August 2008 : Kruger National Park

Two male Snouted cobras fighting, presumably over a female, are pictured to the right. Male snakes often follow the scent of a female snake in season to mate with her. Along the way, they often cross paths with other males with the same ideas in mind. The results can be quite spectacular!

Both these snakes were well in excess of a meter in length. We saw about 10 minutes of the combat but looking at the state of both the animals, it had been going on for some time.

Scientist believe that most snake species are immune to their own venom, and some harmless snake eating species, e.g. the Cape File snake, show immunity to even the most potent venoms from other species that they feed on.

Interestingly, the smaller of the two snakes was the one doing all the biting. It was also the one that seemed to submit in the end. It maintained the neck hold for most of the confrontation, the larger snake just keeping its head off the ground and hood spread. Suddenly, the smaller snake, seemingly sensing defeat and an opening, dashed off not to be seen again. The larger snake continued on his way completely unfazed by the whole ordeal.

Amazingly our vehicle was parked about 3 meters from them the whole time. Snakes are generally shy, retiring creatures that move off at the first sign of a human, but these two allowed us a brief insight into the life of a snake. It was truly one of the most memorable sightings in my career as a guide.

This entry was submitted by Mathew Harding
All the photographs were taken by Blue Resnick, a guest at Singita Lebombo Lodge
Singita Kruger National Park
Thirty-first of August 2008

 

The rest of this journal entry is of photos from a busy month in the bush.

Southern Africa is the last remaining place where one can find the White Rhino in abundance. This “crash” of nine animals was seen in the fertile depression areas near to Lebombo and Sweni lodges.

There are hundreds of animals in the depression daily. Taking a walk here always proves rewarding, as these guests are treated to a curious giraffe. Simply life-changing…

Lions are a typical savannah species. Watching them stride through their domain is a breathtaking experience. The guests in the vehicle behind were treated to the spectacle of these 2 lions hunting in broad daylight.

Close encounters are always guaranteed in our private concessions. 3 young male lions seek refuge from the baking midday sun by taking up a shady spot underneath the back seat of the game viewing vehicle.

 

Boys will be Boys! These young male lions thought that a couple of huge white rhino would make fine play mates. Making a “point”, the rhinos chased them off clearly not interested in their antics.

Despite the generally dull winter colors, if you look hard enough, there’s plenty of color to be found:

An elephant herd in front of Lebombo lodge

A juvenile Martial eagle

Impala lilies

 

A Marabou Stork Sunset

Water lilies at midday

A leopard in the upper reaches of a leadwood

A Russet Bushwillow

Bataleur eagle

 

Leadwood are reminiscent of Africa…if these old tree’s could talk, just imagine what they could share…

Waterbuck are abundant in the concession. They are always seen along the Nwanetsi, and frequently pay a visit to Gudzane Dam, where they seek the life-giving water from these areas.

Fire!
Fires flared up in Mozambique on the first day of spring, but was not of too much concern right away. It seemed that they would not jump the fence, little did we know that two days later we would be
fighting the very same flames on our doorstep. With the grass being very dry from the grip of winter, the flames had no problems reaching heights of up to 5 meter. Alongside some members of the Kruger National Park team, the Singita rangers and trackers fought long and hard to tame the fire, and eventually, after 3 days we saw the tides turning, and all that was left was some smouldering logs.

I think on the grand scale of biodiversity, this fire will meet with all of the objectives of the KNP, a large area burnt in a patch mosaic fashion, from morning till night over probably two days, with varying winds and temperatures, factors that we could not have utilized ourselves without obvious risk. The red areas on the map, indicates the large area affected by the recent fire.