Tails of the Bush

November 14, 2011

And Then There Were 7…..

Friday night marked the beginning of one of the most action packed weekends I can remember in my tenure at Sabi Sabi. There are those of us that enjoy a good action flick at the weekend but what was witnessed over the course of a couple of days rivaled anything that Jerry Bruckheimer can possibly envisage. In fact, it made his action epic, Bad Boys 2, look more like Dead Poet’s Society! The leading characters in the recent turn of events were, once again, our resident lion pride. Those of you that have been following their news on my (somewhat sporadic) blog will know that their trails and tribulations with regard to protecting their offspring have been frequent and many; but last weekend, to quote Bad Boys 2, “sh*t just got real!”

The night started off great for our feline friends when the pride managed to kill a female buffalo and calf, once again cementing their reputation as the supreme buffalo hunters in the area. The night ahead promised much feasting and merriment and this was the case until the 2 Kruger males got wind of their plunder. As is expected, the males quickly staked a claim to the remainder of the carcasses and took little time in challenging each other to an all you can eat contest. Thankfully for the females and their 9 cubs, they were fully satiated by this time and watched with from the wings, nursing their comically engorged bellies.

One of the Kruger males stripping the last remaining flesh from the jaw bone

All that was left of the female buffalo after one night's feasting

The lionesses could only look on as their meal is finished by the males

The males have been threatening to dispose of the cubs for some time now but the females have done an excellent job running interference; and when the 2 groups meet, invariably the lure of food seems to quell the males’ blood lust. Friday night seems to have been no different as we found all 19 lions together on Saturday morning. While the males guarded the scraps from the growing galleries of vultures, jackals and hyenas, the rest of the pride carried their swollen bodies to the shade of a thicket of tamboti trees.

Procession of fat cubs waddling to the shade of a Tamboti thicket

One cub gives a snarl as he walks passed my land rover

Look at the size of their bellies!!

All seemed well until late in the afternoon, a breeding herd of elephants happened across the scene. Notoriously aggressive towards lions, the elephants launched an all out attack on the relaxing pride. I have only seen video footage from other guides and guests but the herd held back nothing as the air was filled with piercing trumpeting and roars and the ground literally shook as 15 or so elephants barreled after the fleeing lions. To our horror, a young bull managed to corner one of the cubs and proceeded to thrash at him with his tusks, rupturing his flank in several places, tossing him through the air in the process. As a coup de gras, the elephant then attempted to kneel on the defenseless cub while the rest of the pride watched on helpless.

After 10 minutes of chaos, the elephants decided that their point had been made and they disappeared into the bush as quietly as they had come. After the dust settled, we surveyed the aftermath of the carnage. The cub, bad injured, was still alive and could even get to its feet but it looked as if his pelvis had been broken and walking was impossible. In a matter of moments, the cub’s fate had been sealed. As I have mentioned before, the fact that they have survived to this point is a minor miracle in itself. The pride rallied round the crippled cub and offered as much support as possible but the female known as Mandleve (the one with the floppy ear to those of you who have seen them in the flesh) decided that this was her responsibility. For the next few hours, she kept vigil over the cub, attacking any female that tried to come close.

Lioness emerges from the darkness to survey the aftermath of the elephant attack

The pride milling around as nerves settle after a traumatic night

Eventually though, we could see that the pride had become restless and that they were eager to move away from the area. Reluctantly, the females and remaining cubs started to put distance between themselves and the abandoned cub. We watched with true sadness in our hearts as the little one was left behind. The urge to help is great but we know that we are honoured to witness nature unfolding before our eyes and we have no right to interfere in the natural order of things. Just when we thought things couldn’t get more distressing, we noticed the stealthy approach of one of the males… At least the cub would be spared a slow death if the male did what his instinct should tell him to do. Before the male could deliver the death blow however, the cub surprised us all by summoning up its last reserves of energy, finding that little bit extra that we all have in us when faced with life and death. He sprung up, slashing at the male across his muzzle and growling his most fearsome growl! The unexpected fight left in the cub stopped the male dead in his tracks and gave the females a chance to react. Alerted to the situation by the cub’s cries of defiance, the whole pride tore past my land rover and lashed out at the male before he could regain his composure. Met with such a show of the aggression, the startled male fled to safety.

One of the Kruger males begins his approach to the injured cub

Mandleve rakes her claws across the stunned male's face.
(The pic is a bit grainy nut my shutter speed was at 250 - just shows you the speed of her strike!)

The next morning we found the pride again, minus 2 cubs now. The fate of the injured cub is unknown but with all the hyenas around the carcass fighting over the scraps, the inevitable outcome is in no doubt. The other cub was spotted on Sunday morning far away from the rest of the pride, no doubt lost in the pandemonium of the night before. Alone and disorientated, his chances of finding his family also look bleak… The rest of the pride were found some distance from the battle field and were busy engaging in frantic grooming and nuzzling each other, no doubt in an attempt to reinforce the bonds after such a traumatic night. The males were also lying up close by and it seems that for the time being at least, the remaining 7 cubs will survive.

Quite why the new males have not killed all the cubs by now is a mystery, perhaps the promiscuous tendencies of the females has been their saving grace. When no dominant male is present, lionesses have a habit of mating with multiple partners, thereby causing confusion as to who the true father really is. Whatever the reason, I feel honoured to be witnessing such a story unfold. Nature is cruel at times and in this job we are given a courtside seat to it being dealt out with no censorship. Safaris are rated 18 and no matter what your reasons are for coming to experience the African bush, one should be prepared for the possibility of joining the emotional rollercoaster that these animals face on a daily basis.

October 12, 2011

Balinese Bliss

After a long drive back to Windhoek and the flight back to Johannesburg, Rika and I were afforded 1 night at home before heading back to the airport for the honeymoon. Although booked 8 months in advance, I had been able to keep the destination a secret until then and relished at Rika’s excitement when she discovered that our destination was the island of Bali. After 14 hours of traveling, we landed in Bali and were met by our hotel representative and whisked away to the mountains for the first of 3 locales of the honeymoon. Although tired, we watched the scenery drift by as we headed north to the mountains and our home for the next four days; the Munduk Moding plantation.

The hotel was tucked away in a coffee plantation, surrounded by tropical vegetation. Warm temperatures and tropical humidity greeted us by day and at night; the mist rolling in from the surrounding mountains shrouded us in a cool blanket of cloud. Service in Bali is impeccable and even in the industry that we work in; we learned a few things about personalized service. Food was great and we spent most of the time there enjoying the scenery and the infinity pool, leading to a cliff top overlooking the northern coastline and the Javan Mountains beyond. We visited a local hot springs, borne from the volcanic rocks of the island, reported to have healing properties among the locals and also a Buddhist temple. Although Hindu is the most prevalent religion, Buddhist temples are common on the island with their extravagant architecture, striking icons and rich tradition.

Religion is a hugely important part of everyday life in Bali and every single house has its own temple. Offerings of colourful flowers and food are left on a daily basis and most days seem to have some sort of ceremonial significance, thanking the multitude of god’s for their continued good will. Colours of clothing and flags signify the purpose of the ceremony, be they happy or sad, and the local people were often happy to explain the purpose of these events. Coupled with the temples, our other over riding memories of Bali are the rice paddies. Mile after mile of these stepped floodplains stretch across the landscape. Local people, both men and women, can be seen on a daily basis, wading knee deep in the fields ensuring that this year’s crop is flourishing. All of the locals are small and lean, muscles ripped from years or living out a physical lifestyle and all sporting the local cone shaped wicker hats that Hollywood has made synonymous with the Asian contingent.

Our next destination was Ubud, the cultural capital of Bali and deep in the humid interior. The Royal Pita Maha resort was perhaps one of the most picturesque and well appointed places that I have ever seen. The huge room, built into a cliff looked down first over our private 10m swimming pool and then on to the river flowing through the valley below - a true tropical paradise with waterfalls, water features and immaculate gardens. Leaving the resort seemed was hard to do but we spent one day at Ubud market sampling the local merchandise and cuisine as we made our way through the cramped stalls littering the streets. Handmade clothing and jewelry dominated the stalls but a large selection of local art was on offer and we purchased a set of three, very Asian feeling, minimalist line paintings to decorate our new house, and keep our honeymoon fresh in our minds. We also took in a local show that portrayed a story of love and betrayal, brought to life by the local community in the form of dance. No instruments were used, just the women of the village using their array of voices as the beat. Colourful costumes and artistic dance served to bridge the language barrier and we watched enthralled as the lead characters span their story in the firelight.

The final destination was the Wangsa Villas on the south eastern coast. A private villa, with butler service and another private pool marked the end of our whirlwind tour. The beach was a mere 100m away and although the area close us was predominantly a water sports Mecca, a short stroll along the white sandy beaches lead us to calm clear waters. 6 days of uninterrupted sunshine enhanced our enjoyment of the tropical beaches and we tried our hand at some new forms of entertainment, namely parasailing and a day spent scuba diving over coral gardens and a ship wreck. Neither of us had ever dived before and the images that we saw during our submersion will again never be forgotten. The water was bath temperature warm and the variety of marine life simply staggering. The level of biodiversity and Mother Nature’s ability to design and create such a rich array of colour and shape is a truly humbling sight. To be guests in such an underwater world was a unique experience and has inspired both of to pursue our PADI qualifications and explore the rich marine life of the East coast of South Africa.

Basking in the infinity pool at the Munduk Moding Plantation

A captivating view of my beautiful wife admiring the Javan mountains in the distance

A small example of the myriad of paddy fields in Bali

Cocktails at the Royal Pia Maha in Ubud

The view from our room at the Royal Pita Maha

Rika perched on our balcony with the tropical valley as a backdrop

Our private pool at the Wangsa Villas in Nusa Dua

Sheer bliss. White sand, warm see and a beautiful wife

Working on our tans at Jimbaran Beach

Who's got a lovely bunch of cocnuts.....

Dinner on Jmbaran Beach. Fresh cocnut milk at sunset

Look how happy Rika is after her lobster dinner!

Us on a floating pontoon in the bay where we tried parasailing and had a water slide dropping straight into the sea!

Doing something I never thought I'd do....riding an elephant. Although these Sumatran elephants are the smallest species

A very friendly and photogenic Sumatran elephant

A tropical vision indeed!

Namibian Nuptials

The wedding was truly magical. I have to say that originally I had harboured reservations about getting married in the middle of nowhere in a desert, but now that the day has passed, I am grateful for Rika’s decision. There is no way that I can put into words the magnificence of the country of Namibia…but I will try! The road from Windhoek to Wolverdans lodge was long and arduous but against the back drop of the indescribable scenery, and the anticipation of the days ahead, the journey flew by. More than half of the 7 hour marathon was spent driving on gravel roads and bearing in mind we were in a rented minibus, I’m sure that some of us will have standing visits to the osteopath in years to come! In all fairness though, the roads were in excellent condition despite rainfall up about 400% on the annual average. Any discomfort we might have felt was soon dispelled as we marveled at the terrain as it rolled past.

To say that the area was unpopulated would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. We passed perhaps 1 car everyone 100 miles, no shops and no petrol stations for hours on end. The journey took longer than expected and by the time we entered the Namib-Rand national park, the sun was beginning to set in the great expanse of the Namibian sky. The expected terrain of vast expanse of red sand had been replaced with a blanket of grass in light of the rainfall and in its wake, had brought with it a multitude of wildlife. These desert areas often cause game populations to dissolve far and wide in their struggle to find enough resources to survive but we were greeted by herds and herds of Oryx and Springbok as the sandy road meandered deeper into the park. Spectacular silhouettes drifted past our car, backlit by the fading light as we pulled into the car park.

Wolverdans itself is a rustic camp set atop a huge sand dune against the back drop of a jagged mountain range. The following morning, upon venturing outside we were able to take in the full glory of our surroundings. Today was the wedding day. The benefit of having the ceremony at a lodge is that the logistics are not ours to worry about. This luxury afforded us time to prepare for the day. Rika spent the morning having a champagne breakfast in the honeymoon suite and attempting in vain to improve upon perfection. I however, had given up on trying to make myself look more presentable and was able to enjoy a game drive with family and friends who had also made the marathon journey to share this special time with us. 3 hours of sweeping roads through the reserve followed; dreamscape landscape interspersed with regular sightings of Oryx, springbok and hartebeest and some of the more unique members of such an arid ecosystem. Some new faces to me included the endearing bat eared foxes and ground squirrels, unrelated, though sharing obvious behavioural aspects to the meercats in the way that they scanned the horizon perched upon their hind legs. Bird life in such a desolate area was also surprisingly abundant and I was able to check off in excess of 15 lifers for my ever expanding portfolio.

The location of the ceremony was a surprise to all of us, as the morning game drive had purposely taken us in the other direction. Trussed up in my wedding attire, we arrived at the venue still not really knowing what to expect. This is going to be where words fail to describe the scene that greeted us. At the summit of another huge dune, a small gazebo stood amidst the brick red sand. The wind had caused waves of ridges to form in the sand and one had the feeling of standing in an ocean as we took in our surroundings. In front of it, a steep drop led to a vast open plain of grass stretching into the distance until it rose again to meet a distant jagged mountain range. I have thought for ages on how to best bring to life the horizon that peered back at us and the best I can do is to imagine what the surface of Venus might look like beneath its shroud of thick clouds. A cacophony of colours shone back at us ranging from red to yellow, green to brown. Not even Dulux could hope to match some of the tones that were visible. I never knew such a vast spectrum of colours existed.

However, my epiphany that no greater beauty existed anywhere on this earth was short lived with the arrival of my bride. A vision in white, Rika floated up the dune on the arm of her father and when I saw her, the magnificence of the landscape dissolved into nothing more than a blur. There are defining moments in one’s life that are etched into memory for all eternity and Rika approaching me in her wedding gown, soft curls falling around her face under the veil will live with me forever. The ceremony went perfectly and no one knew of any just cause why we could not be bound in holy matrimony! Rings were exchanged and registers signed accordingly. Friends and family were all given disposable cameras to snap away during the proceedings and we were fortunate enough to have a couple very good amateur photographers in our midst. Some photos of the event are already on facebook but there will be many more to follow when we have the time to go through them all.