1st, 2010

Finding a pair of elephant bulls in a rip roaring battle is pretty hard to the core, and seeing 2 huge male lions with claws and teeth clashing is a pretty sobering sight. Both sights would almost certainly make any human being feel vulnerable and most probably send shivers down our spines. But can the same be said about the little warthogs, known more for their unfavorable appearance than fighting prowess or athletic ability in the boxing ring? The answer my friends you will have to decide on for yourselves.

By now you are probably wondering if there is a point to this tale and yes, there is. We were heading back to camp after a most satisfactory morning safari when we came upon a family of warthogs. At first glance they seemed to be pretty relaxed until 2 big boars decided it was time to bring out the boxing gloves! For an animal of relatively small stature the warthog packs a pretty good punch and it was evident for all of us to see. The 2 boars had us enthralled for about 7 min with head butting, chasing and total chaos. What warthogs will do is feel each other out by slowly circling one another looking for a weakness. If neither backs out they will raise the hair on their backs to try look bigger than the opponent. If this doesn’t work they will get physical and when I say physical I mean it in every sense of the word. Both boars put up a brave fight as neither wanted to look bad in front of the sows (females). I guess this is when animals and humans are not so different from each other! Needless to say it was an entertaining spectacle with both boars getting through unhurt and the victor strutting his stuff. It’s not always the big guns that make an impression - the little guys also raise the bar pretty high. Though it was not quite the same as a lion battle, my respect for the not so handsome warthog has increased, and once again I returned from safari ever more respect for the bush and its animals.

Story by Josh Beaton, River Lodge Ranger