We left the lodge early morning for bushwalk and just outside Tremisana Lodge was one cheetah walking along Olifants road and we followed it for almost ten minutes. He had come to drink at Tremisana Dam which is pumping as it is the only water in a radius of 5 km. During the bushwalk we saw four zebras, impalas and one elephant bull that was very relaxed. Late in the afternoon Tanya saw the cheetah eating impala right next to the road and she called us on the radio. We drove straight to the area and we found the cheetah busy feeding. It was very close and visible and also very rare to see a cheetah - it is one of the endangered species in Kruger - they estimate only 180 to 200 cheetahs are left.
Guide Report
The dry
conditions continue. This has left animals in desperate need of grazing as well
as fresh water supplies.
It has however made sighting prolific around the few places with water. The hippos
have been the ones suffering the most, with such a major drop in water levels.
They have been forced to share small puddles of water, which can lead to
fighting amongst the mature males. In some cases, they have caked themselves in
mud to survive the heat of the sun.The elephant numbers are impressively high. When coming across most major water sources, you almost sure to find a herd. Elephants enjoy water a great deal and cannot survive without it for very long and it’s especially stressful for the young calves.
The one herd I came across had parked themselves around a cement man-made water hole. There were also several zebras, eager to have a drink. The elephants however had decided that this was their private water hole. As soon as the zebra went anywhere near the water hole, the elephants would rush forwards and chase them away.
The poor zebras eventually gave up and moved off in the opposite direction, leaving the adult elephants to suck up huge amounts of water with their trunks, while the calves just climbed right inside and rolled around in the refreshing water.
The buffalos are equally dependent on the water as the elephants and require at least a drink first thing in the morning and then later on in the afternoon. I’ve come across several big herds of at least a hundred individuals, mainly during the afternoon session.
The weaker ones not quite managing in these testing times and are often taken down by lions. When driving around Kruger, you are sure to see at least one fresh carcass of a buffalo.
The big cat sightings have been great - my most memorable one has to be several lionesses and their cubs playing in the rocks. We headed down south after stopping at Satara rest camp for lunch, mainly hoping to find a leopard. The leopard had unfortunately left its tree, only leaving scraps from an impala kill, nestled in the upper branches.
We however gathered information about a pride of lions not far away.
The lions were lying in the shade of a Natal Mahogany tree. We counted four females and at least six cubs. The cubs had split into two groups, the adventurous ones and the mommy’s babies. The adventurous ones had found a few large boulders in the river bed, and were have loads of fun climbing up and down then popping out from the gaps in-between.
The mommy’s babies found a safer option with their moms, just relaxing in the shade. A great lion sighting and awesome to see so many little cubs looking so healthy.
The leopard might not have shown up in the early afternoon, but we did get to see one five hundred metres from the gate. He was lying in the shade feeding on a warthog.
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