April 2008 : Sabi Sand Reserve

Autumn at Singita has just begun with a distinct nip in the air! This little Tree Squirrel (Paraxerus cepapi) was very busy going about his business of stocking up on nutritious nuts - a favourite seems to be those encased within the fallen Marula stones. The squirrels need to fill their larder to ensure they’ve enough food for the lean winter months ahead.

The leaves hint of gold and the perfect mornings build to ominous skies in the late afternoon. This provides landscape photographers with perfect lighting situations of dreamy sunrises and warm colours against dark skies.

The two leopard cubs (see February’s journal) live an extremely precarious existence. Their mother has begun taking them from their den site to kills where she may have left an antelope hidden in the bushes or hoisted up a tree.

This is a very dangerous time for such small cubs as hyenas or any other predators could easily kill them.

These two young Plains Zebra (Equus burchellii) entertained us for at least half an hour while they nipped, chased, played and fought with one another. Zebras live in Harem groups and there is a strict pecking order of who outranks whom. Herds consist of an adult stallion, mares and their foals. Foals are born after a gestation period of one year. Zebra foals have long legs – the same length as their mothers, so that they may hide from a predator’s gaze behind the mare’s body. The Plains Zebra or Burchell’s Zebra is distinct from other species by (amongst other differences) the stripes that extend onto the under parts, as can be seen from this photograph.

 

The call of the wild

Early morning light framed this Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) as she called to the rest of her clan. It was fascinating to see how she threw her head down between her forefeet at the height of each call. The reason for this instinctive behaviour is that the sound waves travel further when directed along a surface rather than out into the surrounding air! Whoops, groans, grunts, whines, yells and giggles make up the vast array of hyena language. Studies have shown that they have at least 16 recognizable communication calls. Each hyena has its own unique call, and hyenas only respond to the call of their clan members. Back at the den the young cubs carefully listen out for their clan, and eagerly await their return…

 

The Buffalo Thorn (Ziziphus mucronata)

The Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) have been feasting on the Buffalo Thorn berries outside my window and have once again drawn my attention to this fascinating tree. We too can eat the berries – an acquired bitter nut-like taste and an excellent source of minerals, Vitamin C and antioxidants.

It gets its common name from observations of buffalos backing into its thorny branches to protect their rumps when faced with attacking lions! While they are protected from the rear they use their fearsome horns to deter the lions and many a Buffalo Thorn has saved these mighty beasts from possible death. The Afrikaans name is the beautifully descriptive Blinkblaar-wag-‘n-bietjie – which translates to the “shiny leaf wait a little bit” tree - and you certainly will have enough time to admire the shiny leaves as you wait a while and carefully unhook yourself from its thorns! The Buffalo Thorn has many traditional medicinal properties but it is in African custom that the Buffalo Thorn plays one of its most important roles – that of transporting the spirit of the deceased to their loved ones. The spirit enters the zigzagged branch and stays there as the straight thorn directs it to the branch and the hooked one makes sure it doesn’t fall off. The branch is then carefully taken home – if it is via taxi, for example, a full fare seat will be bought - just as it would have if the loved one were still alive – and placed in a sacred spot in the home. Legend has it that the zigzagged growth is a metaphor for the path of life we walk – every so often we arrive at a juncture and need to make a decision to go one way or another. We do so and before long we are faced with another set of decisions. But a closer look at this juncture shows a little hooked thorn pointing backwards, and a bigger straight thorn pointing forwards. The small thorn reminds us to learn from our mistakes and honour our ancestors, while the big thorn encourages us to go forth with courage and conviction!

 

Singita’s Field Guide Training Academy

We all started at Singita’s Field Guide Training Academy in mid February, and what a blast it has been! Our six-month course consists of broadening our knowledge of nature, and all She has to offer. That is the most important part of what we do as guides and our passion is to share this awesome creation with you. The more we now, the better we can interpret our surroundings and bring our message across. We are also learning so much about Singita as a company, and about the fundamental values system. There are a lot of lodges out there, but few touch lives as Singita does. By allowing us to train for this period of time, we learn to do things ‘The Singita Way’. By the time we get behind the wheel (and we cannot wait!), we will have the right mindset, which is what sets this company apart. Most importantly, we are all having fun, whilst our here in the bush! There are six Field Guide Trainees, namely Scott, James, Ben, Frank, Sophia, and myself Marlon. We have become close friends over the past six weeks, and look forward to the time remaining! Our brains have had no choice but to become sponges, and I am sure that our trainer, Alan Yeowart, has his hands full…

Our daily schedule is something like this: We go for a morning drive at about 05h30, have breakfast at 09h00, then sit in for lectures between 10h00 and 13h00. Then we have some time off, and then do one last drive in the afternoon, after which we have the evening off to study and relax. We’ve just came back from a camping trip at Singita Kruger National Park (Lebombo and Sweni Lodges), in the Kruger National Park, where we walked into lions on two different occasions, and needless to say, it took our breaths away! We also surprised three buffalo bulls, and boy are they big when you are face to face with them outside of the sanctuary of the vehicle! Luckily they charged off in the opposite direction, leaving us and our shaking knees behind! Here at the Sabi Sand we have had some amazing sightings. I remember watching a young leopard cub “attacking” a carcass of an impala that his mom had caught - by the sounds of his growling you’d think that he actually caught it himself! The same mother leopard and her two cubs strolled through our camp a few nights ago, and left us pretty shaken up. The problem is, our camp is about 500m outside the lodge perimeter, and we walk to it every night. Having leopards laze around on our pathway is a little unnerving, to say the least!

 

Tigers swimming in the Sand River

It is important that we know which species of fish are in the Sand River and we welcome guests to come along and enjoy some catch-and-release fishing. A recent surprise was the 42cm, 900 gram Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) caught by a guest – see Field Guide Marc Eschenlohr posing in the picture with the tiger…

Tigerfish are striped, have yellow to blood red fins, bony cheeks and strong jaws - each with eight large protruding, sharp, pointed teeth! They are predators throughout their life. As juveniles they feed on plankton and insects, and as adults on other fish.Of course it is too dangerous to fish from the banks of the river as one might end up as the catch of the day for a hungry crocodile, so we drive the Land Rovers into the middle of the river crossing and fish from the vehicle. Other species caught include the Sharptoothed Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) - see the 4 kilogram monster Tal Fineberg hauled in. Chicken liver seems to be the preferred bait of the Catfish while the Tiger strike on spinners and rapalas. Fishing is a bit like a safari drive – there are no guarantees, but you will always be rewarded with exceptional scenery, birdlife and the tranquil sounds of the bush.

I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life… to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau (Dead Poets’ Society)