Lukimbi News Articles

Newsletter RSS feed to stop

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:33:05 +0000

Hi

Just a quick note to let you know that as of today, we will no longer be sending newsletters via this feed, but we still have loads for you to enjoy.

You can check out all the news from Lukimbi Safari Lodge here:

On our Facebook account - www.facebook.com/LukimbiSafariLodge?sk=wall
You can also check out Tripadvisor for any guest comments.
We also plan to start a blog in the New Year.

Links to all of the above can also be found on our website at lukimbi.com

Enjoy all the wonderful sightings!

Lukimbi Safari Lodge

Lukimbi Safari Lodge | May Newsletter

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Autumn is upon us as the early morning drives have definitely had a chill to them, but there is nothing better than being out in the middle of the bush and feeling the early rays of sunshine starting to break through the cold and starting to warm the earth and even more importantly,one’s body.
As the summer rains are now a thing of the past, the bush has started to dry out and the summer shades of green have now turned into the autumn hues of reds and browns. Many of the natural rain water pans and mud wallows have now started to dry up, and we are now seeing the animals starting to adapt to the drier months, often targeting the few permanent water sources in the area. One of the greatest advantages here is that for the next few months, until the next rains fall, we often have a lot of elephant and buffalo “visiting” the water in front of the lodge, which fortunately remains all year around.
Animal sightings for the month

Elephants:
We have been having great sightings of elephants throughout the month, with the highlight being watching over a hundred elephants that were all out on one of our open plains areas of the concession. This was obviously quite a few breeding herds that happened to all be in the similar area at once.

Rhino:
Due to the sensitive issue of rhino poaching within the Kruger National Park, we do not like to discuss anything about our rhino population.

Buffalo:
As the months get drier, so the large herds of buffalo have to move greater distance for feeding, so it is at this time of the year that we have started having some great sightings of the large herds. We also have quite a few of the old “dagga” boys (buffalo bulls) hanging around the concession, with 2 of them having taken up occupancy in the river line in front of the lodge for the last few weeks.

Lion:
Lions are using different hunting grounds now as the plains are thinning out and there is not enough cover on those open areas, making there hunting a little more difficult. The Lwakahle pride which is the pride that is most dominant on our concession has two new members which come in the form of two little cubs. With this pride predominantly using our western sector, the Crocodile River pride has been making their presence known as we are often woken up in the early hours of the morning by the lions roaring in the close vicinity.

Leopard:
These creatures of the night have been extremely active, as almost every night we are treated to the calls of the leopard. We also watched some great interaction between two lionesses and a male leopard. In the late afternoon the two lionesses were relaxing at a well-known pan on our concession called Rocky Pan. We were sitting with them in our game viewer enjoying the lions and the sunset when a male leopard, out of sight from the lions and us, was intending on coming to the pan for a drink of water before setting out on his evening hunt. As he was approaching the pan he let out a loud territorial call which sounds like a carpenter sawing through wood with a hand saw - a deep rasping sound. The lions, being on top of the food chain, were not impressed with this leopard coming into their territory to hunt their impalas and decided instantaneously to track him down. The acute hearing of the lions led them straight to him. Fortunately the survival instincts and camouflage of the leopard are so good that he managed to slip in between the two lions and climb into a tree before they could catch him. On seeing the leopard climb the tree the two lions decided it was better to let him be rather than risk climbing into the tree themselves

Cheetah:
We have had some lovely cheetah sightings during the month, with one adult male in particular having given us some really quality sightings and guests were also able to watch him hunting some impala on a couple of different occasions.
As you can see, we have been having some really great sightings over the month. Our most common walk that we do - down to the Crocodile River, is also giving us some great sightings of both hippo and crocodiles. Due to it being a little cooler, we are often getting to observe both species “sunning” themselves on the river bank. Don’t forget, that we are also now doing our full day walking safaris, which are an absolute experience of a lifetime. We only do these walks during the cooler winter months, so if you are interested in doing them, please book soon before the warmer months begin and then you will have to wait for next winter.
Don’t forget that you are now also able to keep up with the goings on at Lukimbi, by following us on our Facebook page – Lukimbi, please just “like” this page, you can also now follow us on twitter, @Lukimbi.

Sean Smith, General Manager

Lukimbi Safari Lodge | November Newsletter

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:56:30 +0000

As the two tracks light a golden dust and the wind whirling an echo of distant calls of mother nature that have become a vibrant frenzy, so our summer safari begins. Cicadas announcing their presence with deafening decibels and woodland kingfishers filling the atmosphere with the remaining chorus are a slight taste of the ambience at Lukimbi Safari lodge.

November has gone by as quickly as winter had. The month brought the Lukimbi ranger and tracker team as much delight as the guests. It is great to see that most of the migrant birds such as Woodlands Kingfisher, European Bee-Eater, Wattled Starling and Violet-backed Starling, just to name a few, have returned at the same time as the grass green landscape. Beautiful flowers such as the lions eye (Tricliceras longipendunculatum), red-stared zinia (zinia peruviana) and the brandy bush (grewia flava) have created a spectacular contrast.

The ranger and tracker team have gone to great lengths to show our guests which creatures inhabit the Kruger Park while just watching Mother Nature create a heart-warming experience. Many of the elephants are oozing from the temporal gland as they come into musth. Great numbers of impala lambs are moving with the herds trying to keep away from opportunistic predators.

It has been great to witness this sudden life of creatures in the Park. The sightings have been great as usual with herds of elephant all around and rhino's ever present. The lion sightings have been astronomical. We have been following a pride of 11 quite often as the pride consists of 6 cubs of a year and a half in age, 4 lioness's and 1 male of about 2 years old. The lioness's have their hands full as they are constantly teaching the little ones how to hunt with a successful kill very now and then. The 5 males are becoming less and less obvious as they have larger territories to cover but there is always at least one making his presence known to us.

A female cheetah and her cub are still roaming on the concession with tracks shown every once in a while but it was on the 20th of November where ranger Zane had found her near the gabbros looking for Impala to feast on. It was not 20 minutes later when we saw her kill an Impala lamb. This was unbelievable to witness.

The leopards have been very scarce. A new male leopard was found on a marula tree in the south of the concession but he did not hang around for us to spend quality time with him.

The mystical black rhino beasts leave plenty signs in the area but one afternoon just before sunset we had an epic yet tense sighting of a very calm black rhino marking his territory on an open area. We had positioned ourselves strategically watching him wallow as he then proceeded to walk straight towards us, passing by about 10 m away. Everyone was holding their breath as he went to his midden to mark and then moved back in the dense vegetation. A real once in a lifetime moment!

A small herd of buffalo crossed the concession but this has been the only sighting of a herd of buffalo coming through. But at the end of their journey lions picked up on the location of the breeding herd. This resulted in one less buffalo as the lions took down a bull and were feeding on it for 3 days. The intense growls and smells stay implanted in your brain after leaving the area leaving you feeling very humbled!

To those that have visited and to those that will still come visit Lukimbi Safari lodge here is a small message:

When the sight, sounds and smells of the African bush have laid a seed in your heart it will grow until you return to the magic continent..

Keep it wild
Danie Vermeulen