My time at Siyafunda Endangered Species Reserve has come to a close. And my final hours were as amazing as my first. On the game drive the night before my departure, we returned to the scene of the dead kudu (a woodland antelope) in a tree discovered earlier that day. A leopard had made the kill, pulled the kudu up a tree and left it dangling over a branch. We knew she’d be back. But when? As the sun began…
There’s a family reunion at Jackelberry Dam. We humans weren’t invited, so we didn’t know. When I decided to skip the afternoon game drive, I knew I was taking a chance of missing something big. Staying behind, as peaceful and relaxing as it is, always comes with risk. And, indeed, I missed the elephant family reunion where three herds came together on a hot afternoon right after the heavy rains to play in the water. However, due to the detailed…
Driving over bush yesterday morning to find the lions, we all catch the exquisite scent in the air. Our new friend from Zurich, Adrian, sweeps the air into his nose. “It’s wild sage,” says Emma, our ranger. She is matter of fact while I’m thinking, ‘Wait, I want some of that for my next pot of spaghetti sauce.’ Don’t know when that will be. But still. Emma stops the jeep. We all get out, grab a handful and nibble. It…
Nyalas are the deer of South Africa. But a bit more exotic, as you’d expect from a spiral-horned antelope native to this wondrous country. Still, they come to our camp, help themselves to our grass, drink from out pool. They don’t care who’s watching. Or do they? Just when we’ve started taking them for granted, they remind us of their specialness. Two brothers (I’m making an assumption here), were practicing yesterday morning how to be tough guys. Then this…
Dedicated to my brother, Dennis Biondo, who would have turned 68 today. We arrived at 6 a.m. just as the pride seemed to be finishing up its meal. Before I go on, perhaps a warning is in order: this blog will be real, which means graphic. As the comedian Michelle Wolf says, this is no time to be cute. Lions kill. They eat what they kill. They eat on the spot. And the biggest ones eat the most and when…
There are few words to describe the warning roar of an adult male lion about to hunt. So I won’t even try. Instead, I will tell you what’s going on in each picture and video below. And if you have words to describe what you hear, please share: Earlier in the day, we found them taking a late afternoon nap. Elandri stopped the jeep and we sat and waited for them to wake up. Eventually they did. After a few…