The Pecking Order

On a recent game drive in Madikwe, we came across one of the lion coalitions, the Modimo brothers. They had caught a young buffalo in a small quarry while out on their night patrol. However, the female thaat usually accompanies them had been left behind and didn't show up for the feast. Meanwhile, the two boys stayed in the area for a few days to finish their massive meal. As lions normally do, they kept gorging themselves in between napping sessions and barely took notice of our presence.

After a few days in the sun, the odour was becoming more and more pronounced in spite of the relatively cold weather. Jackals and pied crows were also attracted to the kill, but didn’t really stand much of a chance, as the two brothers kept a sharp eye on their prize and weren’t taking any nonsense from the smaller visitors.

I always find it fascinating that a 200 kg cat will spend time and energy chasing a bird away that might only eat a few grams of their kill!

When the carcass was little more than skin and bones, the Modimo males decided it was time to leave and to perhaps try to meet up with their female companion. As they left, the cleaning squad swiftly moved in. A couple of spotted hyenas started fighting over the biggest pieces, while three jackals made the most of the diverted attention.

However, the larger female hyena easily kept the younger male at bay and even managed to give the jackals the evil eye from time to time. When one of them proudly ran off with a rib into the shade, the young hyena was quick to steal it back, in order to have something to eat without having to take on the older female.

When she finally had torn off a large piece of the spine from the rest of the carcass, she made a quick retreat into the bushes.

The younger hyena had then had his fill, all the while scanning the bushes nervously. The jackals, however, seemed more relaxed as their larger competitor was now gone, and even the crows joined in. We could hear a lion roaring in the distance and also saw a couple of brown hyenas lurking about in the bushes nearby. This was probably the reason for the young one’s skittish demeanour. Soon the male hyena also departed, along the same route as the older one had just left.

The more relaxed of the brown hyenas then immediately took over the carcass and seemed to want to make off with all of the leftovers, which was a very unpopular decision with the jackals, who tried to feed while the bones were being dragged away from them.

The hyena puffed her fur up in order to look as intimidating as possible to the smaller predators and the other brown hyena that was still watching from a distance. This had little effect on the jackals though, and the brown hyena, after struggling a bit with the weight and bulkiness, resolved to just feed out in the open, right in front of us.

As the greedy animal tried to bite off more than she could chew, a bone seemed to get stuck in her throat. For a while it looked like a severe problem as she put her whole foot in her mouth to try to get rid of it.

A couple of minutes later it was, however, all forgotten and she continued feeding happily alongside the jackals. Eventually the second brown hyena warily made its approach and we decided it was time to leave the feasting party so that the nervous animal could have its fill in peace.

Meanwhile, the Modimo brothers had indeed met up with the female – right in front of our lodge! For a couple of days they were seen and heard mating by our waterhole, while one of the males rested in the sun, giving our guests plenty of opportunities to get some excellent sightings of the carefree lions.

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Big 5 Marathon 2016

The Waterberg in South Africa is an incredibly scenic area with an absolutely breath-taking beauty. Every mid-winter the Big Five half and full marathon is hosted in this area, and it too will take your breath away, literally. This year, the 12th annual race saw a total of 285 runners at the starting line, for the half and full marathons, from 32 different countries – a race record.

I work at this event and have no time to run, or so I convince myself. This year however, a couple of colleagues thought it would be a great idea to join in… and for some odd reason, I was caught up in their enthusiasm. And, I did run a couple of times in November, so I thought I would be fine, right?

The first few days were spent acclimatising to the altitude as well as the weather, running outside of the reserve and going on game drives. The day before the race, route inspection let it dawn on us that a scenic landscape naturally entails some vertical challenges.

As the route goes through the reserve, the race briefing included instructions on what to do if any big game was encountered on the track. Rangers are stationed along the route, so if the participants encounter any large animals they can turn back to the nearest one. They also track the lions the day before and stay with them, in shifts, all the through the night – a good thing too, since a lioness made a wildebeest kill right on the full marathon route in the early morning hours. Her two cubs and the big male joined her at the breakfast feast. This meant they probably wouldn’t be wandering off too far anytime soon and those in charge of the race spent the morning re-routing the race.

©Albatros Adventure Marathon

The first couple of kilometres consist of a gentle incline, which actually didn’t feel all that gentle on foot. We then find ourselves on the plateau of the upper escarpment, with fantastic views and an abundance of grazers. The marimba band really energised us as we proceeded, while blesbok and wildebeest stared at the two-legged runners in confusion, before setting off in a cloud of dust. After a few more kilometres, the half and full marathon routes split. The longer one went to a lookout point with a view of the lower escarpment, before back-tracking to a point where all the participants had to descend to the lower escarpment.

©Albatros Adventure Marathon

The famous (or infamous) Yellowwood Road is a 2.2km stretch with an altitude difference of 500m and at times the slope is at a 45º angle! This is where our fitness was really tested. The downhill “run” is what had me worried. I needed to keep focused while my thigh muscles battled to keep me from tumbling down the slope gracefully as a log. Reaching the bottom I was welcomed by another band cheering me on and it was pure joy just to have made it down.

The route then took us through a forested area, around a dam where you’re almost guaranteed to find hippos during the mid-day relative warmth. The deep sand here was especially challenging for the full marathon runners that navigate a rather long loop. Unnoticed by the participants, two cheetah brothers had decided to spend the day in the long grass by the dam, only 50m from the track! Driving back to the camp at sunset, most rangers however stopped to reveal where they were still resting and how close we’d been running… Probably a good thing they weren’t tempted to show off their own running skills at the time.

Most changed socks and had their feet washed at the musical water station at the bottom of the hill, before the real fun began; crawling up Yellowwood again! As a half marathon “runner” I also experienced being swiftly bypassed by full route runners on gazelle-like legs, while I was struggling to slowly put one foot in front of the other and not fall over. But it is rather fascinating to see what some focused training might have achieved…

©Albatros Adventure Marathon

After a slow uphill walk, the drinks offered were more than welcome. I probably downed about a litre of energy drinks, well more than recommended, but at this point it was more about survival than getting a decent time. Arriving at a downhill stretch of hard-packed sand, antelopes kept crossing the path. Then a tricky terrain section a few kilometres before the end tested my no-longer-fantastic focus. Loose rocks on the winding road kept both my legs and brain busy and I could only hope that the wobbly rocks wouldn’t send me flying… This is when most participants confess that it’s the scenery that keeps you going. The surroundings made it enjoyable to just be out in the wild, on a sunny winter’s day.

©Albatros Adventure Marathon

As I turned a corner, hearing the speaker announcing the names crossing the finishing line. At this point tunnel vision had set in and no amount of cheering could change my pace. Seeing colleagues and friends at the end and catching the scent of lunch was however enough to make me finish with a smile.

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