Lion Kill at Grootkolk - Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park 14.November 2010

All the movies are best at 480p, if you watch them larger on the YouTube page, it's 720p HD.



Well we arrived at Grootkolk on the 13th of November full of anticipation, happy and excited like children waiting for birthday or christmas.
Franco greeted us very friendly with the words :" Welcome to the Lons of Grootkolk"
And indeed there were 5 Lions resting right underneath the tree by the waterhole.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249244851

They observed us while we unloaded the car and I can tell you we never unpacked the car as quick as on that specific afternoon.  :lol:
We moved into our home for the next three nights, cabin #4 the one the furthest to the right.

Seeing the Lions under the tree and enjoying the supeb view, we decided to stay in camp on that afternoon rather than driving to one of the waterholes to the north or south of camp.
We could have a coffee while watching the Lions, what more could we possibly ask for....
Later that afternoon one of the adult Lionesses got up and walked away. While all the others stayed at the waterhole and just watched where she was going.
We were suprised to say the least  :huh: .

Quite a while later she returned back to the waterhole only to greet the three subadults of the pride which then in turn got up and started to walk away ......
A little later she went to one of the smaller trees and bushes close by and returned with 4 of the most adorable cubs  8)
She greeted the second Lioness that was still lying close to the waterhole and the cubs started to play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJTcf02vKs

Well this is just one of the many video footage we took of the cubs, more will follow later in the trip report....  :wink:

We spend the whole afternoon watching the little ones play. They were in really good mood and had a lot of fun (like all the people in the camp as well  :lol: ).

Later that evening we had a braai checking the Lions, which were still under that tree, from time to time.
We were even a bit worried that the cubs were lying there as well.
What will happen when some Hyenas were coming to have a  drink ?! :shock:
It was around 9.30 pm when we went to bed, not having the faintest idea what was going to happen later that night......
Only thing I tell you now is, that is was a rather short night's rest.....

Well at almost excatly 3 am we heard a kind of a metal clash.
At first I thought that Hyenas might have come up to the cabin and were now busy with the dustbin.
But then a noise started that we never ever heard before, but instantly we knew what was happening outside.

The Lions had made a kill.....
But they not only had made a kill they had done so right in front of our cabin.  :big_eyes:
The upper flap on the door was open and so I shone through the mesh to have a closer look what was happening outside.
5 Lions were lying on the other side of the little fence, close to our braai and devouring some kind of animal that was (when I first had a look at the scene) still kicking.
Adrenline levels inside the cabin were probably as high as outside....

As the Lions were lying really close to the fence it was hard to see without the fence reflecting the light of the torch.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249245281

So we tried to capture the whole scene with the camcorder.
No brilliant pics, but turn up the volume and I think the sounds will give you goosebumps....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yV9-kezFF0

It was plain unbelievable.  :shock:

In the meantime we had discovered that it was an unfortunate Hartebeest that they had killed.
One of the females then grabbed the skull, still the spine was attached and carried it over to a small tree to the right of our cabin.
Now as she started to chew on the Hartebeest we had a really good view when kneeing on our beds.
Every now and then the others came to the front of the chalet where they had killed the animal to check for some bits and pieces that were still left.
So I was constant movement for us from the side where we could observe the Lioness to the side where we were able to see the other Lions...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfNGzrb8XOc

A while after the Lioness started to chew she called the cubs.
We already heard them for quite a while, but were not able to see them in the darkness.
We could not believe our eyes. The cute little fluffy cubs we observed in the afternoon and which were still so small that we thought they only feed on mummy's milk, started chewing on the Hartebeest as well  :shock:

What a sighting  !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ijmdl67bmc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOX3SG4gc5U

And we had a prime position to observe everything :-)

Upon Dawn the Lions started to roar and a big male joined the show.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249848444

The appearance of the male caused some unrest in the rest of the pride.
Suddenly the Lions were everywhere.....
One of the Lionesses came to the site of the killing again, scratched for something on the ground and finally walked off with something that looked like a piece of leg....
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrMr12IaDVo

The male went over to the little tree where the Lioness had fed with the cubs and got his share as well.
Here you can see how far the tree is from our cabin.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249848900

Mum, Auntie and the kids..
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249849406

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249247153

One of the Lionesses calling (unfortunately I had to take this through the closed window..).
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249850274

Action everywhere you looked...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Q7RV7fua8

And more roaring in the morning.....
Thank God there was everything in the cabin, toilet, fridge and we even had hot water for a coffee (we had prepared it the evening before as we planned to leave the camp early for a drive in the morning.....well little did we know then...).

We loved to observe Mum, Auntie and the cubs.
In this video I especially love the sequence where Auntie is playing with one of the cubs  :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VAlIswVWMQ

More pics of Mum with the kids...
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249248585
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249851856
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249249753
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249853010
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249853682
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249854142
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249251865

The cabin was surrounded by Lions.
If you went to the toilet, looked out of the window, two amber coloured eyes looked up at you, washed you hands, looked out of the window, 4 amber coloured eyes looked up at you and if you had a shower you could clearly see the tree with the male Lion underneath.....

At one time during the night we wanted to rest a bit and sat on the beds. In that second a Lion ran past the cabin right behind our backs. It was amazing. You could really feel the power and weight of the body. The stamping of the feet went right down your spine into the stomach.....

The Lions were everywhere.
The Male lion seemed to disturb the pride. It seemed that he was attracted especially by one female of the pride and during the morning the two lied down for a rest right on the main "road" of the camp.  :lol:
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249855588
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249856252
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249856800
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEJA978ldgU

 The Male was really impressive...
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249254801

After the Lions there were the Jackals around.
One of them found the Hartebeest tale really tasty.  :roll:
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249255303

Another one found a rib...
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249858400

The next day we discovered what the metal clash sound might have been.
The Lions damaged our fence. It seemed that they and the Hartebeest crashed into our fence and dented it.
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katydownunder/5249859090

The video shows this maybe even better....
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXqFYp9hqRU

The Lions stayed in the camp the whole day, well  the two love-birds and two of the subadults.
The two Lionesses together with the cubs went away.....(well at least for the day  :lol: )

It was a simply breathtaking sighting.
A once in a lifetime experience.
It was great to see the interaction within the Lion pride, the two females worked perfectly together,protecting the cubs as much as they could, the roaring gave us goosebumps, it was a long and sleepless night.
And we enjoyed every single second of it.
We felt very "privileged" to be able to witness something special like this.

Cheetahs, Cheetahs,Cheetahs...... What a great Cheetah Year (November 2011)

So far we always struggled to have Cheetah sightings...

During our trip to KTP in November 2011 we has plenty of them, wonderful, relaxed, close to the road, Mum with cubs sightings.

It was awesome!!!!

These are the sightings we had based at Twee Rivieren

At Monro Waterhole

At Houmoed Waterhole

South of Mata Mata

Seen from unit #15 at Kalahari Tented Camp

Again south of Mata Mata, Mum had just caught breakfast...

 Mum and the kids after an unsuccessful hunt in the morning

Later that day we met them again....

 Early morning south of Kalahari Tented Camp

Single female who recently had lost her cub...

Same day again the Mum with the two cubs and yet again with a kill

Mum with the 4 cubs close to the 14th borehole

And last but not least the Cheetah with two cubs again south of Craig Lockhardt

 I can honestly say, we never ever had so many and great Cheetah sighting on all our trips to KTP before......

African Wildcat (incl. Update November 2011)

A real treat is seeing one of these wonderful little Cats in the wild...
The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is THE place to find African Wildcats!
We had the most wonderful sightings during our various trips to this National Park.

Our first sightings all on one trip...

Pretty relaxed lying in a ditch right beside the road

The following year...

Two lovebirds....

We could not believe our eyes seeing this Wildcat Mum with two Kittens...

We spotted this Wildcat in the bushes close to the Cottages right in Twee Rivieren Rest Camp

Another "Cat-Trip"

She was "posing" for us on a Weavers Nest

A young Wildcat

And we have again been blessed with more AWC sighting on our trip in November 2010...

In the dunes

One of the most beautiful Cats that we have seen...

It is always wonderful to see one of those elegant and graceful little hunters....

More info about the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica)

Update AWC sightings November 2011

Near Dalkeith AWC Mother with two Kittens

And we spotted another Mum on the way to Melkvlei....

Hoping to see more of these gorgeous Cats on our next trip....

Happy New Year!!!!

Have a wonderful year, many days spend outdoors (preferably in Africa) with loads of great sightings!

IVAD-International Vulture Awareness Day 03. September 2011

It is always important to know some facts about such incredible birds like the Vultures, especially as it may help to tell people why it is good to try and save these beautiful birds.

Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergent evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains. New World Vultures are found in North and South America, Old World Vultures in Europe, Africa and Asia, meaning that between the two groups, Vultures are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture

Here are some interesting & amazing Information on Vultures

- The projectile vomit of a vulture, followed by the action of flying away, is its most common defensive tactic, against an adversary.
- Vultures can eat as well as digest meat, in any stage of decay. They can even endure diseases that would kill any other creature.
- Vultures do have the habit of building nests.
- Vultures can fly for hours at a stretch. Since they glide over thermal updrafts, grabbing a free lift, they do not get tired soon.
- Vultures have a very well developed and heightened sense of smell.
- In order to cool themselves as well as a measure of disinfecting their legs, vultures urinate.
- The urine of a vulture can kill any germ that it would have picked while walking through a cadaver.
- Since the head of a vulture is bald, bacteria find it difficult to stick to it. The ones that manage to do it are baked off by the vulture, using sunlight.
- In case a carcass has a very thick hide, which the vulture cannot open, it waits for a larger scavenger to eat first.
- Vultures usually have only one mate in a year.
- A female vulture lays eggs in a nest, made of sticks and leaves and built in trees and cliffs. The same nest might be used for a number of years.
- Vultures can completely eat the flesh of a small animal in less than half an hour.
- A group of vultures is known as a venue and when the group is seen in the air, circling together, it is called a kettle.
- Some of the vultures also eat bones, along with the flesh.
- Vultures have very sharp eyesight and on the open plains, they can spot a three-foot carcass even from four miles away.
- The turkey vulture is gentle and non-aggressive.
- Vultures circle in order to gain height as well as to search for food.
- Vultures have poor vision in the dark.
- Vultures have the same ancestor as storks.

Source: http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-vulture-1858.html

Here are some captures of Vultures taken during our trips to South Africa....

Last but not least a video that we have taken in Kruger, all different kinds of Vultures in action.
It was so great to see all the interaction between the different birds.

Don't let the Vultures disappear!!!!