Cyclone hits Balule Reserve

The river behind our waterhole after approx. 175 mm of rain had fallen.

Out here in the bush rain is always welcome and so far this summer we had had 295 mm since the start of October, that is until Tuesday 17^th and Wednesday 18^th January, earlier this week.  It began raining on Tuesday and by 4.30 p.m. only 18mm had fallen.  Over the next 24 hours, however, a further 262 mm (10 inches) fell.  

The same river some 500 m upstream

As a result our normally dry river beds became raging torrents, audible even over the sound of the rain.  The largest river on the main road to the reserve gate was 40 m wide.  In the midst of this most of the local lion pride were in the area, on our neighbours’ property and here on Leopard’s View.  We even had to deliberately let water out of the splashpool at various intervals.  Luckily we have suffered only from erosion of paths and roads although we did have a mini-river flowing through one of the huts as the ground became saturated.  Giraffe Hut is now drying out and we have dug out around it to create better run-off management in the future – pictures to follow as the work progresses.

The main road through the reserve to the gate, Wednesday morning

At a stroke our rainfall total for this wet season has jumped up to 575 mm, which is 125 mm more than the annual average for Balule.

Afternoon of Thursday 19th - our river much subsided

All roads in and out of the reserve were impassable until the middle of Thursday 19^th and some routes are still closed.

The main road river shown above, 24 hours after the rain stopped

Our local town, Hoedspruit, which is 21 km away, was cut off by flood water and was declared a disaster area: some sections were completely under water.  Many major roads and bridges in the area have been damaged and the Olifants River came over the top of the high-water bridge.  The local Air Force base was active in the area, rescuing many people trapped by rising water.

Clean-up operations are in progress everywhere.  We hope that the cyclones now building in the Indian Ocean will not affect us this far inland over the next week or so.  With soils already saturated more heavy rain would undoubtedly lead to renewed flooding.

Water (Rain & the Swimming Pool)

Swimming pool

 We  began renovating the splashpool in mid-September but within a week we were side-tracked by problems with a septic tank.  The best solution was to build a new one, plus a new soak-away, tasks that took the next eight weeks to complete.  It was not until the start of December that we managed to get back to working on the pool.  Preparing the surfaces was a huge, tedious, dusty and hot job and as Christmas approached the race was on to get it ready in time for plastering (something that has to be done by professionals) before everyone went on holiday for three weeks.  Renovations were finally finished on the 21^st after several days of frantic activity and on the 22^nd the pool specialists from Hoedspruit did the plastering.  Early on the 23^rd we began filling the pool and by lunch it was ready.  The transformation has been pleasing and the new-look pool fits in much better with the bush environment.

Before

During - ready for tiling

During - tiled & ready for plastering

 

After - plastered and filled

Rain

 
The rains so far this year have been reasonably frequent but light, as was the pattern last year, and despite the regular top-ups the bush was getting dry.  However on the 24^th December we  had 48 mm and on Boxing Day another 74 mm, most of it slow and soaking.  These were the biggest totals for a single day since May 2010, which is unusual for this area and not a good thing:  some heavy rain is needed to make the small streams and rivers flow, to fill up dams and replenish underground water supplies. After the 122 mm in 48 hours the river beyond the waterhole flowed for a while and then trickled for a couple of days after that. The bush looks in excellent condition and dams and waterholes are full, not surprising after the wettest first three months of the rainy season for some years.

Giraffe kill – the lions move on

4 of the males & 3 of the females

During the night of Sunday 27^th/Monday 28^th November, the six males lions that had killed an adult giraffe about 150 m from Leopard’s View’s waterhole 48 hours previously had been joined by four females. 











 
As with the males alone on the previous two days, they fed in the relative cool of the early morning and then moved off into the shade to rest during the heat of the day.  At intervals they drank at the waterhole or returned to the carcass to feed. 

During the evening of Monday they continued this pattern, feeding, drinking and resting, either adjacent to the carcass (or in the odd case, on part of the carcass!) or in the open between the waterhole and the kill site.  

White-backed vulture

Tuesday and Wednesday saw similar behaviour, although by now there was relatively little meat left to be gleaned from the remains and the lions finally moved off to the north during the early evening of Wednesday 30^th.

Now it was down to the vultures to pick the carcass clean and by Sunday 4^th all bar a couple of vultures had gone. 

As of Monday 5^th, there is no sign at the carcass of hyena activity but a hyena did drink at the waterhole during the evening.

Giraffe kill - the lions feed on

After bringing down an adult giraffe during the night of the 25^th/26^th November, the six male lions that were at the carcass at the end of the day on Saturday 26^th were still there, as expected, at dawn on Sunday 27^th.  Their bellies were full and they were spending as much time resting as feeding.  

As the day heated up so they spent more and more time away from the kill and close to our waterhole, where they drank frequently or slept in the thick shade of the adjacent trees and bushes.  From the Lodge we had regular views of one or more drinking.  

During the early part of the morning large numbers of vultures began to fly in, mainly white-backed vultures but a few hooded vultures as well, settling in dead trees anything up to several hundred metres from the kill site:  there they sat, patiently waiting, but since there was always at least one lion at the carcass the vultures didn’t get a look in…… yet!

As evening fell, the lions drifted back to the carcass where some returned to eating.  By now all of the easily accessible meat had gone and so the lions had to tear back the skin from the lower neck, the legs and the back and use their carnassial side teeth to cut through connective tissue and tendons to get small scraps of muscle. 

It was clearly hard work and even in the cool of the evening and the night left the lions panting from the effort.  They made frequent trips to the waterhole to drink. 

 
At one stage, when it was almost dark and when all six lions were at or near the carcass, another adult giraffe approached the waterhole.  As soon as they detected this, four of the lions moved towards it in stalking mode:  after a tense few minutes the giraffe moved off, away from the lions, which slowly drifted back to the kill.

Giraffe kill

Between 8.00 and 9.00 p.m. on the evening of Friday 25^th November, five giraffes (one male and four females) visited our waterhole and spent some time there.  Later on in the night the male was caught and killed by 7 male lions in the dry river bed around 150m away. 

The first indication we had of this was two male lions drinking at the waterhole around 6.15 a.m. on the Saturday morning.  When we drove down to investigate we discovered the carcass and the 7 lions, some feeding, some drinking and some lying in the shade nearby. 

About an hour later, four of the young males suddenly stood up and moved away to the north:  we followed and found the four teasing a large white rhino bull.  The lions approached, the rhino came at them, they ran off and so it went on until the rhino moved off past the carcass to the waterhole and drank.

No sooner were we back watching three of the lions sleeping in the shade than jackals harassing an impala doe and fawn caused the impalas to run along the river bed veering away from the giraffe carcass, up the river bank and between our vehicle and the three lions sleeping some 8m away.  Despite very full stomachs, instinct took over and several of the lions chased the impalas, coming close to catching the fawn.  We caught up with the impalas a little while later. 

During the hotter part of the day the lions spent most of the time in the shade, several resting in the bushes adjacent to our waterhole, appearing at intervals to drink. 

As dusk approached and the temperatures cooled all the lions returned to the carcass and continued feeding or rested next to it.  There were now six lions – one of the big pride males, looking very weak and walking with a pronounced limp in his back left leg, and five sub-adult males (although these five are getting quite large and their manes and are starting to develop.) 

Given the size of a giraffe, we knew the lions would be there for a considerable time to come, so…………………..:  to be continued!

Any pillow will do

“One-horn” is back



The one-horned male impala

As mentioned in a previous blog, most impala look alike and once they reach adult size cannot easily be identified, other than as male or female.  However, there is one male in our area with only one horn and he has been around for over three years now.  We were pleased to see him again late in the afternoon of the 12^th November, moving past the stoep of our house with several other males.  It’s good to know he is still alive.  Like all the herbivores he will undoubtedly be very happy at the moment:  after unusually early rains (with the crazy hailstones!) in early October we have had several good downpours since and the bush is extraordinarily lush and green for this time of year. 



Our waterhole now, surrounded by green

We only hope that the rain will continue and that we don’t end up later on paying the penalty with a big gap when everything dries up and dies back.

Elephants!

The knobthorn tree below our deck,
next to the birdpool before the elephant.

Leopard’s View birdpool is a magnet for many species of birds and some mammals as well.  Visiting birds make use of a couple of knobthorn trees and a Y-thorn torchwood bush for perches and for cover.  On Thursday 20th, mid-way through the afternoon, two elephants appeared at the Lodge, the Reserve’s biggest bull, "Ezulwini", and a much smaller companion.  The large one proceeded to push over the big knobthorn just to the left of the birdpool, snapping the trunk completely -  no mean feat given that the diameter at that point was 40 cm, although there were signs of rot inside. 

The big bull and the felled tree

However, we were not pleased since this tree was important visually and also for the birds.

The big bull behind Kudu Hut

The two elephants then browsed on the fresh foliage (since the rain of two weeks previously) before doing a tour right round the Lodge and our house, eating fresh grasses and raisin bush leaves and stems. 

Who needs building inspectors?  "Ezulwini" checks
out work on our new septic tank for the kitchens.

They returned the following morning and at least had the decency to eat much of the remaining foliage from the knocked-down tree (elephants often push over a tree, eat a couple of mouthfuls and then move off.) 

The big bull below the decks:  waterhole in the background

The same pair reappeared on Tuesday 25^th, again doing a tour right round the camp.  The smaller bull is relatively nervous but the large one is very relaxed around buildings, fences and the people inside them, and will feed very close by without showing any signs of tension unless one makes a sudden loud noise or sharp movement. 

The young bull or "askari" that goes round
with the big one.

"Ezulwini" outside Duiker Hut

Wonderful viewing but one beautiful, mature tree less!