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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Wild dog relocation

The African wild dog is a highly Endangered predator and the icon of Madikwe Game Reserve.  They need a lot of space, as they traverse and hunt over vast areas. They are therefore only found in larger parks and reserves and have been doing very well in Madikwe, since there’s plenty of land for them to roam.

It is normally only the Alpha pair that breeds while the other pack members help bring up the pups and provide food. Dispersal takes place when a few individuals, of the same sex, break away to find another breakaway group, of the opposite sex, from another pack to join up with, thus establishing a new pack.

Since they aren’t territorial, dogs from the north-west could potentially make it all the way to Kruger, KwaZulu Natal or even East Africa with ease, if there were no fences. Most wild dogs live in the larger reserves and parks, which are fenced in and therefore don’t have the opportunity of naturally dispersing. Hence they need some help in doing so and keeping the gene pool of the population healthy.

Madikwe saw a handful of males breaking away from the main pack about two years ago and it was an excellent opportunity to catch them for relocation to another reserve, in the Northern Cape. They were temporarily put in an enclosure for monitoring, while waiting for the transfer go ahead.

It seemed like a rather straight forward procedure, but unfortunately the initial plans didn’t work out and the brothers were kept under surveillance, awaiting another opportunity. Later another possible home was negotiated, in Kruger National Park.

However, around this time the researchers and ecologists in Kruger were investigating why their own wild dogs were disappearing from the northern part of the reserve, where the Madikwe males were to be released. The plans of moving them were yet again halted, as it wouldn’t be good to bring in new blood if there was a risk that they would vanish shortly after their release.

Many of the guides in Madikwe have been following these dogs over the last few years and often the remaining free roaming wild dogs have been seen close to the boma where the brothers have been kept, greeting each other through the fence. It seemed a shame that they had to stay there, away from their relatives, but it’s been for the greater good of the population, since there would otherwise be a risk of inbreeding. We have therefore kept our fingers crossed, hoping for them to soon find a permanent home.

When this finally happened it was all very sudden. A request for guests wanting to assist with the capture was made from the park’s board, guests who would be interested were then identified at Jaci’s Lodges and a sponsor quickly stepped in to help with the financial side of things.

Only a few days later the plan was ready and it was all actually happening! At 7am on a chilly and overcast morning in mid-June, two of the guides and our five guests met with the head ecologist in Madikwe, a veterinarian and a few field rangers, just outside the enclosure that had been the dogs’ home for the better part of two years.

We were told that a dead impala was going to be tied to a tree and used as bait, as this is normally the easiest way to get the dogs to stay in one place to be darted.

But, even the best laid plans are sometimes outsmarted, especially by these clever and agile canines. After a few bites of meat, they had already figured out that this event wasn’t about a free meal and ran around, crisscrossing each other’s paths, making it difficult for the vet to get a clear shot. As they are very slender animals, the darts need to be perfectly placed, to not injure them. The veterinarian explained that he’d rather let this operation take all day than risking harming them in any way.

After some strategizing, a plan was made and soon the three males were staggering around as if drunk, and then finally slumped down on the ground.

The mixture of drugs that they were darted with apparently makes them lose memory of the last half hour or so before they’re actually darted, preventing them from being traumatised from the stress that obviously is associated with being handled by humans.

The guests were all happy to learn about this fact, even though the veterinarian and rangers did work efficiently to minimise the impact on them from this event and the guests all joined in to help carry them to the awaiting crates.

As the brothers were loaded onto the vehicle that was going to take them outside the boma for the first time in a long while, it was with a tear in my eye, and a huge smile on my face, as it was a bit sad to finally see them go, but I was also very happy for their sake. The guests were all very grateful to have been part of this experience and to learn that the three brothers would be on their way to a life in freedom.

They have now be taken to Mkuze Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal to join up with a female. Once they’re successfully acquainted and settled, in a few weeks’ time, they will once again be roaming free, hunting and investigating their new surroundings.


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My Back Yard

Madikwe Game Reserve has been my home for just over two years now and has provided me with fantastic sightings and photo opportunities over the months. Going on a game drive is always exciting as you never know what you’ll encounter around the next corner. However, staying in camp at Jaci’s Lodges can some days prove to be equally as interesting, as the wildlife doesn’t always understand the concept of fences.

Summer is a great time for macro photography. After the first rains a great variety of insects and other little critters pop out everywhere. Extraordinary colours and lifeforms appear; butterflies around every puddle, tiny mantis, huge beetles, millipedes, scorpions and grasshoppers.

The abundance of tiny critters in turn attracts their predators. A group of banded mongooses has made the lodge their home and they go on patrol regularly enough for you to basically set your watch for their appearance. It’s very interesting to follow the family affairs of this group that we call the ‘Bandits’ and to see the youngsters grow up.

My favourite bird, the yellow-billed hornbill is also a resident species around the lodge. Unfortunately the couple that hang around outside my room enjoy knocking at the window at all hours of the day, as they can see their own reflection in the glass. However they are also used to people enough to be able to get some good close-up shots, which is great.

For a while there was an absolute racket outside my door every day and at first I couldn’t make out what was going on, as there were many different bird species voicing their opinions. I thought maybe there was a snake around, but the ever present tree squirrel wasn’t joining in on the noise, which would be unusual for them. I realised it was a Levaillant’s cuckoo chick begging for food from its arrow-marked babbler ‘parents’ – cuckoos are parasitic birds which lay eggs in the nests of other birds.

A crested barbet then decided to add to the chorus. It’s really interesting to see the enormous chicks being fed by their small, unsuspecting parents and it always amazes me that they don’t get suspicious when their newly hatched baby is bigger than they are.

Another noisy bird that’s become a real character in my life is Nathan, a Natal spur fowl. He’s so used to the guides’ presence by now that he doesn’t hesitate investigating your room if you leave it open, or even jumping up into your lap if your lunch looks interesting enough. While this may all seem funny and charming, his announcement of it being time to get up while it’s still pitch dark outside is less so. Especially since, for some unknown reason, all these noisy individuals have decided that the best place to stir up trouble is on my doorstep.

Luckily a huge water monitor has also taken up residency and has chosen a river bushwillow nearby as her nightly resting place, keeping the fowls at bay during the warmer days. She seems to be the boss of the garden, having all other animals scattering as she approaches to bask on the lawn. She loves it when the grass is being watered, running up to the hose pipe, enjoying the gentle spray on hot summer days.

Guests often ask if the elephant dung found around the lodge has been put there to fertilise the ground or to add some excitement. The truth is that at the end of the dry season, the elephants start feeling the stress of the drought and go looking for some greenery to eat around the lodges. One bull in particular has made a habit of breaking in and then slowly letting himself be herded out the main gate by us guides. Eventually the fence was moved closer to the river, making it difficult for the bull to push it down again. So, this behaviour was stopped before it got out of hand and became a real problem for us and the guests.

The numerous bushbuck around the lodge are very used to people and barely offer you a glance as you pass by. As the presence of humans most likely indicates a lack of other predators, the antelopes feel rather safe around us and even the females with tiny young will let you near enough for some nice close-up shots.

So, taking a walk through your own backyard in the bush can be a real photographic safari, with monkeys peeking down on you, frogs and lizards hiding in the foliage and snakes quickly slithering across the path in front of you. If you have your camera at the ready, you never know what you may be able to capture.

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Cycling in Madikwe

On 21st May Jaci’s Lodges arranged the first ever biannual cycling event in Madikwe Game Reserve. This ride marked the launch of the lodge’s new ‘Madikwe Mountain Biking Weekends’ that give cyclists the opportunity to peddle through Big Five country over two days with nothing more than a bicycle and the helmet on their head.

The beautiful sunny morning saw seven enthusiastic participants meet for their pre-cycling brief, just after breakfast. One of the lodge vehicles went ahead with all the snacks and cooler boxes and with the important task of keeping a look-out for any dangerous animals and to scout for good drink stop spots along the way. A second vehicle drove in front of the cyclists to keep them safe in case of any large game that may be encountered. The last vehicle drove behind the group in case any of the participants could not continue or there were any technical difficulties with the bicycles. All three vehicles were in constant radio contact, to ensure everything went smoothly.

Their 40 km journey would take the group past the terrapin hide at the lodge’s waterhole. The stunning scenery as well as the rich birdlife seen made the morning excursion even more pleasurable. As the participants started the incline towards the boundary of the reserve, they were greeted by some impalas who were no doubt curious as to what these two-wheeled creatures were. After the ascent, the much anticipated 2 km downhill towards the Molatedi gate was greatly appreciated, and even had a few of the participants breaking the reserve’s speed limit.

Once the cyclists reached the Molatedi gate, they passed onto one of the main roads which is more even than the previous section and allowed the cyclists to enjoy the scenery more. Both impalas and wildebeests were passed at close quarters and most of them looked rather confused, but didn’t budge until the cyclists were right next to them. Only once they realised it was humans at a racing speed of about 20 km/h, they scattered in disbelief.

The first pit stop took place next to the road, with a wonderful view of a waterhole and the mountains, drenched in early morning sunlight. Drinks, dried fruits, nuts, biltong and date balls quickly emerged from the lead car and were devoured almost as rapidly. An energy re-fill was much needed by this time. After the short rest, the group continued with just a slight breeze stirring the air. The vehicle in the front also helped out by asking oncoming cars to stop or slow down for the cyclists, as to not spray dust all over the group.

We had heard on the radio that a pride of lions had been seen close to the road the cyclists were headed to. After this news we kept in radio contact with the other guides that were out on game drives to find out what their movements were. As we approached the junction where the big cats had been seen, we were relieved to hear that they were slowly moving away from the main road. It could have been an interesting sighting, but maybe a bit too exciting!

At the 20 km mark, which was also the turn-around point, a second pit stop was enjoyed under the shade of a few big trees whilst watching impalas feed in the distance.

Cycling back on the main road proved to be much easier and quicker as the group were now on a decline. The group progressed quickly, but also had time to keep a lookout for animals. An elephant herd was spotted in the distance and we all stopped to enjoy the moment – which also allowed the cyclists to catch their breath again. The elephants went about their own business without even noticing that they were being watched.

A third and final stop at Molatedi gate meant a long good look at the 2 km long uphill stretch along the fence, which earlier in the morning had entailed an exhilarating 45 km/h ride, with no effort. This time around, I imagine the hill seemed less enjoyable. As brunch time was approaching, I think most of the participants were eager to get back to the lodge however and they were making good progress. Rounding the waterhole in front of the lodge, big smiles were on everyone’s faces, as a great outing and a 40 km ride had been accomplished.

On the second day another 20 km were accomplished, but this time outside the reserve. With sore legs and bums from the previous day, the group still managed to cover this route faster than the first 20 km the day before. Although the animals encountered were a little less wild, the scenery was just as beautiful.


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Wild dogs hunting at the waterhole

We got very lucky recently when a tour operator arrived from, Finland at the last minute, to visit the lodge. He only had time for a one hour game drive, as he was going to leave early the next morning for Botswana and so myself and another guide took him out for a short bumble.

When asked if he had any particular interests, the response was, “Show me the best of what you’ve got.” We both thought it would be a difficult task to achieve in just an hour. But, as soon as we left the lodge we stumbled on a dagga boy peacefully making his way to the wetland in front of our hide.

Two minutes later, a spotted hyena came walking out of the thickets, in perfect light. It was a huge female that we often see in this area of the reserve and she is rather easy to identify because of her missing left ear... As we were watching her, all of a sudden 14 wild dogs showed up on the other side of the road, also making their way to the water!

For about half an hour they were roaming around, running back and forth, seemingly trying to flush something out of the bushes. They were clearly looking for their dinner and eventually they picked up on something.
The chase started before we realised what was going on! It was so quick; we didn’t even manage to see what they were after as they went storming past the wetland, some of them sprinting through the water, before finally catching up with their prey.
As we caught up with them, we realised through all the whimpering, dust and waving tails that it was a young male impala that was on the menu. The noise from the dogs while trying to get the best pieces and playing tug of war with the food was amazing to witness. In just a few minutes most of it was gone and we could only hear the distinct gnawing on bones from 14 happy dogs.
A lot of people think that wild dogs have a cruel way of finishing their prey, but I must say it was over so quickly for this impala that I doubt he knew what was going on. As it got dark we left them and drove the couple of hundred metres back to the lodge, very satisfied with the afternoon.

Our visitor from the north definitely got the best Madikwe has to offer, as the wild dogs are what many people come here in search of. And a kill of any kind is a bonus most can only hope for. He was also very grateful that he decided to take his camera with him on the drive, even though it was going to be a very short one!


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MaYdikwe

The 2016 Photo Festival at Jaci’s Lodges was a huge success and fully booked, with 24 guests participating in the first ever four day annual event. The festival saw four photographers rotated amongst the four designated vehicles, offering the guests a chance to learn tips and tricks from each professional. It soon became evident that the photographers all have different styles and favourite methods, which made for a great learning experience.

A couple of sessions at the Terrapin hide in the middle of the lodge’s waterhole were also included for all groups. After brunch different aspects of photography and editing were covered each day, in one hour seminars and workshops.

It is quite exciting to go on drives where all the participants share an interest in photography. You take it a bit slower than on an ordinary game drive and also make the most of each subject that you come across. Often birds will be of greater interest on these drives and as they constitute a challenge and are one of my favourite creatures to watch and take pictures of, I thoroughly enjoy this aspect.

Taking portrait pictures of animals is another challenge I really like, as it is interesting to try to capture a moment that is just slightly different from most poses, be it a tongue sticking out, a weird face or something else that makes it appealing to you.

Most photographers’ aim to get the shots they want in the light they want them. The golden hour is a favourite and you can only hope that there’s no cloud cover during this short period right after sunrise and just before sunset. The challenge in nature is to find something to take pictures of before that perfect light hits your subject and then hopefully being able to stay with it, get the best angle and compose your shot. Animals are not always very cooperative of course, so patience is definitely a must.

Of course rule number one of photography is to have the camera with you, fully charged and with an empty memory card. As one of our hosts, Gerhard ‘Guts’ Swanepoel usually says, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Packing your camera away and having to unpack it while on drive will definitely prove to be a mistake. If you’re not always alert and ready to shoot, the moment may be missed, something we easily could have experienced with this shy young leopard in the early morning light. Fortunately we didn’t miss out, and we only really had one chance…

Drink stops are also an opportunity to try some macro photography and if you look around carefully there’s always something to capture your interest. Although the mornings were already quite cold, a few insect were still to be found for this purpose, as the sun had risen a bit.

Some days it was overcast and nothing looks overly attractive, however the diffused light is actually rather great for taking photos. Also, sometimes overexposing a subject against the rather dull looking light grey sky makes for some awesome shots that can turn out even better when transformed into black and white. Not everyone loves this style, but it does have sort of a punch to it.

Equally exciting is to underexpose when an animal is lit up from the side to get a rim of light around it. Playing around with this is especially rewarding when it comes to furry and fluffy looking species, like the cats, where the hair easily catches the light.

If the light isn’t great you can always get something out of the moment anyway, which was demonstrated to us all one evening at the hide where a green backed heron and two pied kingfishers kept on catching one fish after another. Trying to photograph a kingfisher in flight in low light isn’t easy though, but against a reasonably bright sky, it is doable.

Wildlife photography is also about anticipating the animals’ behaviour and being prepared for it. A perching bird will usually take off into the wind and if it’s just done “number two”, it will most likely do so shortly.

It is also about being at the right place at the right time. We had heard about a male lion being at a giraffe carcass the previous day and went to the area the morning after, mainly hoping for hyenas. And as luck would have it, a young spotted hyena was making the most of a discarded giraffe leg. Spending time with this animal with no other vehicles around is a great privilege.

Something that Andrew kept saying is that photography should also be fun and not too serious, all the time. So some funtography is also needed to keep it interesting and creative. As long as you know the rules you’re also allowed to break them and the best pictures are the ones that speak to you. It is not the technically perfect ones that you love the most or the award winning shots, but the ones that triggers memories, makes you laugh or just have beautiful colours… so, there’s hope for us all!

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