August 2024

Singita Pamushana Lodge

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Singita Pamushana Lodge: August 2024

What a month it has been! The sightings during this dry time have been incredible, especially towards the end of the month. On the 31st of August, Guide Time Mutema and his guests set a record of seeing three different kills. Their safari started in the morning following wild dogs that killed an impala near Nyari. Then, on their way to Hwata Pan they came across a lioness feeding on a zebra. After arriving at Hwata they found another lioness off to the east that was in the process of killing a buffalo calf! Quite a few groups of guests have had “Big-Five-One-Drive” occasions and one of these was within the first hour of a drive.

The weather has been beautiful with cool morning drives leading to warm poolside weather by midday. August also had a seasonal Blue Moon - the traditional definition refers to the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. These only come around once every 19 years!

A sightings snapshot for August follows:

Lions

  • Nduna Pride: Six members of this pride feasted on a giraffe they killed near the dam wall. There is a mating pair within this pride, but both the male and female are sporting deep gashes from a fight with the other two males.
  • River/Hippo Pride: This pride have been seen regularly in the Chiredzi riverbed, and two territorial males have been with them. The riverbed is a popular spot though – on one occasion three lionesses watched as a black rhino departed at high speed after drinking at Ray’s Drift, and later in the month eight members were chased out of their comfort zone when a breeding herd of trumpeting elephants careened down the banks to come and drink.
  • Northern/Hlamba Mlonga Pride: These lions have been a welcome sight as they are not viewed that often. One adult male and three adult females relaxed around Simbiri Dam, even though there was no water there. A few days before members that have split from the Nduna Pride were seen in the exact same area, so it is just as well they weren’t all in the same place at the same time.
  • Southern Pride: Because Chiloveka Dam in the south has also run dry this pride has pushed north and is drinking at Hwata Pan, making use of the plentiful hunting opportunities in the area.

Leopards

  • Earlier in the month a morning walk to look for a Pel’s fishing owl around Kim’s Crossing resulted in finding and following a drag mark left by a leopard lugging a kill. The victim, an impala, had been hoisted into a tree. That afternoon the party returned to the spot and waited until the leopard materialised and started to feed on its kill.
  • There has been a lot of leopard activity around the Nyamasikana and Chiredzi confluence area. A mating pair was seen in the riverbed, and drag marks from kills have been seen for long distances along the riverbank.
  • Incredible sightings were had at the end of the month near the Malilangwe Dam. They started with a male leopard about to cross the road towards the dam. Not far from the first sighting a second leopard was spotted. That afternoon, during a boat cruise, a leopard was seen drinking from the dam, below Malilangwe House, and a second one seen after dark when driving back to the lodge. However, the best was yet to come. The next day, during a boat cruise, while calmly watching a pied kingfisher, the party heard the sounds of predators fighting over something in the bushes. It turned out to be four leopards feeding on a nyala antelope! One cub climbed up a tree and everyone got a good view of it. The other three leopards moved to a slightly open space that also provided a view. The guides who witnessed this agreed it was one of the best leopard sightings of their lives.

Wild dogs

  • The smaller pack seem to have unfortunately lost their puppies. They had them stashed in a drainage area beneath a road, and hyenas were seen raiding the area.
  • The larger pack, 18 in total, are doing very well. It is luck of the draw in seeing them as the pups are now running with the pack, and not confined to a den area. The adults have been seen hunting far and wide, and killing a Sharpe’s grysbok and impalas. If the pups aren’t nearby the adults wolf down the kill, then run back to where the pups are and regurgitate meat for them to eat.

Hyenas

  • A mother giraffe and a less than one-year-old calf were surrounded by a pack of five hyenas, including a fluffy hyena cub. The hyenas were circling the giraffes, whooping and laughing, trying to force the mother and calf to panic and part, but when the strategy didn’t work they left the duo in peace and went to look for hunting opportunities elsewhere.
  • Vultures were seen coming down to land, indicating a kill. A lone hyena was located with an impala carcass that was still bleeding, and the hyena was covered in blood on the face and chest. The vulture numbers kept building and the uneasy hyena kept dragging the kill away. Eventually the vultures won, and drove off the hyena. On investigating the scene it was evident the kill had been stolen by the hyena from a leopard.
  • Hyenas had a bounty when they spent about a week consuming the carcass of an old black rhino cow, that had died from natural causes.

Rhinos

  • White rhinos: you simply cannot miss them. Every game drive is rewarded with the sighting of white rhinos. Highlights for the month include seeing a bouncy newborn calf, and lions sharing a water source with white rhinos.
  • In these dry dusty times black rhino sightings have been very good, and even better is when they give the game-viewer an investigative mock charge, sending dust billowing to great photographic effect.

Elephants

  • Breeding herds of elephants have been seen along the Chiredzi River and never far from there at the Hippo Swamps, O2 Pan and Sosigi Dam. It is a delight to watch them, especially the exuberant youngsters that defy decorum and discipline.
  • Bulls, and some big tuskers among them, have turned their attention to the tortilis trees that are hanging heavy with nutritious pods. The trees have been shaken for all they are worth in order for the pods to fall, but fortunately not too much damage has been caused.

Buffalos

  • Before you see buffalos you see great clouds of dust, and when positioned accordingly the backlight is dramatic.
  • An amazing sighting was when about 200 buffalo wanted to cross the Chiredzi. They were atop a cliff and descended down it, bumping and bellowing - it was like wildebeest migrating across the Mara River!

Plains game

  • The usual plains game abound, but now is the best time to see eland, sable, and Lichtenstein’s hartebeest. They are forced out of hiding to the permanent waterpoints.

Boat cruise

  • There’s nothing more relaxing than floating along, sundowner in hand, and watching the scenery. Hippos and birds abound, crocs slip into the water after a day’s sunbathing, and there’s always the chance of seeing other animals on the shoreline that have come to drink. Predator highlights this month were leopards and lions. Birding highlights were an osprey and a bat hawk.

Fishing

  • The water has warmed up and the fish are biting! Lucky anglers have landed catfish, tilapia and tigerfish this month. One fishing trip was upstaged by five lions drinking from the dam, with our guests choosing to watch the cats instead of fish.

Photographic hide

  • The hide is worth visiting early morning, midday, late afternoon, and evening. A multitude of animals have been drinking there this month including elephants, rhinos, zebra, sable, wildebeest, impala, warthogs, lions and a host of fluttering birds. The seasonal blue moon cast silvery light as a jaw-dropping procession of animals continued to arrive late into the night.

Walks & rock art

  • It’s prime time for walking safaris – and our guides love to offer these. They can take in sights of the largest baobab on the property, rock art in the cliffs or a pod of hippos that bask and bathe in a deep pool in the Chiredzi. White rhinos, elephant bulls and lions have also been tracked on foot.

Unusual sightings

  • Some poignant baboon behaviour has been witnessed this month: a mother baboon carrying the dead body of her infant baby, and a male baboon with a baby on his back – it’s possible the mother might have been killed.
  • A clear sighting of a brown hyena in the middle of the track was had one morning on the access road to Nduna.

Kambako Living Museum of Bushcraft, and other excursions

  • Guests are always amazed by the bushcraft skills demonstrated at Kambako. Other community outings this month included visits to a nearby school for young learners, and an extensive vegetable garden tended by women.

Daytrips to Gonarezhou National Park

  • With these full day trips you are guaranteed to see elephants and the Chilojo Cliffs. Some of the bonuses on a drive this month including seeing a honey badger and 91 bird species.

By Jenny Hishin
Author / Field Guide