Machaba Camp Wildlife Stories November 2024
The rainy season has finally arrived. This is very exciting for us because as the rain continues to fall, watering holes fill up, migratory species return to the area, more vegetation and food will grow, and the average temperatures decrease.
For now, it's still hot, which makes early mornings and evenings the most active in terms of animal activity and the best time to go on a wildlife safari.
This month, we observed large concentrations of animals near treelines and riverbanks. Elephants have also been spotted on the mainland, while hippos have been feeding on new grass shoots, a welcome result of the summer rainfall.
Two-For-One
We cannot guarantee what we'll see on a game drive, but our guides will use their unique skills to increase the chances of spotting a particular animal. Our guests had shared their dream of seeing a leopard on one of their drives but were unfortunately unable to, until the next day when we experienced a close encounter that had our guests awestruck.
We started tracking a leopard that had eluded us the previous day. The tracks disappeared into a bush. After some searching, we found the tracks again and followed them to a pride of lions lying underneath a tree. Curious about where the leopard was, we scanned the bush and saw a little leopard cub hidden under a bush directly opposite the pride!
A short while later, the leopard cub’s mother returned. The lions did not take kindly to another big cat so close to them. A few of them got up and started chasing after the leopards. The mother scooped up her cub and ran away from the lions until they stopped chasing her.
After two days of tracking, that sighting was worth the wait.
Mission Accomplished
The task was simple: find a fully-grown male lion. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done.
The males had not been seen in or around camp for a week.. Nevertheless, we set out to find one. We searched for tracks and listened out for lion calls to no avail. We then drove to Magotlho and saw the general game and some amazing jackal sightings.
It was getting late at this point, but we remained hopeful. We drove slowly to a nearby hyena den and eventually looked for a lion on the floodplains south of Machaba Camp. It was here that we found what we were looking for... an adult male whose load roar exploded mere meters away from our safari vehicle.
Power Of The Pack
African wild dogs are among the most successful hunters on the African continent. Studies suggest that they have a success rate between 60% and 80% when hunting. Compared to lions, who have a 30% success rate, it's no wonder some call them the “African Assassins”.
On a game drive to Magotlho, we encountered an impala herd in a frenzy. As we drove closer, the area suddenly became overrun with wild dogs. The pack split into smaller groups and chased individual impalas in almost every direction. Before we knew it, two impalas were caught, killed and fed on.
Loving Mother
Hyenas often get called cowardly scavengers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. While they are opportunistic feeders, hyenas are exceptional hunters and primarily survive on their own kills. We were lucky to witness their incredible hunting ability firsthand, along with a group of the most adorable hyena puppies while we were on a game drive.
Early one morning, as the sun rose over the horizon, we found ourselves at a hyena den where a few puppies were waiting for their pack to return. They were enthralled by our safari vehicle and tried to figure out what they were looking at. Then, out of the bushes, their mother appeared, dragging a fresh impala kill. The puppies ran towards their mother and started feeding on the kill.
November was a great month for wildlife sightings, and we look forward to seeing what awaits in December!
Until next time,
Linguist
Machaba Camp
