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August Newsletter

21 September 2009

Three Year old Male
Three Year old Male
Photo: Louis Marais
Mist settles in the river bed, a herd of Buffalo slowly moving toward water for their first drink of the day. Rifles clenched tightly in our hand,our group close behind slowly sneaking up. “A herd of 300…” we whisper, close by in the dry bed of sand that will soon hold water in the wet season. Two adult male lion lie in wait for the herd of buffalo to make their way a little closer, close enough to have a chance at a kill. Our breathing slow and calm, hearts racing, we stand and watch the lion slowly move in to guarri not far from the herd of buffalo. We position ourselves on a high bank over looking the buffalo wondering, waiting for when the lion may strike.

Walking in this expanse of bush in such a wild place is a humbling experience and to be able to witness nature in its raw form on ground level ,one on one with Africa’s wild creatures has only been done by a select few. The trails at Lukimbi have been incredible to say the least from watching hyena chase leopard off a warthog kill to lion hunting buffalo, countless elephant and rhino encounters and of course all the small things that make a walk so worth while.

The sightings on the concession have been incredibly fruitful this month. The death of one of the male lions leaves our coalition to only one. The birth of new cubs brings the total of our pride to 18 members which is very exciting. However the death of the male leaves some doubt of the pride’s success in the future and we wait with anticipation to see whether the remaining male can hold the territory on his own. Three younger males are being seen often near his territory and may challenge him for dominance.

Leopard sightings are on the increase and the individuals are becoming more and more relaxed allowing us some great sightings. We have been following 2 resident leopard regularly and hope to continue following up on their movements. Cheetah have also been sighted this month. We are hoping that the male which passes through the concession will set up a stable territory, Giraffe, buffalo White Rhino sightings have been great and continue to increase and are being sighted regularly on walks as well as drives.

As spring approaches and the days become hotter, the water holes start drying up. These are hard times for many of the animals. However on the horizon the clouds build and the acacia trees start flowering signalling summer is on the way and the time of plenty

We all at Lukimbi look forward to your visit and join those who have experienced a sense of Africa.

Kind regards

Dylan Brandt
Head Ranger

Lukimbi Safari Lodge

Click to enlarge
Female Leopard
Photo: Steve Henwood
Click to enlarge
Male Rhino
Photo: Steve Henwood

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