The pride of lions – four adults and five young – are doing very well in the area around Lebala. We followed them one afternoon when they were attempting to hunt. They had come upon a group of wildebeest, who were unaware of the approach of the predators, and carried on grazing whilst the lions began to stalk. The lions slowly approached, working as a team, and focussing on one individual. Suddenly, everything happened at once, and it was hard to tell what was going on, with animals moving in all directions. When the movements stopped, the lions had been successful, and had managed to catch one of the wildebeest, and suffocate it. It was an amazing sighting, and we were able to watch it from beginning to end!
Three leopards were seen in one week, with a female resting in a tree in Kanawe Park. She was very relaxed, and looked in excellent condition. We also found a different female feeding on a warthog she had killed, and a shy male walking along Kubu road.
We also have excellent general game at the moment, with lots of eland, zebra and wildebeest (minus the one that the lions ate). Also special sightings of roan and sable – both are getting more and more relaxed with seeing the vehicles, and not all of them run away!
Breeding herds of elephants and the bulls are moving around the area and seen several times on each drive.
When you buy furniture for a camp that is open to the elements, there are a few factors that have to be taken into account: how will it last in the sun? Will the wood get damaged too easily if it gets rained on? Are there gaps in the construction that will allow squirrels to use it as a nice nesting area? And most importantly – is there any leather on it? Leather furniture in a lounge that is open-sided and on ground level is the equivalent of an immobile wildebeest sitting patiently with a sign around its neck saying “eat me”. For a hyena, it’s a dream come true.
So, when selecting new dining chairs for Lebala – again open to the ground level – we carefully ensured that the lovely looking seat cushion was a high-quality synthetic material, not leather. For several months, they stayed unmolested. But one night in March, guests in the closest room to the dining area could hear something moving furniture around. The next morning, three chairs had little nibbles out of one corner. Too small and not enough destruction involved for it to be a hyena, we thought. Maybe a honey badger? No defining tracks could be seen. So in an attempt to reduce further damage, all chairs were put on top of the tables every night. And so began the war. It soon became apparent, that if a honey badger started the proceedings, a hyena (or two or three) took up the torch… Either pulling the chairs off the tables with his jaws, or standing up and knocking them off, no chair was safe….
Ultimate proof that fabric production is now at such a high level that not even hyenas can tell the difference between the real stuff and the fake. .
