Adrenaline instead of coffee in the morning##

Firstly Happy new year everyone, I know I haven't posted a blog in a while, but one of my new years resolutions is to write more this year, and this morning mother nature gave me my first story and welcomed me to the new year with a bang!

Yesterday one of our guides Lorence came back from drive say he thinks one of the lionesses has cubs and a kill on River lodge property, this is fantastic news as I didn't even know any of the lionesses were pregnant. But that made me doubt that there was cubs, he had mentioned he thought he saw tracks for them but wasn't sure and that he had smelt a kill in the area. My thinking was that if there was a kill surely the lioness wouldn't have new born cubs there as its too much risk with scavengers and any other predator that may come in for the kill and pose a threat to the cubs.

So with my doubts I set out this morning to go and have a look for myself and see what was going on. Driving down our access road I arrived at the spot where the guys found tracks for the lioness and sure enough there were more fresh tracks, so I followed them they headed up a drainage line so it was relatively easy tracking with a good field of view. I didn't see any cub tracks or a sign of a kill. Once the lioness tracks left the drainage line I climbed some nearby rocks to get a good view from higher ground. At first I didn't see or hear anything and was now really beginning to doubt that there was anything and perhaps the lioness had moved off and it was a small kill that she had.

How wrong I was. Whilst standing on the rocks I felt my legs becoming incredibly itchy when I looked down I discovered I must have walked through a nest of tiny pepper ticks and they had covered my legs. I stupidly let my guard down to remove the ticks from my legs, whilst busy I heard a rustle in the bushes just below the rock i was on and when I looked to see what it was, to my surprise stood 2 tiny lion cubs. I immediately thought oh S@#T!! and then another cub appeared a little distance away, my thoughts then turned to where is mom? I crouched down on the rock and remained dead still hoping the cubs would move off and I could get away before their mother found me. This thought quickly left me when mom appeared about 20m from me. She hadn't seen me and was actually looking the other way but I knew the stakes had dramatically increased and I had gotten myself into a very very tight spot. Now the 2 cubs where still wondering around below me and I was hoping with all I had that mom wouldn't come to get them, but again my hopes were dashed when she started moving in my direction. The only thing on my side was that she hadn't seen me, but the closer she got the worse it got for me. I was basically between her and her cubs. it got to a point where she was now so close that I lost sight of her as she moved below the rock I was on. I kept thinking how I am now in an impossible situation and was hoping I wouldn't be discovered. For what felt like hours I remained dead still and when I could no longer hear the rustling bushes of the cubs I thought perhaps she had collected them and moved off, so I peered down over the edge of the rock only to be met with the deathly stare of the mother lion, as we locked eyes she snarled and let out a deep menacing growl that made me weak. I stood up and shouted and she ran off fortunately, but quickly turned and charged me, cubs scattered everywhere, I stood my ground and again shouted at her to which she turned and ran off again, I took this moment to make my escape and move out of the area. I could hear her growling until I was far enough away to no longer be a threat.

Once I arrived back to the safety of my vehicle i got the chance to reflect on what had just happened. Such mixed emotions. the joy of finding cubs and the fear of almost getting taken out. After being in the bush for so long one tends to become a bit complacent, and a valuable lesson was learnt today, you can never take your eyes and mind out of the game, rather stay focused and even more so than usual because you really do never know what can happen, and when things happen they happen so quickly, that situation went from nothing to crazy in an instant. I do not blame the lioness for her behavior as I unknowingly encroached into her private life and just like human mothers would protect their babies should an intruder arrive so did she. I was lucky and definitely gained valuable respect for these animals.

Written by: Greg McCall-Peat

Put on your hiking boots we going for a walk

So often we all get caught up in the hype of the famous Big 5, to the point where we miss out on all the small things that the bigger animals rely on in order to be here, so in this blog I would like to take you on a virtual bush walk exploring some of the many smaller aspects of the bush.
Before we get started it is important to note that this environment is so complex that should one aspect be taken out of it the entire ecosystem will feel the affect of that loss, everything is equally important in its function out here. The bush is an amazing place with many wonders so lets begin and i hope you enjoy my walk in pictures.

The funnel-shaped ant trap of the Antlion, this is a larvae of an insect that looks similar to a dragonfly called a Lacewing. The larvae is a carnivorous and uses these traps to catch its food. The Antlion itself is a tiny lil guy with huge biting mouth parts that it uses to grab and devour any thing that ends up in its sand trap.

 

Here we have some elephant dung, as you can see the digestive system of an elephant is really bad and leaves, twigs and sometimes even whole fruit can be found in the dung, for this reason elephant are almost continuously eating and only sleep for about 10-15 mins a day. Now its believed that by smoking elephant dung you can get rid of a headache and the burning of elephant dung will keep away insects, so if you ever find yourself stuck out in the bush with a headache and a bug problem here is your solution.

The seed pods of the famous Marula fruit bares a striking resemblance to E.T the extra terrestrial. The Marula fruit is loved by elephants, monkeys and baboons and these seed pods can often be found in their droppings. The fruit itself is said to make the animals drunk after fermenting in the sun and then eaten, however I do not believe this too be true and it is only us humans who get drunk from the amazing cream liqueur made from this fruit.

While on the subject of Marulas, here is the Marula tree, it huge horizontal limbs make the perfect resting spot for leopards so when looking for leopards searching the branches of these trees is a great start. The interesting thing about the Marula is there are female and male trees, only the female tree bears fruit while the male tree has flowers. The fruiting season is in February and often herds of elephants can be seen running from tree to tree to devour the fruit.

It is common knowledge that hyena have extremely strong jaws able to crush bones, this is especially evident in the amount of calcium in their droppings turning them white as they age. The same can be seen in your dogs at home once you have given them bones to chew on.

Well used game paths like this often lead to water, should you ever find yourself lost out in the bush following these paths could turn out to be a life saver. These paths are started by animals like rhino that are creatures of habit and over time become busy animal highways as it is the route of less resistance and preferred by pretty much any animal that comes along and a road to much needed water.

Probably one of the most important trees that you will come across out here, the weeping wattle tree. It gets its name from insects called Spittle bugs that feed on the flowers of the tree and lay their eggs in a frothy saliva, when this occurs the tree seems to be weeping as this saliva drips from the tree. Now back to why this tree is so important to us....its other name is the Toilet paper tree, it has leaves that are softer than the softest toilet paper and each little twig that you add to your handful serves as another ply, show me a twinsaver that beats that. However when looking for this tree in your time of need be careful not to confuse it with one of the acacia trees which has similar leaves but also the presence of thorns which could end badly when used as toilet paper.

This is a velvet mite, part of the arachnid family which makes up ticks and spiders. They are harmless to humans unlike their tick cousins and are actually parasitic to insects when they are young and feed on plant matter as adults. These furry little beauties are usually buried underground but after a bit of rain come out in huge numbers and with that add a bit more color to the changing seasons.

The Magic guarri like its name suggests is considered to have magical powers and lucky by the local tribes, by carrying a branch around with you you will be brought good luck, i have tried and tested this theory and must admit on many occasions it has worked and quiet game drives have miraculously turned into productive ones. The scientific name of the guarri is Euclea divinorum  coming from the age old practice of divining water using a fork from the bush. As can be seen in the bottom picture it can also be used as a make shift toothbrush should you find the need to brush your teeth whilst out in the bush. It is an ever green bush and the branches with its green leaves are effective fire beaters as well as a comfortable mattress to sleep on.

Tracking animals is a big part of our job here and often it is used to find the animals we see on our safaris, in the pictures you can see the difference between an old track and a fresh track, the older track has got softer edges, other animals have walked over the track and there is the presence of leaves and grass that has been blown by the wind into the track itself, the fresh track has very crisp edges and nothing is in the track. I am often amazed at how great our trackers are by being able to spot these kind of things as we drive along on the vehicle, apart from animal tracks there are a few other signs to look out for when following animals, like grass that has been pushed down where animals have walked, droppings and sometimes the smell of certain animals where they have scent marked. It is an art that can only be learnt through years of experience and we take our hats off to our unbelievable trackers.

What we seeing here is an impala midden, a few territorial animals will make use of these middens to mark their boundaries, what it does is act like a billboard advertising a dominant animals presence, you often find them along well used game paths or roads where animals move on a frequent basis. The way it works is a big pile of dung will give off quite a smell as well as having a visual presence, if there is a male who is just passing through a certain territory he will go to the toilet next to the midden this is saying "I come in peace", if it is a male who wants to challenge for dominance he will go to the toilet on top of the midden this is saying "I want your land and I want your girls". Territorial males will have a few middens throughout their territory that he will frequently use. Other examples of animals that use middens are civet cats and rhinos.

Termite mounds have to be one of the most interesting things out here, not only do they get really big but the workings of a mound is so intricate. The termites we find out here are not wood eating termites like you find in the States, but rather fungus eating ones, and what makes it even more special is that the termites grow their own fungus deep within their mounds using decaying plant matter and a humid environment they create inside. The mounds are kept at a constant temperature of 28 degrees celsius, this is done my maintaining a few vent holes in the mound. Due to this comfortable temperature a whole host of other animals and reptiles call termite mounds home by making burrows in the mound as can be seen in the picture. A lot of trees and plants need that 28 degrees in order to have their seed germinate and you will often see these trees growing out of the termite mound itself. What we see of the mound is actually only a small part of it, the rest is all under ground and resembles an iceburg in structure, the main purpose of the mound is to protect the queen who is found in her chamber way below the surface.

Well that concludes my virtual bush walk, I hope that you enjoyed discovering some of the smaller wonders of the African bush with me, there is so much to see out here and almost where ever you look there is something of interest to be investigated and I would be here for weeks explaining each and everything we encounter on our walk in the wild.

Photographed and written by : Greg McCall-Peat

Make the best out of your photography while out on safari

As a wildlife photographer I often get asked by guests what settings they should be using on their cameras to get the best pictures. To be honest the right settings are just the beginning and thinking out of the box is almost always a must, and sometimes the "wrong settings" or going against the grain can produce some incredible photos. So in this blog entry I will be discussing some of the approaches I use to capture memorable moments out in the bush.

Its not always about a big zoom, a nice panoramic photo of an elephant herd makes for an amazing photo

GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT:
Lets begin with camera settings, as a general rule I always shoot with my camera set on manual, that way you are in complete control of how your picture turns out and can get the photo looking as close to how you see a scene as possible. The easiest way to get your settings right is to remember that during low light your F-stop (aperture) should be as low as possible letting more light in and your ISO (light sensitivity) as high as possible, and in bright light its simply the opposite with a higher F-stop and a lower ISO. Once you have found the best settings for the moment you can adjust your white balance to get the right colours for you picture and this all depends on the conditions you are shooting in. For example in cloudy conditions you will want to use a higher white balance setting to create warmer colours and in sunny conditions a lower setting to cool colours off a little bit. Once you have learnt your camera and gotten used to the location of your setting buttons they can be changed in seconds so you don't miss out on any opportunities and get the most out of your sightings.

Taken in the last light of day with an ISO of 1600, makes it seem like daylight

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY:
Most people think that when its dark flash photography is the way to go, I disagree. When shooting wildlife the flash although easier to get sharp images lights up the animals eyes creating an unnatural photo. So by using the Low F-stop and high ISO rule you are able to use the light of the spotlight to take your pictures. However now there is another element we add to the mix....EXPOSURE. With exposure you can set the brightness of the photo should the spotlight be too bright you simply under expose and the opposite if the light isn't bright enough and your subject is further away. Night photography is difficult and requires a steadier hand than day time photography but once you get used to settings its very easy. I find taking photos at night can create very powerful images especially when photographing the predators and its definitely not a time to pack your camera up and say well its too dark to take photos now.

Taken at night with a low F-stop of  F4 and a high ISO of 1600
using the spotlight and no flash.

POSITIONING FOR THE BEST PHOTO:
This is key to getting good photos and here it is a huge benefit to have a guide that is also a photographer as he/she will get you into the best positions to get the best possible pictures. However taking photos of wild animals doesn't always allow for this as we cant line them up in perfect poses and it is then important to make the best of a situation. For example, animals in thick bush can make a great picture as it shows the animal in its natural habitat and actually makes the image come alive.

Although positioned right with the lighting, the leopard was in a thicket, but the leaves framing the leopard
gives you a sense of the cats elusive behaviour  creating a powerful photo

WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT:
I often hear guests snapping away in sightings getting hundreds of photos of an animal sleeping, and although in this day and age with digital photography that isn't a huge problem as you are able to delete what you don't want, by the time the animal does do something a memory card is full and you miss a chance, so patience is needed and restraint must be shown. This is easier said than done because for a lot of guests this is the first time they are seeing these animals, but to wait for a lion to yawn once he wakes from his siesta makes for a better photo than that of a sleeping animal.

A sleeping lion momentarily wakes to chase irritating flies, moments like this make for a much more interesting photograph

BACK-LIGHTING:
It is not always possible to have the light on your side and often we are faced with taking photos into the sun, although not ideal once again this can produce powerful images as your subject is silhouetted against the sunlight, the back-light highlights the outline of the animal as well as the grasses and bushes making for some stunning photos. Back-lighting can be used at night too by using the spotlight of another vehicle to outline the subject, this also gives it a more natural look and often used in wildlife films to create the impression of moonlight.

Using the sun to back-light this wild dog playing

A spotlight from another vehicle to highlight the profile of this leopard
at night

CAPTURING MOTION:
Animals unfortunately don't always lay and pose for us to take their photos so in some cases you have to get photos of them moving, but again this can get you some awesome photos and just because a photo blurs doesn't mean its a bad photo. We call this motion blur and its another powerful tool in a photographers arsenal and is done by dropping the ISO to keep the shutter open slightly longer this will blur the movement of your subject while keeping the still parts in focus by panning across with your subject while taking a photo. If you are wanting to freeze your subject a higher ISO will do that. The choice is completely yours as to what you want at the time.

A high ISO freezes the water squirting out of the elephants trunk perfectly

Panning on this leopard stalking adds movement to the photograph

SUNSET PHOTOGRAPHY:
Its not always about the animals, and in Africa we have the best sunsets in the world, but how do you capture those amazing colours that you see? Its relatively simple, by dropping your exposure and changing your white balance either making it warmer or cooler you will get a picture close to what your naked eye sees. Using a flash is now a good idea especially if you are taking a photo of a subject in front of the sunset, the flash illuminates the subject whilst keeping the colours of the sunset in the background.

Using my flash I was able to capture this male lion and the sunset

Slightly under exposing your photos at sunset takes away the harsh light of the sky
and replaces it with more natural colours 

When it comes to photography you will always learn new ways of doing things and there really are few set rules, but hopefully these tips that I have given will help anyone to make the most of their safari and the photos that they take.

Written and photography by: Greg McCall-Peat

The way of the bush

 As a guide, it is basically your job to make peoples hopes and dreams come true. When international clients stay at a game lodge they have some high expectations of both what animals they would like to see and of their great and knowledgeable guide that will lead them on this adventure into the African wilderness.

So over the past few days mother nature has had different plans and drives have been a bit quiet, with us having only a handful of good sightings, namely a couple of elephants, some giraffe and zebra and last night i managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat and spot a snake in a tree in complete darkness surprising not only the guests but myself too. This however wasn't enough to distract us from the fact that we needed to see some cats...

A large giraffe bull crosses an open area at a waterhole.

The snake last night, a male boomslang

The big cats are iconic in Africa and a must on all the guests wishlists and I have to admit I was feeling the pressure. This morning was the guests last drive with us and after 2 days of desperate searching I was hoping that the new day would bring change. The beginning of drive started out the same way my previous days had ended with nothing being seen, no tracks or signs to point us in a direction. Then a call came through on the radio that a camp manager had seen 2 lions at their lodge waterhole in the southern section of our reserve. It was a long drive but for lions it was so worth it. However as luck would have it, on arrival at the water...no lions and rocky terrain made it impossible to see where they went. I could not believe it and was really out of ideas on how to save my guest's experience. Its at times like this that you wish you could flick a switch and animals would appear. Thinking the best action would be a coffee stop and hope that things improved we stopped at a scenic dam to warm up and hope for the best. 

Then it happened, the radio crackled and the voice on the other end uttered the words "male leopard". We quickly packed up our coffee and piled on the car and rushed off to go claim our prize. As we got going I rounded a corner and headed into a drainage crossing, only to find 2 buffalo bulls standing in the dry river bed looking at us. SCORE!!! a new species for our guests!! We stayed with them for a bit before they disappeared into a dense thicket and we continued or drive to the leopard.

The 2 buffalo bulls, they chose a nice setting I must say.

Due to our buffalo sighting we were at the back of the line to see the leopard, but the tortoise wins the race at the end of the day and by the time we got there we were alone with the leopard and could spend some good quality time with this elusive beauty for as long as we wanted.

The leopard was Chavaluthu, probably the biggest star of Balule at the moment. He is extremely relaxed with the game drive vehicles and we watched as he put on a huge show for us. He was waiting outside a warthog burrow, he could obviously hear the pigs in their hole and it was just a case of waiting for them to leave and he would make his move. What he didn't count on was them not leaving, instead they stayed under and Chavaluthu stalked around the termite mound inspecting then waiting at each possible exit hole. It gave us great photo opportunities as he lay in just about any pose that you could imagine from a leopard. 

Always alert he reacted to any little sound even when leaves blew in the wind.

Ready to pounce at any moment, the concentration and patience displayed by the leopard was remarkable.

Chavaluthu looking more and more impressive each time i see him.

Laying in wait at the entrance to the warthog burrow.

So Chavaluthu saved the day and the guests left overjoyed with this morning's memories. It goes to show that you never really know what is going to happen out there and things can change in an instant. That is the way of the bush. This afternoon I had a new set of guests, first time safari goers and we managed to see the leopard again, no blood, sweat and tears, some people just have all the luck. Lets hope it continues for a while.

Chavaluthu this afternoon, still on the look out for a meal.

We left him as he dosed off on top of another termite mound.

Photography and written by: Greg McCall-Peat

Joining the fight against rhino poaching

A couple of days ago, I was given the opportunity to join in on a rhino horn infusion on 6 of our rhinos from our reserve in an attempt to curb the rampant rhino poaching that is currently going on. Basically what the procedure entails is an ectoparasticide is infused into the horn of the rhino using patented and specialized equipment, this making it useless for both ornamental and medicinal purposes. The horns are also treated with a red dye that can be picked up in security scans should the horn "travel". The whole procedure has absolutely no negative impact on the rhino itself and is 100% safe for them.

Darting rhinos using a helicopter.

Waiting for the dart to take effect.

One of the most awesome parts of the day was being able to get up close to these prehistoric looking giants.

Drilling into the horn in order to infuse the poison.

The actual infusion in progress. (the red is not blood but the red dye)

Birds eye view of the action.

A close up of the horn infusion .

In between darting of rhinos we managed to have a few nice sightings, making it even more special.

Lions resting right down the road from where one of the rhino was darted.

Elephants on the way to the darting in the morning.

The day ended on an extreme high, when whilst we were busy on our last rhino another rhino came charging in to interrupt proceedings, there was absolute chaos as people scattered in all different directions. Some of us were braver than others and managed to chase off the bull but he hadn't finished with us and returned a short while later eventually one of the vehicles managed to drive him off and he left us to finish up. The adrenaline rush was quite welcoming after a long hot day.
The whole day was truly an experience that will stay with me forever. Its sad that it has come to us having to do this but we are proud to say that we are playing our part in protecting our rhinos.

Photography and written by: Greg McCall-Peat

Not a bad way to start the day

So after a long spell of not being out on game drives, I made my return a couple of days ago and have already been spoiled with some fantastic sightings, lions in particular. But this morning was special, we all got one of the best reasons to get up early and brave the cold of a winter morning game drive. Lions first thing in the morning! While cruising down our lodge entrance road we came across some lion tracks, it rained last night and these tracks were from after the rain and judging by the scuff marks in the wet road the lions had just been there. No sooner had I explained to the guests that we must be close, 2 sub adult lionesses burst out of the bush and onto the road ahead of us. I found it a bit odd that these two youngsters were on their own but then hearing zebra alarm calling to our east I thought the others were hunting zebra that side which then explained why these two would be alone. We stuck with the young lionesses as they stalked one another before they lay down in a dry waterhole for a snooze and to listen to the zebra calls. With elated guests we left the lions in the same spot and decided to head on and see what else our morning had in store for us.

Sub adult lioness listening to alarm calling zebra.

The 2 sub-adults this morning

But as I was leaving the sighting I noticed more lions moving about in the bushes in front of us, as we got closer I saw three adult lionesses and some of the cubs, they were eating a zebra they must have killed during the night. The whole pride had been there the entire time we had been sitting with the other lions without us even realizing it. All eight cubs were there, full bellied and looking amazing. It seems a zebra doesn't go a long way with all the hungry mouths so i think these lionesses have got their work cut out for them raising this bunch as there was pretty much just scraps left from the kill. We stayed with the lions until one by one they all got up and moved a little distance from the kill and settled down to sleep off their bulging stomachs.

Lion cubs everywhere...the sight we were greeted with when we found the kill

A very full, very tired little cub

A break between meals for 2 of the cubs

After a celebratory coffee stop, we came across a nice big herd of elephants which turned out to be a very fitting way to end a fantastic morning drive. We watched the herd as they fed around us before they slowly moved off and we headed back to camp for a well deserved breakfast.

Spending time with the elephants

Our view of the elephants

Photography and written by: Greg McCall-Peat

Its all about luck...

Yesterday afternoon I heard that the guides had seen four of the Olifants west lionesses and all eight cubs, that's right...all 8 cubs still alive and doing well, in fact their mothers had caught a zebra for them and they were all full bellied and looking good. Visions of another incredible cub sighting filled my head and i had to go out and have a look. I hurriedly grabbed my camera and set out. i found the lionesses and some of the cubs in the inlet of a dam lying up in the shade, the cubs were very curious and I happily snapped a few photos of one cub watching me through the grass. It was fantastic perfect golden sunlight, dappled shade and posing cubs, a photographers dream, and I knew it was just going to get better as they were surely going to go for a drink. But then my happiness met an abrupt end when, as I pressed down on my shutter button to take a photo and nothing happened...FLAT BATTERY! I could not believe it and my heart sank. In my haste to go see the lions i didn't check on my battery level and had paid the price. I sat in the sighting for a while and still enjoyed the time with the lions which is often really nice to do for a change, but I kept on thinking about the bad luck that had just fallen upon me. I didn't wait to see them drink as I think that would have really been soul destroying and headed back to the lodge. 

The curious cub

 On my drive back I thought about how luck really plays such a role out here. Often guests will ask how often do we see leopards and lions or lions making a kill and honestly its all about luck, being at the right place at the right time. You can go from having the worst luck in the world to the best in a second, and I have had times out here where I had the most unbelievable sightings and was fortunate to capture these moments on my camera. So due to the lack of pictures I took in my latest lion sighting, I thought I'd share some photos from when luck was on my side.

A huge male lion shows off his awesome power as he drags a zebra carcass on his own.

Its not always about the big 5 as these 2 giraffe demonstrated
by presenting themselves against a beautiful sunset

All 8 cubs in one photo one morning as they were warming up in the morning sun.

Wild dogs chasing each other across a big open area and then to top it off through the water.

Catching the steely glare of Chavaluthu male leopard

A lioness up in a Marula tree on the look out for prey, it was impressive to see her up there but
her decent wasn't quite as glorious

A new female leopard that i managed to photograph, i haven't
seen her again hopefully she will show herself again.

So, I learnt my lesson today and will always make sure my camera is fully charged and probably do the same for all the guests from now on, and hopefully manage to keep the bad luck down to a minimum and the good at a high.

Until next time....

Written and photographed by Greg McCall-Peat