November 2008 : Sabi Sand Reserve

Heavy rains have fallen, winged termites have taken off to establish new colonies and dramatic thunder and lightning displays have had us spellbound.

The 16th of November marked the birthday of the season’s first recorded impala infant - now there are nurseries of these long-legged little lambs springing about next to their mothers and playing in the lush green grass. The spring flowers have unfurled their colours to the sun’s rays and tanzanite sprays of Tree Wisteria blossoms, backed by emerald leaves, persuade the pollinating insects.

Aerial Combat
As balletic as these two male giraffe’s synchronized moves seemed it was not all peace and harmony…

They were sparring with one another to establish hierarchy. The sparring involved the two males standing next to each other and attempting to land blows with their short horns to the other’s body. They would take turns swinging their necks and pounding their ‘head spurs’ into one another. The slow-motion dueling took ages before the one gracefully moved away in defeat – but with his head held high.

Did you know?

The ‘railway line’ in the south of Singita Sabi Sand is the disused rail-bed of the Selati Line, a railway line that was integral in the first steps to the ‘taming’ of the Lowveld.

During the late 1800’s (1870) alluvial deposits of gold were discovered in the Drakensberg Mountains (the escarpment visible to our West). Named after one of the mountain streams in which these gold deposits were found, the ‘Selati Line’ was commissioned in order to facilitate access to these new gold fields. It was a branch of the main line from the interior to Delagoa Bay (now Maputo in Mozambique), and was to become known as the “Man per Mile Railway Line” due to the hardships experienced during its construction.

Numerous tales abound about it – such as passengers perching precariously in a tree while waiting for the train, with a pride of lions lying at its base!

A Sting Operation
I often see this particular Lilac-breasted Roller on the way to our airstrip. It always seems to be on a favourite perch and is a memorable welcome and farewell to many guests.

After the rains this month there was sudden proliferation of insects about. And in pursuit of them came the scorpions. And in pursuit of them came this ‘Meet & Greet’ bird!

Twice in one week I saw it swoop down in a blur of blue and nab an unsuspecting scorpion. It then performed a cunning ‘pincer maneuver’ by smacking the scorpion against a branch and breaking off the pincers – and possibly the sting, before swallowing it whole!

The Solitary Steenbok
We often see these solitary little antelope but they are easily overlooked.

The word ‘steen’ in Afrikaans means rock, and it freezes like a rock when seen, with its ears flat against its neck. Another way they avoid being detected by predators is by hiding their dung - they bury it in the soil so that predators can’t smell them.

This is a full grown male - only males have horns. If it outwits the leopards and other predators it will live for about 6 years. It weighs in the region of 11kg
(look at those skinny legs!) and survives by grazing grass and browsing leaves.

Feeding Frenzy
Lions used the fenceline to their advantage by chasing a zebra into it, and killing it. The herd stallion had come to save the mare but he too met his fate. The carnage took place right on the side of the road and it was only when reviewing this photograph that the full bloodthirsty horror of the scene struck me.

On A Greener Note…
The kudu and other browsers have been feasting on the new juicy leaves. After a lean winter you can see their condition visibly improve as they enjoy the high protein diet.

Bull kudus may use their horns to break the branches of trees and bushes that they can’t reach. But the main purposes of the spectacular spiraling horns are for competition and to deter other males trying to gain dominance.

The horns are not shed, but should a kudu die then the outer keratin sheath of the horn can be twisted off from the inner bone core. With a hole drilled into the sharp end a perfect trumpet-like ‘horn’ is made. The horn is blown as a musical instrument during traditional dance ceremonies and as a means of communication. To ‘break’ the spell of winter a young man from an African tribe will patiently wait on a hillside until he sees the star Canopus. The moment he has it in his sights he will sound the horn and thereby announce to his people that the end of winter has arrived and the lean times are over!

Interview with Field Guide - Donovan Le Roux
Q: What is your age and when is your birthday?
A: I am 23 years old. I was born on the 9th August 1985 - a proud Leo.

Q: Where are you from?
A: The buzzing metropolis of Johannesburg?

Q: How long have you been a field guide for? And how long at Singita?
A: 5 and a half years, but only nine months at Singita.

Q: If you could be an animal what would you choose to be and why?
A: An elephant. I think that they are such powerful and gracious animals, and then I would definitely harass the lions!

Q: You win the lottery! How do you spend your millions?
A: I would buy a house near a Cape Town beach and still continue to do what I love to do, without a worry in the world. I could live off the interest of my investment.

Q: Your most embarrassing moment as a field guide was when?
A: I was explaining about snakes to guests. I was only 18 at the time. The guest listened to my explanation and when I finished calmly announced that none of what I had said was true. Then he laughed out loudly saying that he was a herpetologist, (snake expert). I did not know where to look, or what to do with myself!

Q: Do you have a specialist interest?
A: I really like trees and the big cats - I think they are very fascinating in their ways out in the wild.

Q: If you could pick any four people in the world to take on a game drive at Singita Sabi Sand who would they be/have been?
A: Francois Pienaar, Wilbur Smith, Sir David Attenborough and Martin Lawrence.
Q: What makes your heart beat a little faster?
A: The thrill of chasing after any animals on the hunt is always good for the heart!

Q: The book on your bedside table is…?
A: Tandia, by Bryce Courtenay.

Continued on the next page

.../Interview with Donavan le Roux

Q: The 3 course meal of your wishes is…?
A: Carpaccio for starters, fillet steak for mains, and chocolate fondant for dessert!

Q: What’s your charity of choice & why?
A: Any charity to do with helping save certain endangered animals from extinction.

Q: You know you’re in Africa when?
A: When you wake up in the morning, the sun just rising, a hot cup of coffee in your hand, and the sound of a large male lion’s roars echoing in the background.

Q: If you weren’t a first-class field guide what would you have been?
A: I’ve always liked the thought of being a pilot, and I think I would do that.

Q: What was your worst subject at school and why?
A: Maths! I have always just been a more practical person.

Q: Top 5 films?
A: Remember the Titans, Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, Bad Boys & Happy Gilmore

Q: What’s been your favourite sighting?
A: The day that two male lions as well as two prides of lionesses fought with each other due to one of the prides being in the wrong territory. The sound and shear power just blew me away, and it just made me realize how small and weak we are as humans.

It is with the fondest memories that I will be leaving Singita Sabi Sand to begin another chapter of my adventure, in Cape Town. I leave you with this poem that was integral in leading me to this lifestyle – I came from the wilderness, the wilderness will not let me go and nor I Her.

Wilderness - Carl Sandburg, 1918
There is a wolf in me … fangs pointed for tearing gashes … a red tongue for raw meat … and the hot lapping of blood - I keep this wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fox in me … a silver-gray fox … I sniff and guess … I pick things out of the wind and air … I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers … I circle and loop and double-cross.
There is a hog in me … a snout and a belly … a machinery for eating and grunting … a machinery for sleeping satisfied in the sun—I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fish in me … I know I came from saltblue water-gates … I scurried with shoals of herring … I blew waterspouts with porpoises … before land was … before the water went down … before Noah … before the first chapter of Genesis.
There is a baboon in me … clambering-clawed … dog-faced … yawping a galoot’s hunger … hairy under the armpits … here are the hawk-eyed hankering men … here are the blond and blue-eyed women … here they hide curled asleep waiting … ready to snarl and kill … ready to sing and give milk … waiting - I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so.
There is an eagle in me and a mockingbird … and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams and fights among the Sierra crags of what I want … and the mockingbird warbles in the early forenoon before the dew is gone, warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark foothills of my wishes - And I got the eagle and the mockingbird from the wilderness.
O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart - and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where - For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.

This entry was sumbitted by Jenny Hishin
All the photographs were taken on location by Jenny Hishin, Singita Sabi Sand
30 November 2008