The usual excitement of a game drive was still there this morning, although there was a tinge of sadness as well as we knew this was the last one for this trip.
The morning started with another possible leopard sighting, but this quickly came to nothing as the leopard headed across a boundary to another area and we couldn’t follow. Soon though there was new excitement, a pack of African Hunting dogs had been spotted nearby and the chase was on. These dogs are skilful hunters and will run their prey until exhaustion sets in to make the kill easier. Also being pack animals they hunt as a group and will look after older or injured members of the pack by bringing them food after a kill. They are just like domestic dogs to watch they stop and sniff, have a scratch or just lie down to rest. But let them get a scent and they take on a whole new demeanour, quickly becoming very alert. We followed the pack of about 15-20 for twenty minutes or so. They had obviously eaten recently though as although the were impala nearby they didn’t seem too concerned with hunting one down.
We also heard that there was a large male water buffalo in the area, so went looking for him. The call the them “daggaboys”, dagga referring to the mud they wallowing. These lone animals have often been forced out of the heard by a younger more dominant male so head out either alone or in small bachelor herds. In the circle of life though, in this existence they often then regain there strength through sole feeding and not being part of the daily battle for supremacy in the herd. In this way when they come across a herd they often will win the battle to rejoin and be able to mate with the females forcing the deposed dominant male into a bachelor herd to regain his strength and condition. It’s a bit like going on holiday for a break from the family then coming back and taking over again, another example of the circle of life.
Then our old friend the leopard was spotted again, this time having made a kill he was dragging an impala away to have a feed. We headed to the spot where he had been seen. Also in the area were two hyena, much maligned creatures who are actually quite amazing to watch, but who nonetheless will steal a kill if possible. After all an easy feed is a good feed. By the time we arrived the hyena had in fact stolen the kill, no one saw it happen so we’re not sure how it went down. We watched the hyena feast on the carcass, the sound of them crunching through bone is quite amazing. They too had obviously just eaten as there bellies looked full and they wandered away once or twice to investigate noises nearby. Liam and Mamps joked about stealing the carcass themselves and hauling it up a tree, just to help the leopard out. Again though they are not allowed to interfere in nature, we are just here to watch and learn, not get involved.
As we moved on Liam was on the radio again, a herd of giraffe had been spotted nearby. We were off to check them out. Male giraffe are taller and often darker coloured than the females and the ‘horns’ on there heads become calloused from battle with other males. Male giraffes use them like clubs on battles for supremacy with others, they swing their heads wildly, striking each other in fierce battles. This can lead to severe injury, in some cases even death. We track the herd down and are surprised to also see large female hyena, the matriarch of the pack, nearby as well. She is quite aggressive, not to us or the giraffe but we suspect towards the pack of wild dogs whose scent she will be detecting.
As she moves off we return to watching the giraffes, there is a young male who appears a little confused, Liam says he is probably picking up the scent of the older male who is nearby. He approaches the females then turns away sniffing at the air. The three females who seem intent on ignoring the advances of the male and just having a graze. They wander near to us, like so many animals we have seen almost oblivious to our presence. Again this is because in the game parks they are not hunted so they then don’t see the vehicles as a threat. This can be to their detriment because if poachers do enter the reserve, that can come up close based on the animals lack of fear. We watch them for a while moving the landrover to keep them in sight and occasionally moving to see what the female hyena is up to.
Then all to soon it is time to return to the lodge for breakfast and the dreaded packing. Our time at Simbambili has all to suddenly come to an end, this truly is an amazing place. In a few short days we’ve seen the big five, encountered all sorts of other wild creatures and learnt so much about this beautiful part of the world. Simbambili is but a small part of Kruger Reserve, it covers only 6500 hectares while Kruger is some 23 millions hectares, about the size of Wales! We will have to return to see more.
We can’t say enough about the entire staff at Simbambili, they are all amazing, we feel like part of the family. They go out of their way to make you feel welcomed and no request, no matter how trivial, is too much trouble for them. If you want to head to Kruger Helen andI really can’t recommend this place enough!