October 2009:It’s still very dry in the Timbavati, and the elephants are frequenting our camp waterhole fairly often. These photos were taken from the last tent in camp and from inside our shower. This month we have had excellent sightings of buffalo and white rhino. The buffalo herd
Buffalo on Safari Timbavati
seen during October numbers in the region of 500 or so animals. They are often followed by a large pride of lions – it seems that buffalo are the pride’s main source of food. There are a number of buffalo carcasses in the veld – all the easier to see now that the grass is so dry and short.
We have had good sightings of owls recently on our night drives – the other evening our night drive yielded a Giant Eagle owl, a white faced owl, and a pearl spotted owl. We are also saw both large and small spotted genets, African wild cat, Bush baby, civet and a chameleon.
The first baby impala’s have been born. They seem to be a bit early this year, as usually the first rains have started before the babies are born. Other exciting news in October is that we found fresh evidence of a Black Rhino midden on our concession – we are keeping a look out for Black Rhino.
We hosted a group of travel agents in camp this last weekend (6/7 Nov), and were rewarded with excellent lion sightings. We think that there may have been a shift in the prides’ social hierachy, as they were all calling from different areas over a course of two nights. The male lions that we saw were also clearly agitated, so perhaps there has been a shift in dominance amongst the males. On the Saturday night a lioness walked right through camp whilst we were having dinner. She was resonding to a calling male lion on the other side of the dry river bed that runs past camp, and the camp was simply in the middle of her route!
Posted by: Laura & Enoch – Shindzela Tented Safari Camp, Timbavati
