Ranger diaries August 2012

Until now, we had a very mild and pleasant winter with just a few cold patches here and there.  Even though the vegetation is very dry our game drives have still been rewarding and the animals enjoyed the warm winter sun during the day. Today (7^th August) was a very special day though, as it has been snowing in the Reserve!  The ground on the Northern side of the Reserve got completely covered with snow, which is a first. The change in temperature must surely have come as a shock for the animals as yesterday was a very warm day.  Whoever can, will surely be cuddling up tonight to stay warm!!

The Reserve has done some of their block burns and we can see vast black patches of burned grassland and bush areas.  This might not look great, but burning is very important for the re-growth of the vegetation in our savannah area.  Burning gets rid of old vegetable matter (moribund) that builds up in layers thus preventing new plants from penetrating.  It also eradicates ticks, which carry a lot of dreadful diseases, and plants that are not indigenous to the area.

The ash that goes back into the ground after a fire contains of a lot of minerals and nutrients and is an excellent fertilizer which in turn strengthens the new growth into nutritious and healthy plants.  

A lot of the animals come into the burnt areas right after the fire and lick the burned trees and ground to get extra minerals.  For the naked eye as well as through the camera lens - the black background really brings out the intense colours of the animals which make for stunning photos.

After the rain and snow we experienced today, the green grass shoots will push through in no time across these burnt areas and will provide nutritious grazing for animals like Zebra, Blue Wildebeest, Rhino, Steenbuck, Impala and Buffalo.  We also find a lot of the ground scraping and insect eating birds in the burnt areas as it is much easier for them to spot food like insects, lizards and earth-worms.

We already welcomed the first migratory birds back from their trip to the North.  So far we have spotted the White Stork, Stepp Buzzard and some Barn Swallows.  This is a clear indication that Spring is approaching fast.

“Baby” season has already started - last week our rangers spotted the first Eland calves playing and running after mothers.  Eland and Red Hartebeest are normally the first antelope to have their young. This is a very exciting time of the year and we cannot wait for all the cute, fluffy and big eyed babies all over the Reserve.

We recently had a very exciting game drive – our own Olympic Games … well almost - there was a winner and a loser …. We witnessed the interaction between the Lion pride and the Buffalo herd.  The male Lion, our Lioness with their 4 cubs (about 7 months old) were on a Giraffe kill, filling up their stomachs when the three sub-adult lions (just over 2 years old) approached the kill to get their share of the meal.  ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ would not have it and chased the three youngsters (their own offspring) off the kill.  Then the Buffalo herd arrived and immediately chased these hungry sub-adult lions even further away from the carcass.  Then the whole Buffalo herd turned around and chased the Lion and Lioness including their cubs for about 400m through the bushes.  The sub adults lions couldn’t believe their luck and swiftly came back to feed.  The Buffalo herd were not happy with their ‘enemies’ around and the herd came back to chase the three young lions off.   This game carried on for about 2 hours and we just sat there with them, watched and enjoyed the scene.

We hope we can soon share some amazing game-drives with you too in the not too distant future!

Till we meet on the plains of Nambiti…

The Springbok Lodge Rangers ~  Lee, Ruan, Stephanie and Nicole

July at The Springbok Lodge

Howdy happy campers, our South African winter season is in full swing here at Nambiti Reserve and the grasses are all complimenting the brown savanna type earth tones as one would see in the likes of the National Geographic books. All this makes you feel like you in a different world out here. To coin a well-known phrase: “I’m loving it!”

The fire breaks are midway and the outstanding efforts of all who live and work here have saved us from some potentially disastrous runaway fires in the reserve the last month. I can’t wait until the green grasses start pushing thru which im sure will be any day now.

One of the things that I just love about Nambiti Reserve is that every day of the year holds something special.

Regular sightings of the four lion cubs are on the increase - which is great. They are all so cute and very inquisitive.

Aren’t the seasons of Nambiti comparable to our pride with cubs?

They are all different, but special in their own way.

Till we meet on the plains of Nambiti

The Springbok Lodge Rangers ~ Lee, Ruan, Stephanie and Nicole

Ranger diaries June 2012

Winter has arrived; the grass is dry and shining golden in the warm winter sun. The trees are losing their leaves as the mornings and evenings are pretty chilly, offering a crystal clear sky. This is the perfect time to sit in front of a cosy fire and relax with a hot amarula-coffee or a glass of your favourite red wine after an exciting game drive.
The animals are enjoying the warm rays of the rising sun and are seen coming out into the open more often. This gives us even better sightings of the shyer species like the eland, oribi, duiker and genets.

We started our block-burns this week. This year the Reserve Management aims to burn about 40% of the reserve. This encourages new grass to grow stronger and faster and aids in riding of ticks and bush encroachments. Fires occurring naturally in the savannah are normally started by lightening (we prefer it a bit more controlled).
Controlled fires are a very important process in conservation. Old layers of grass and plant matter decompose very slowly, preventing the growth of new vegetation. The fire removes all the old, matter called ‘moribund’ and gives nutrients back to the ground in form of ash. This helps to strengthen the growth of high quality grasses and plants.

Our three sub-adult lions (now 2 years old) have finally gone off on their own and hardly ever meet up with their mom and dad. On the rare occasions that they do meet, the young males find themselves being challenged by their Father. The young female has turned out to be an excellent huntress to her impatient brothers, who are often seen messing up her hunts on a regular basis. It’s not surprising that she is going off on her own more often, leaving the two brothers to look after themselves.

The four new lion cubs (born in December 2011) are doing well and are growing up fast. Sightings have improved considerably as mom is not hiding them away. The four are quite adventurous and love playing and investigating around our game viewers.

The Elephant herd has migrated to the south of the reserve. We have had great sightings of the youngsters playing right here at Springbok Lodge. It is too cute to watch them pushing each other around; bathing in the sand and mud while dad (BFE) tries to keep an eye on his females as well as keep the 4 young bulls in place.

The buffalo herd has got a brand new addition - a new calf born about 3 weeks ago! We have seen the buffalo herd together with the Elephants. Some of the buffalo tried to ‘play’ with the “big grey” things, but were put into place very quickly by the elephants.

We look forward to sharing our amazing ‘backyard’ with you on your next visit.

The Springbok Lodge Rangers: Lee, Ruan, Stephanie and Nicole

Ranger Diaries March 2012

Ranger Diaries March 2012

March was a very exciting month in the Reserve, with the season changes we are heading fast towards Autumn. The grass is slowly drying out, the evenings are getting rather nippy and we’ve had some wonderful afternoon lightning storms as well as spectacular sunsets over the bushveld.  Babies are growing fast and our game is in excellent condition and getting ready for the cold winter months, which are just around the corner!

We had excellent sightings over the last month.  Our Lion population is up to 11 as there were 4 new cubs born in December 2011. The mother is still hiding the cubs very well, but every now and then we get a glimpse of the cute little ones. The adult and sub adult lions guaranteed us great sightings on an almost daily basis. These three sub adult lions are getting independent and are showing that they are excellent hunters already. Watching them stalking a zebra is always an exciting sighting and we were able to witness a few stalk’s over the past weeks, some more successful than others.  

Our guests were very lucky, as one of the adult females came right up to our game viewer while roaring. To feel the vibration of a lions roar vibrating off your ‘soul’ is a totally awesome feeling and not something that we experience every day.

The Elephants have been enjoying the Sundays River for quite a time but have now moved to the centre of the reserve and we had great sightings of the little ones.
The 4 new bulls we received end of last year from Zimbabwe, seem to have settled in very well and made for some great game viewing. Every now and then one gets a bit cheeky and shows us who the boss of the bush is. 

The Buffalo herd is growing as we had 3 new arrivals over the past three months and the fluffy little calves are too cute for words. The lonely old bulls are still full of nonsense and guarantee us exciting sightings and a vehicle chase every now and then!

After all the terrible news about the rhinos poached countrywide, we are very lucky to have a healthy Rhino population. The dehorning done a while ago seems to have paid off and we have had magnificent sightings, most often of mothers with their calves.

We are looking forward to meeting you at this stunning Reserve WE CALL HOME.

The Springbok Lodge Rangers, Lee, Ruan and Nicole

Ranger Diaries January 2012

Firstly, Happy New Year to all of you, we hope you had a great holiday season.


As we start of this year, the big rains have gifted us with some sorely needed moisture. Compared to last year’s average of around two meters we have had a very dry summer so far. 

The Reserve is looking glorious and the sightings are at their best. Talk of the town on Nambiti is the new Lion cubs! The four of them have been seen in and out of the rocks at the favoured drinks stop… the Sundays River Waterfall. An even popular spot now I am sure. Slowly the visuals have gotten better with the cubs having moved and been spotted recently in the centre of the road, but still in the north of the reserve. Great to hear that they are on the move now and becoming more active out in the open. They are truly too cute!


Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Hippo, Cheetah and even Spotted Hyena have graced our roads for some of the better viewings to date this year.
Nambiti truly is the place where your dreams of Africa in its majesty can reconnect in reality.
So long … I look forward to meeting you on the plains of Nambiti …


Ranger Lee

Young Cheetah Sets Chase

1st December 2011

With another incredible sunrise greeting the early rises, I find myself thinking about the year up to now. The sightings at Nambiti have been on the top end of spectacular and this week is by no means the exception.
 
We had a sighting on the western plains area of the reserve and right in front of the vehicle. It was the youngest of our cheetah right in front of the game viewer giving chase to a Duiker through the grass. His tail spinning from one side to the other as he accelerated closer, the young male moving fast to win his prize. Unfortunately for the Cheetah and fortunately for the Duiker a Serval was also hunting the same area. Distracted and very curious the young Cheetah stopped taking the chance to focus his intentions on the Serval.  The Duiker now nowhere to be seen obviously fled the scene. Needless to say the Serval now felt highly threatened and hissed and stomped with his from legs making it clear to the Cheetah he was not in the mood for anything. After about four minutes the Cheetah lost interest thus giving the Serval the chance to make haste.

This was a very rare and interesting sighting for all of us and a first in my book anyway.  A special moment in time here for the Springbok guests and guides; one that will be remembered for a long time to come.

So long - till we meet on the plains of Nambiti …
The Springbok Lodge Rangers ~ Lee, David and Ruan

New Elephant Bull's Released

RANGER DIARIES - 22 November 2011
With our beloved Nambiti Conservancy alive as ever and pulsing from corner to corner after the recent block burns and occasional flickering shower, we see it lush and green wearing its best jacket of the year.

Game from all sides have come to the party and put on some really spectacular shows for us rangers here in the south, keeping us and the guests enthralled in the wonders the bush has to offer.

Yesterday morning (21 November 2011) at 05h00 the first two elephant bulls; of the four to arrive from Makalali near Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo Province; were released onto the property here on the hill by Springbok Lodge. After a not so troublesome journey (luckily for them) they cruised around the bush eventually moving right past the front of our lodge and out of sight through the bush around our tents. I think we are all in hopes of seeing them integrate calmly with the rest of the Ellies here. No doubt that the bulls will soon come into contact with the older resident bull. I for one hope I experience it, from an ecological and personal point of view.

Lion sightings have been great with the three cubs spending much of their time in the south over the last few days. One of their kills entertaining groups for close to three days.

General game are closer to our lodge now thanks to the fresh grass in our surrounds, providing early morning and afternoon sightings, which are often spoken about during the days drive. In fact in a rare case we had three jackal chasing a sub adult impala ram past tent one the other morning, only to find a young ram impala being eaten by three jackal a few minutes later…no doubt the same three we saw.

All in all it looks like its going to be a great end of year as usual, with the amazing and spectacular diversity here.

Till we meet on the plains of Nambiti …

RANGER: Lee Groenewald