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BUSH BEAT - NEWS 
| 01 Aug 2007 : RANGER REPORT - AUGUST 2007 |
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The winter solstices haves come and gone and it is apparent how the
days get increasingly longer and longer. It is still quite cool in the
evenings and mornings but during the middle of the day it is a very
comfortable temperature indeed. It is still winter time here at
Amakhosi but the approaching spring is becoming more and more evident
as the days go on. Strangely, we had some very late rains this year (up
to late June) and the effect it has had on the vegetation is clearly
visible. Instead of grey and dull surroundings, which are common during
the dry season, it is surprisingly green. Grasses show some green
leaves, and certain trees like the Red Ivory, Puzzle bush, and spike
thorns are in the early stages of new leaves and some are even
flowering. This is very early for this to happen but I guess it is
because of the wet conditions. Most succulent plants like the Aloe's
and Euphorbia's are still in flower, providing a beautiful and welcome
dash of colour to the bush. The nectar rich orange, yellow and purple
flowers the succulent plants produce are a great food source for many
birds at this time. A multitude of birds including 6 species of
sunbird, crested and black-collard barbets, grey-headed bush shrikes,
Bull-Bulls, and starlings to name but a few have been seen visiting
these flowers daily. Most of these flowers are morphologically designed
to be pollinated by sunbirds and nothing else, not even insects. In Aloe's and especially the Cape Honey Suckle (also in flower) the petals of the flower are fused to create a tube with a smaller opening at the tip. The anther and stigma of the flower protrude to the outside of the flower and at the top. When a sunbird arrives at the flower it inserts its long beak into the specially designed frame of the flower to get to the nectar at the bottom. When the bird is busy eating the energy rich nectar, the pollen from the anther that sticks out the top rubs of on its forehead. When the nectar is finished the sunbird will go to the next flower for some more nectar. The pollen he gathered at the previous flower will now rub off on the exposed stigma of the new flower thus fertilizing it and also collects new pollen to take to yet another flower. This process ensures maximum genetic diversity. Amazing stuff!!! During this winter season Amakhosi launched its first couple of walking trails. The walking trails did so far have been a huge success with plenty of stories, beautiful sightings and close encounters. There is nothing more astonishing than walking the mighty Mkuze River surrounded by giant Albizia'a, Matumi, and Sycamore fig trees. Absolute silence prevails but the soft trickle of the river and the multitude of bird calls, but mostly your own footsteps on a most ancient soil. On one occasion it started to rain but it did not damp our spirits. We followed the river down towards camp passing several old lion kills and a recently fresh leopard kill dragged underneath a Matumi tree. We continued on realizing that the lion tracks in the river bed were very fresh we tried to avoid them as far as possible. We came to the bottom of a small hill on the side of the river and we decided to cross it in order to get to camp before dark. Alwyn (General Manager) was leading the walk at the time and I acted as the backup rifle. Suddenly my skin started crawling and we heard that unmistakeable sound, then two seconds later the bush exploded. The sound was the growl from a very aggressive yet scared lioness with four cubs not far from her. She travelled over the earth like a horizontal lighting bolt straight towards us, slamming on her brakes only a couple of meters in front of Alwyn. I stepped out of the walking line to the side to get a better angle on the lioness and to remove everyone from my line of fire just in case, but a huge boulder blocked my view of the spitting angry cat. Looking at Alwyn's body language I saw that he had the lioness's anger under control and proceeded in trying to evacuate five salt pillars from the danger zone. We backed off from the area giving this splendid cat her space and started to walk an avoidance circle around their location back to camp. Needless to say what the topic of conversation was for that night around the fire. On another occasion myself and Paul were leading guests back to the lodge from the bush camp when we came upon three elephant bulls feeding in a drainage line. Upon close inspection I realised that one of the bulls present was known as “Frikkie”. He is an elephant you need to stay clear of and that is exactly what we did. We had a good look at the old big boys and then I realized that the wind had changed carrying our scent straight to “Frikkie”. At the same moment I heard that the third bull was walking in our direction. It was time to leave, quickly. As we made a hasty retreat I could see that “Frikkie” became aware of our presence and that the other bull is still coming our way very fast. They knew that we were there but they did not know where. Their derailing footsteps shook the earth and their low rumbles penetrated our bodies, communicating between the elephants the presence of humans. At that moment we made sure that we leave the area instantaneously. We retreated to a high spot on a ridge and had a small breakfast while listening to the big bulls feeding down in the drainage line, relaxed now in our absence. As the seasons are busy changing so did change go through Amakhosi. We said good bye to Dean our Head Ranger. He was a ranger at Amakhosi for three and a half years. He and Gill moved to another location in the Sabi Sands and with his departure we also welcomed our new Amakhosi Ranger Shane van Niekerk. Concerning everybody else, things are normal and everyone from human to animal is loving live. Jaco Becker (Head Ranger) |
