22 April 09
around 13.30h we arrived at Londo and were greeted by Rory who was the Manager on duty. A very nice and friendly guy who made us feel at home quite from the beginning.
We got to our room (#9) at Varty camp. The room was HUGE! Plunge pool (obviously that's mandatory nowadays), inside, ouside showers, lounge and large bath and bedroom. I
The vista was towards Sand river.
We met with James our ranger and Freddy our tracker for the duration of our stay on the deck for high tea.
At 15.40h we left for our first game drive which took us straight to a one year old cheetah boy which lost his mother a couple of weeks ago due to a car: NOT a game vehicle but a passenger car close to Ulusaba. They have seen him hunting a shrub hare which asks for some killing skills despite he was estimated only roughly a year old.
But that cheetah boy suddenly fell ill to a kind of muscular sickness and the vet was coming 2 days later to treat him, take blood samples etc.
The cheetah was in the very open with the tree line further afield so he made sure he can scan the area thoroughly.
We left after a couple of minutes as the cheetah was quite nervous and hissing. We did not want to upset the cat because his condition was deteriorating since a couple of days.
We left him with a sad feeling..........I am awaiting the info from James whether he made it.
We drove off and found a leopardess with 2 cubs. Mom and one of the cubs were on a branch munching at the very same impala ram bone. That sighting was quite special! The other cub was in a branch of a tree "next door". All of a sudden a hyena showed up waiting for some bites which she was hoping for. The 2 leopards were quite calm. But the other cub obviously felt hungry and came down the tree and speeding up mom's tree. We all held our breath when we realised the cub is coming down almost crossing the hyena's path..........
The jump which led the cub almost straight 2 meters up the trunk was amazing!
Plains game, elephants, giraffes.........but that leopard sighting besides the poor cheetah were the highlights of the day.
We returned about 19.30h, rushed to have a shower and were fetched at 20.00h for dinner in the booma.
The next day we left at 06.00h for the drive which took us to some kopjes. James said there were 2 lionesses having cubs and they previously only watched 2 cubs up in between the rocks.
So slowly we drove around the foot of the kopjes all the time looking up hoping to see some of the cubs.
And here they were down in the open: 2 lionesses and 6 tiny cubs - estimated approx. 8 weeks old. These fury things were a wonderful sight. We spent a couple of hours with them until another Londo vehicle approached and we left.
These 6 cubs were running around, ambushing each other, hiding behind a dead trunk. At the beginning they were extremely hesitant towards us. But slowly they became used to our presence and obviously the calmness of the lionesses assured them we were not a threat. One of the mothers called but none of the cubs were listening (like human kids) so one mom stood up and went to get one of the cubs. She carried that cub in her mouth back to the spot where the other lioness was and the other 5 cubs followed the mother/aunt.
It was such a joy to see these wonderful cats!
The afternoon game drive was pleasant but not that eventful except we found 2 male lions which belong to a coalition of 6. They first were sleeping under a tree but came out the darker it got. We went off for sundowners and returned later. Then the boys were sitting right in the track. We switched off the lights and freddy got a red filter for his spotlight. We did not see the cats clearly because Freddy was not pointing directly towards them. All of a sudden one of them started roaring. They were max. 15 m away. Then no. 2 joined and the roars were nerve wrecking. The ground seemed to be shaking.
WONDERFUL!
On 24. we left Londolozi in the morning for Johannesburg.
Finding the hotel was not a big deal. I admire Kai (also!) for his scouting skills!
Here a leopardess painting (http://www.elgarabe.co.za/ ) was waiting for him: My present for his 60th birthday in 13 April. I ordered it to be delivered to the Hyatt because I did not want to carry the painting with us all these days........and especially did not want to leave it at the borderpost.
Elga painted SUPUU in a very natural way - a leopardess we watched for 12 days based on one of Kai's photographs taken while staying at Kicheche camp 2 years ago. And Kai recognised Supuu.
I had 2 meetings in the late afternoon. We ordered room service for dinner and went to bed early because next morning we wanted to leave early for MATEYA/MADIKWE.http://www.mateyasafari.com/
to be continued.......
Obviously this time we were more into snakes..........