Lukimbi News Articles

August Newsletter

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:17:40 +0000

August started with a bang (slowly starting to warm up) after the awesome World Cup! Just as the World Cup, August was a great month both on the wildside and on the accommodation side, with increased occupancies as the overseas holiday season opened. Guests from all over the globe enjoyed the luxuries that staying at Lukimbi entail.

Just as the guests from all over joined us in this beautiful setting, so did fourteen of our newest arrivals! On a drive through the Concession, fourteen lion cubs were seen in one sighting, appearing from every angle of the bush and every soul was on a mission for a teat with all the five mothers keeping a close eye on their activities. We are really glad that our Concession is filled with a new generation of little ones! Who knows, if the cubs manage to survive, could we have the next mega pride? Our five males have repeatedly tried to make a meal of buffaloes moving through the Concession but these attempts mainly end up with some of the male lions limping.

As for our resident leopard, we had the opportunity of watching him dine on an impala for 3 days in the heights of a Jackalberry! On the second day some lion cubs came to investigate what the all fuss was about while mom went off hunting! There have also been some great sightings of some of the females in his territory accompanied either by scent marking or trying their luck with an impala.

A great number of elephant bulls have been coming through the concession, one bull with decent long tusks (+/- 1.5m).

As usual our white rhino sightings have been outstanding but don’t forget about their hooked lipped relatives. There have been six different sightings, some while on foot but mainly from the vehicle!

Lukimbi has hosted two separate full day walks this month during which our visitors encountered lion, white rhino, elephant, hyaena and honey badger. The walks have taken place both in the rain and in sunshine but the sheer team work of all staff involved make this aspect of safari unbeatable!

August has slowly started to warm up and with spring in sight, flowers actually started emerging on 20th August. Species in follow were the Knobthorns,( Acacia Nigrescens,) the Natal Guarris ( Euclea Natalensis) and the Sausage Trees (Kigelia Africana.)

With September in sight once again, it is going to be a howling success for our guests as well as for the Lukimbi Team. Until next time, keep it wild!

Danie Vermeulen
Field Guide

June Newsletter

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:33:00 +0000

Soccer comes to the bush!!

June has been a crazy month with guests visiting us from all four corners of the world; everybody has been on a soccer high, guests and staff. Guests have been responding to the roaring of lions by chanting their country’s war cries and most of the chats on the vehicle have been about last night's game and not the animals we have seen or were watching. All the drives and dinners have been orientated around the evening games and many a dessert has been eaten in front of the television.

It has also been great to hear the positive feedback from all our guests about the World Cup, how well South Africa has done in hosting the event and how hospitable the county has been with every aspect and having exceeded all the expectations of the many different nationalities that came to watch their team and taste a bit of Africa.

The animals have also been in high spirits and have been popping up all over the show. With the lodge being so busy and having 4-5 vehicles out every drive, it has helped tremendously with the sightings as the guys all work as a team to track and find the animals. There have been some new additions to the lion pride, a female gave birth to 4 cubs at the beginning of the month and she has finally brought them out for all of us to see. The pride now consists of the 5 dominant males, 5 females and 6 cubs,2 were born about 3-4 months ago. Amongst the new elephant and white rhino calves, there is also a new cub in the hyena clan. The cub is still black in colour and will only start getting its characteristic orange and black spots after a month or so. We have also spotted a Black rhino calf and it’s great to know these highly endangered animals are breeding, especially at Lukimbi.

The other highlight of the month was an incredible sighting of a male cheetah. He was relaxed with the vehicles and allowed us all to watch him walking across the plains.He even jumped up on a fallen Marula tree to scent mark which allowed for some amazing photography. Cheetah tend to move great distances as they are not territorial so we are very grateful and excited when one appears on the concession. We have had a quite a few great leopard sightings and some of the rangers spent the afternoon watching a female leopard stalking a heard of impala but unfortunately there was an important soccer game and we had to leave her before she could make a kill.

With winter finally here the bush has started to thin out and some of the natural pans have started to dry up. This is great news from a sightings point of view as it is easier to spot the animals in less dense bush and we are looking forward to the next few months to see which new animals appear and to spend more time with the ones we know that have made their home at Lukimbi.

Paul Davies,
Head Ranger.

April Newsletter

Mon, 24 May 2010 09:43:21 +0000

April started off as a real wet one, with 130ml in the first five days of the month which is pretty bizarre having heavy rains this late in the season. The month ended off with 192ml which is more than February and March's rainfall combined!
This definitely put the Ranging Team on the back foot as the Concession was put to rest for a few weeks so as not to damage the roads more than what the rain had already done. In return, however, this will definitely give the bush a boost before heading into the dry winter season.
Nevertheless, the Ranging Team and our enthusiastic guests have had a great amount of quality sightings of both big and small. Wild Dogs creeping up behind us on an afternoon drive, gentle African Wild Cats making their way past the road while on full alert for anything to snatch for dinner. Dylan and Tracker Gideon managed to track down a lioness with two cubs aged 8 weeks old which we are eagerly going to monitor so we can be part of their bright future.
We have been fortunate to have seen the big and dark creatures frequently with about 97 White Rhino sightings and 140 Elephant sightings, both Bulls and Breeding Herds. It is really great to see the influx of Elephant moving on to the Lukimbi Concession for the tough winter season ahead. As for our elusive Leopards, we've spent some quality time with our resident female, Nulu, either taking her afternoon nap in the Marula Trees or following her while she's on a territory marking roll. Nkanyamba, our male resident leopard, has also made his presence well known by territorial marking on the thatch of room W9! On the northern side of the Concession we were lucky enough to come across two male Leopard cubs, and witnessed a fascinating yet unsuccessful attempt to catch a Scrub Hare by one cub..
The Lukimbi Team is definitely ready and geared up for the month ahead, seeing that our Walking Trail Safaris are starting on the 2nd of May! As for the 2010 Soccer World Cup lurking around the corner, things are going to be exciting!
To end things off, here is an interesting quote that I came across:
“Wildlife is not ours to dispose of as we will. We have it in trust and must account for it to those who come after” - King George VI.
Kind Regards,
Danie Vermeulen
Field Guide