Dam dogs

Yesterday I had one of the best sightings ever! I was out with Declan, one of the other guides and we went in search of the wild dogs we'd heard had taken down a waterbuck on the western side of one of the dams.

Wild dogs rip their prey apart in seconds, killing them swiftly. Many say that this brutal way of doing away with their prey is mean, but I think I'd prefer it to the slower suffocating death that the big cats would offer you. Also feeding is a quick business and on approach we could see that most of their kill had been promptly gulped down and what now remained was literally skin and bones. The only ones still interested in the scraps were the youngsters, last year's pups.

Some of the dogs showed a keen interest in the two waterbucks that wearily watched them from the middle of the dam. One of them was brave enough to try to make it into the bush but the dogs were there in a heartbeat, so the buck lived up to her name and ran for safety into the water again... and this time, she stayed put.

After a while one of the older dogs made it off with a big bone and only two of the younger members of the pack could be bothered with the skin.

But this is when a brown hyena seased the opportunity and came sneaking into the sighting. Brown hyenas are usually very shy and I've never seen one in broad daylight before!

On it's third attempt, the hyena had now figured out to rather come storming towards the desired treasure, rather than trying to use stealth.

The explosion of activity was amazing and it was absolutely fascinating to watch the pack defend their price, even though barely anything remained.  

 ...and I guess this was the reason they finally did give up and let the scavenger head off.

We sat there for about one and a half hours as no other vehicles were approaching that we had to give way for and as for the animals... couldn't care less about us. The dogs stayed by the dam the whole day and we even had a great second visit there in the late evening, as the sun was setting.

This is definitely the best brown hyena sighting ever and probably also my best wild dog sighting, and put together: magic! So happy we were at the right place at the right time... and so were the two guests.

/A

Kruger, Family trip part IV

A few days before Christmas we entered Kruger National Park. Kudu is, as I've mentioned a few times, my favourite antelope, both in nature and on a plate. As the symbol of the South African national parks, it was only fitting for this beautiful male to welcome us into the park.

As we had booked accommodation “only” six months in advance, we had to change camp every night of the four we spent there! This isn't a big deal however, as you almost have to see different parts of the park to fully appreciate it.  

We had many really awesome sightings over the almost five days in Kruger, both of the big five and some of the smaller creatures. Some of the favourites were the playful dwarf mongooses (of course!)...

...and an unlikely bird; the Cape turtle dove... or as we now know it, the Combaro bird. People argue that it repeatedly says “Cape turtle”, “Drink lager” or “Work harder”. We however agreed, it's probably “Combaro”. I do not know why this bird is obsessed with comb overs though..?

On the first day we came across two hyena cubs at the entrance of their den. One of the adults, left behind to babysit, kept lurking around in the bushes to keep an eye on us. As we turned around to get back onto the main road again we noticed that one of the cubs was approaching a vehicle with great interest, as someone was holding their hand out towards it... The argument that followed with the female “ranger” trying to “...interact with and be one with nature.” was probably one of few moments of total unity in our vehicle. We all definitely wished for the adults to come back and make her a permanent part of nature!

Another memorable sighting was two young male lions crunching away on Pumba. A leopard kept on circling the greedy guys, who'd most likely stolen the leopards prey.

He kept a healthy distance though...

The last night in Kruger was Christmas Eve and we were having a bush braai on a rock where, on many occasions, I've seen lions resting... not everyone appreciated that piece of information. We were of course accompanied by a few rangers with rifles, so most of us weren't too worried. The food was great, but unfortunately, the dessert wasn't. The British influence on the South African kitchen is sometimes a bit too evident... Just drench it in custard, and let's call it dessert!

Lying on the warm granite rock after supper, giggling with a family member while star gazing was probably the best part of my Christmas Eve... thank you!

/A