Following an unusually dry February, March gave us a needed top up of rainfall with an additional 158mm falling to take the total rainfall for summer to a staggering 1171mm at Tanda Tula!
It also fell in the best way, soft penetrating rain that filled up the soils, and still allowed our riverbeds to continue to flow â they have been trickling for the majority of the year.
This rainfall led to a rejuvenation of the grass that was drying, and topped up the dams in a way that should make this winter a very pleasant one for the animals, and a productive one for us!
March was once again a month dominated by the lions of the Timbavati, but the show would not be complete without everything else making it the special place it is!
So lets look back and see what the month of March looked like for the guides and guests of Tanda Tula!
LIONS
Babies!!!
It was a bit of a wait, but after a couple of sightings some lucky guests had of the Sark Breakaway lionesses moving their cubs to a new den site, the little ones started popping out which was our cue from the mothers that we could get a bit closer and get our first proper view of them! Seven new cubs were introduced by the mothers â three 6-week old cubs, and four cubs born a few days later. My initial assessment was that there are two males and four females â a good number to help the pride should the females survive until adulthood.
We were super spoilt the first week of viewing as the cubs were on our Nkhari property, with limited access which allowed us to spend some real quality time with the cubs as they got used to the vehicles. It did not take long for them to settle completely with our presence at the den, and we were treated to several magic moments with them as they explored their new world.
Sadly, the youngest lioness which was the last to give birth lost her entire litter. We are not sure if it had something to do with the rainy period at the beginning of the month, or if the den was found by another sinister force, but she was seen spending time mating with the Nkombo males when she should have been tending to cubs; her clean teats also told us that she was no longer producing milk, as we realised that something had happened to her litter. A tough part of nature, but hopefully she will be able to have better luck with her next litter in the middle of the year.
Giraffe Pride
Although I was only on drive for less than half of the month, I was still disappointed to not catch up with the white cub this month. He was around for the first couple of weeks of March, but as the mother was keeping him alongside the very young litter of cubs from another female, we had to respect their space (they were still very small at the start of the month) and avoid the den site. When the two older cubs were moved, the moms chose a spot that was not easily accessible and the cubs had to be viewed at a distance, but they could still be seen. Some guests were treated to seeing the mother take the cubs to an impala kill to feed, but after that, they appear to have moved the cubs out of the concession, and we await their return.
The Giraffe pride itself regrouped a couple of times during the month, and we enjoyed one morning with all 11 females and a single Birmingham Breakaway male. The other males spent most of the month in the far western sections of the reserve where they were regularly reported mating with the pride females. We keep those fingers crossed that at least one or two more of these upcoming litters will also be white!
River Pride
This pride continued to show how they were developing as a pride and surprised all of us when they were found with a buffalo kill â something that was not possible for them only a few short months ago. The young males are playing their part, and the pride continues to feed well.
A slight concern for them would be the fact that the Mayambula pride are beginning to push deeper into River pride âterritoryâ. I use quotation marks as, without a male to protect their space, the River pride are essentially homeless lions. They are lucky that they are not drawing any attention from other lions, and we hope that it stays that way, and that if they are sharing their space with the Mayambula pride, they do so at different times!
Sark BreakawayâŠ.breakaway breakaways?
At some point, we are going to have to rename one portion of this pride! They continued to form splintered fragments of their once powerful pride to such a degree that I donât even know how many lions are left? A fragment of five members was seen in the north for a period â even observed trying to hunt a young elephant! A herd of giraffes alerted us to a predator one morning, and on following up we found a young, well-fed male lion. We followed him back to two lionesses and a baby giraffe carcass â no wonder the giraffes were so concerned. Interestingly, this pride appeared to have stolen the remains of a baby giraffe from a skittish male leopard the day before. If only there wasnât already a pride called the Giraffe pride, then we would have a new potential name for them! Reports from south of our area suggest that at least nine members have been seen together, so maybe they are slowly reuniting?
Mayambula Pride
As mentioned, the pride continued to push deeper into the northern reaches of their territory, and even moved north of Machaton Dam for the first time in a very long time! Early in the month five females were found with a wildebeest kill in the middle of Tortillis Plains.
Towards the end of March, whilst having a Magic Moment drink stop, our sundowners were interrupted by a large amount of roaring coming from Machaton Dam. On following up, we found seven lionesses together, and the roars to the north suggested that a Vuyela male had come up north for the first time in several months.
We also saw a Vuyela male mating with one of the lionesses during the month, showing that he still has control over this piece of the Timbavati!
LEOPARDS
I feel like this was another reasonably good month for leopards, and one that achieved good things even without our most regular gals playing along!
Nkaya Dam female gave us a great surprise â we mentioned that Jack and I found her with what appeared to be two cubs last month, but when the other guides checked on the den site early in the month, they found out that she actually had three cubs!!! While she is still operating in the area, she has moved the den site and we are not too sure exactly where it is, but it wonât be long before we get a proper view of the cubs when she takes them to a nearby kill.
Steven and his guests also got one of the first views of Nyeletiâs two new cubs â as this was the first viewing of them at a kill, they were still a little shy, but in time they too will grow with confidence.
A leopard which has really grown in confidence is the young female that was possibly our most viewed leopard this month â and we still havenât got a name for her! I saw her several times during the couple of weeks that I was on drive, and she spent three days with a kudu kill on Nkhari, giving us some quality time with her, and building up her confidence even more.
Nâweti spent a morning up a leadwood tree as the River Pride lazed 200m away completely unaware of her. My certainty that she was pregnant last month faded a bit upon seeing her at the end of March, but perhaps it was simply the way she was lying that made it difficult to assess?
A newish male leopard was seen a few times too â he has been named Khamba (which means thief, due to his habit of stealing kills from the females in the area), and at night he is fairly relaxed. He was also seen mating with Rihati at the end of the month.
Aside from these leopards, Dzindza was seen on a couple of occasions, but she remained annoyingly elusive; Xivati male was also seen in the eastern parts of his territory a number of times, and he appears to be pushing further east, which would be great for us if he begins venturing onto Nkhari more.
Chadâs Cheetah Curse
This month I managed to trick the cheetahs into showing up. Well, at least one cheetah. I was on leave, but a friend from the UK was spending time with me, and on our first drive we got to see a young female cheetah feeding on an impala kill.
While I like to claim that I tricked them, I think it is more likely that it is my friendâs good luck â he has seen cheetah on his last three visits to Tanda Tula, and it would have been four had we not been on foot when a cheetah was located a few hundred meters from us!
Mega Herbivores
After a slight downward turn in numbers in February, it was very pleasing to see the elephants return to Tanda Tula in good numbers, and we even began seeing them visiting the campâs waterhole more regularly in spite of the abundance of water across the reserve. These gentle giants once again became a feature on every drive, and reminded me why it is always special to spend time in their presence!
Strangely, I noticed that very few herds had small babies born during the past summer â something we normally go on and on about at this time of year? Maybe it was just the groups we were seeing, or we could be in for a late season boom of babiesâŠI am hoping for the latter!
Buffalos continued to make us work hard for sightings of them, but the signs were there that the herds are still in the area â at one point we had two large breeding herds in the central regions, and as the month ended we saw another large herd of around 300 moving in the western parts of the concession. Unlike the elephants, the buffalo herds are boasting loads of newborn calves!
The Best of the Rest
One of the reasons I love summer is that there always appears to be good general game around â zebra numbers were high in the area, and we also enjoyed many giraffes around Tanda Tula, especially in the central and eastern sections. As always, game drives are always better due to their presence!
Late summer is a good time for baby animals, and the waterbuck of the area began showing off their little ones. A sign that the rains have been particularly good is the presence of waterbucks in the central regions around the camp, and that is exactly what we saw this month.
It has been a while since I posted a Nova picture, but for once I actually had a camera out when he wasnât simply lazing about. He continues to explore the Timbavati and regularly pitches up at other camps in the area, proving he is very capable of looking after himself. That being said, we are always happy when he chooses to come back to us at Tanda Tula!
Beautiful Birds
March is the month when most of our migratory birds begin their return journeys to either central Africa, or southern Europe and western Asia. It is always a sad time to lose the spectacular colours of the woodland kingfishers, the carmine bee-eaters, the European bee-eaters, red-backed shrikes, and so many others.
That being said, as I type this in early April, many of those species are still present in good numbers. Interestingly, good rains should promote the earlier departure of birds back north (they fuel up quicker â more rain equals more insects), but this year feels like there are more birds around than usual? Disclaimer â this could also simply be my poor recollection of what ânormallyâ happens!
Despite losing many species, we will still be blessed with many beautiful residents in the area, like the guineafowls that appear to have had a successful breeding season.
I also got to see a rarer owl for our particular area â a spotted eagle owl. I used to see many in the mopane woodlands of northern Timbavati, but they are not a common sight around Tanda Tula, so seeing this chap several times around camp was a welcome sight!
Until next time!
