Two male cheetahs feeding on a kudu. Photo by Willie Woest

Monday, 7 May 2012
(29º)

• A herd of about 300 buffalo resting around Simba Dam
• Shadow, female leopard walking East from Matandaluka Pan

Tuesday, 8 May 2012
(31º)

• Herd of 300 buffalo resting in Ram Pan
• Salayexe, female leopard walking around E.P. Lodge enterance
• Tingana, male leopard cent marking East along A-Main/Big Dam

Wednesday, 9 May 2012
(33º)

• 9 Wild dogs where hunting an impala and after an unsuccessful hunt they picked a fight with 4 hyenas
• An Elephant bull feeding on a Marula tree on the fire break
• Herd of about 20 elephants drinking water at Simba dam
• Herd of about 10 elephants feeding North at Grissly Bear Crossing with about 300 buffalo’s feeding South in the same area

Majingi male lion with impala kill. Photo by Morné Fouché

Thursday, 10 May 2012
(29º)

• Breeding herd of about 300 buffaloes feeding on Saseka and Milkberry junction
• 9 Wild dogs resting on Gowrie Main close to Little Gowrie driveway
• Ntima, female leopard with a grey duiker kill close to Ingwe Pan
• 2 Cheetah males feeding on a juvenile kudu kill on Nkoro Open
• Breeding herd of about 25 elephants feeding on EP open area

Friday, 11 May 2012
(28º)

• A breeding herd of about 30 elephants feeding on Shirley’s/Safari cutline
• A big breeding herd of 300 buffaloes resting on E.P. Southern boundry
• Salayexe, female leopard with a big male impala kill on The Island
• Styx lion pride moving west from Tree House pan
• 1 Majingi male lion feeding on a male impala kill north of Tree House pan

Styx female lions with cubs. Photo by Morné Fouché

Saturday, 12 May 2012
(28º)

• Breeding herd of about 300 buffaloes resting on Big Dam Link north
• Moya, female leopard scent marking on E.P. Southern boundry
• 1 Elephant bull feeding on the Northern side of Safari Airstrip

Sunday, 13 May 2012
(30º)

• Salayexe, female leopard, scent marking East from Pungwe Open
• Tingana, male leopard walking East on A-main towards Big Dam
• Styx lion pride, resting at Knobthorn Pan
• A breeding herd of about 200 buffaloes sleeping on Knobthorn Open
• A herd of 10 elephants feeding on Zebra Drive

Little pyjama horse. Photo by Lotte and Bernd Deifuss, Denmark (Elephant Plains Guest)

April was, once again, another very productive month at the lodge. We finished the general maintenance on all the thatch roofs and also made a few changes to our bar and lounge area. We blocked the lodge out for two days and in this time we had to break down the old fireplace in the lounge, build in a new gas fireplace, plaster the wall and repaint the whole lounge. While we were at it, we also repainted the dining room, as well as the wine cellar.  Whew! It might sound impossible, but we did it! Of course, we had the help of a very special team of builders, who worked tirelessly to get the job done in the allocated time. Thanks Quartz Construction, you did a great job! I must say that the end result was worth it all. The rooms look brand new and we are happy with how it turned out.

Although we are in the midst of autumn, moving into winter time, the surrounding bush is still lush and green. This is good as it means that there will be enough food to keep the animals through the winter. The dams are still quite full, so the animals won’t have a problem with food or water during the next few months. Because the grass is still too green, we haven’t been able to burn firebreaks around the lodge yet. We will have to wait for it to dry out some more in order to be able to burn sufficient breaks.

Ellies. Photo by Louis Liversage

Early morning and evening game drives are starting to get a bit chilly, but we have adjusted game drive times accordingly. We also supply guests with blankets on the vehicles and later on in the season we will also start using the hot water bottles to warm the game drives up. During the middle of the day temperatures are wonderfully mild though. Some guests say that it’s so warm that it feels like summertime and a lot of our overseas visitors use the ample amount of sunlight to relax next to the swimming pools.

We have decided to change from Land Rover game viewers to Toyota Landcruiser game viewers. We now have a total of five game viewers in our fleet, with the last one being converted in Nelspruit at the moment.The basic reason for making the change was the fact that the Landcruiser is a bit longer and wider than the Land Rovers, creating more space and comfort for our guests on the vehicles.

Trapcam photo of the month

We have decided to add a Trapcam photo of the month to our reports. The Trapcam is strategically placed in the bush, or at a waterhole and each month we will see which interesting photo we can share with you! This month we caught a big buffalo bull walking around inside Leeukuil, while drinking water during the middle of the day.

The month of May is synonymous with the Indaba Tourism Show in Durban. This year the show will take place from 12-15 May. We are excited to go down to Durban, meet with all the role players in our industry and to establish some new contacts as well. Like last year, Etienne, Marlet, myself and Tersia will be there. Our stall number is DEC2E04, so if you are at Indaba 2012 and you do not already have an appointment with one of us, please feel free to drop in at any time. To everyone travelling to Indaba, have a safe journey and we are looking forward to seeing you there!

To all our guests who celebrated their birthdays this month, we hope you had a fantastic day filled with love and laughter. May your future hold many more! At the lodge we also celebrated a few birthdays. Simon celebrated his birthday on the 1^st of the month. He is one of the gardeners, who work hard to make the gardens look stunning. Etienne celebrated his big day on the 13^th of this month. Etienne is the owner, who loves this lodge more than anything. Janine celebrated her birthday on the 18^th. She is the lady who works front of house. She will be the friendly face you first meet when you arrive at Elephant Plains.

We often have guests with special dietary requirements staying at the lodge. But we never let a food allergy stand in the way of a delicious dessert! Chef Roxanne shares a mouth-watering recipe for guests with special gluten free dietary requirements this month.

Gluten Free Fruity Cheesecake

Gluten Free Fruity Cheesecake

Gluten Free Biscuit Base

• 50g Butter (Soft)
• 40g Gluten Free Cake Flour
• 30g Sugar

Cream the butter and the sugar together, add the flour and mix together into a dough. Roll in golf ball sized rolls and then press onto a greased baking tray like you would normally do with biscuits. Bake at 180˚C for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake

• 2 cups Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Cream
• 1 cup Castor Sugar
• 90ml Gelatine soaked and melted into 30ml Water
• 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Mix the above ingredient together and set aside. Crush the biscuits that were baked earlier. Mix together with 50ml melted butter. Press into a standard Cheesecake form, pour in the Cheesecake mixture and place in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours, or until set. Decorate with fresh berries and sugar lace.

Serve and enjoy!

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

Lions on a log. Photo by Willie Woest

Leopards

With the leopards there is a definite change in the air. Shadow is now trying to expand her territory, but her mother Kurula has got plans of her own.  She is preventing Shadow from expanding more northeast into her domain and by doing so Shadow is forced to expand more south. If Shadow goes more south she will reach Salayexe’s territory, which might not be such a good idea. Thandi, Shadow’s sister, is also doing very well and her young male cub is getting more accustomed to the game vehicles. It is about time now as he is already bigger than his mother! Kurula’s two cubs, Xivindzi and Xivambalana, are spending more time apart from each other, but she is still there to provide a fresh kill every now and again and to make sure that they stay out of harm’s way. Salayexe is still doing well and was seen on regular basis this month. She has also taken over Nyaleti’s old territory, as she has moved out of our area. Ntima was full of cuts last time we saw her, which proofs that she was in a fight, but she is still marking her territory, which is a good thing. Tingana has got his hands full at this stage with two young male leopards that are also looking for a place to call home. One of the young males is Matifuma, the son of Nyaleti and Tyson, and brother of Mati and Moya.  It looks like the big man Tyson has left us for good as Tingana’s territory is stretching south of our southern boundary, where Tyson was once in charge. Mvula is starting to become the main man between the other males as he’s slowly pushing Lamula more south. Mvula is now in the prime of his life and really looking good, but it’s just a matter of time before a new stronger and younger rival comes in to challenge him.

Lions

On the lion side we had wonderful sightings this month. The four Majingi males were seen when  they killed a buffalo, finished it off almost in record time, just to move on again in search of females and to make sure that they had no challengers. The Styx pride is doing really good and the five cubs are growing fast. The Styx females had a rough time in raising cubs to adulthood as they have only raised two cubs in the last 5-6years, because of the change in pride take-overs. It really looks promising that all five might pull through this time. The Styx pride was seen on a regular basis this month while relaxing in the shade and also stalking prey. The two Nkuhuma lionesses and their two cubs have provided us with wonderful sightings. These two females have mastered the art of killing buffaloes, as they managed to kill two this month. For only two females to do that takes skill, determination and no room for error. The two females broke away from their original pride for the safety of the cubs, as the Matimba males are the current dominant males of their pride. They would definitely kill the cubs that don’t belong to them. If the cubs can survive for another two years the females might rejoin the pride, or alternatively start their own pride. For now, they are out of harm’s way, but still have to be cautious because if they go more south they will move into the territory of the Majingi males. They will also kill the cubs. The two young Nkuhuma males were very illusive this month and didn’t stay for very long before moving on again.

Buffaloes

Genet. Photo by Morné Fouché

The big herds have returned to our area! We have seen nice big herds this last month, mainly because food sources are starting to deplete. The smaller herds will join up to form bigger herds and sometimes in drier times, bigger herds will join and form mega herds. When mega herds form, it helps against predation as they have safety in numbers with the group being stronger. The lions will know better than taking on big breeding herds and they will rather go for the older bulls that left the herd or old females who can’t keep up with the herd.  A few females are coming into oestrus now and the big dominant bulls will follow them around and fight with other bulls. For each dominant male there will be 10-15 females, but it is very difficult to mate with all 10 or 15 females. You will find that this leaves a gap for some of the younger males to get a chance and mate with some of the females.

Elephants

We had very good elephant sightings once again and the waterhole in front of the lodge is getting popular with the elephant herds because there is always fresh water for them. Also now with all the nice green wild date palms in the riverbed, they come and visit us at least 3 times a week. With the heavy rains we had some of the flood plains turned into marsh areas, which are a haven for any elephant herd, with lovely grass and ample water. We saw a big female with very interesting tusks this month. The tusks are growing towards and past each other in front of the mouth, below the trunk. With that flexible trunk she is not struggling to feed herself or to drink water at all, even though it looks as if the skew tusks are preventing her from getting food into her mouth. Next time you go to the bush and you see a herd of elephants, take the time and look at their tusks. At least one elephant out of the whole group will have skew tusks. When the elephant is still young it can sometimes happen that they damage the root canal and then one or both tusks can grow out skew. It happened a few years ago in East Africa where a young male elephant managed to split both his root canals and then instead of one tusk per socket, 12 splintered tusks started to grow out of the two sockets. An elephant uses the tusks to break off branches or strip the bark off of trees. It is also used for fighting, but it is not imperative to its survival to have tusks.

Highlight of the month

The highlight this month is definitely Mvula the male leopard, who killed an impala right in front of our vehicles. We followed him for quite some time before he saw the impalas and started stalking them. It felt like eternity, but he moved very quietly while inching forward, bit by bit. He disappeared for a few minutes and then, with lightning speed, he came out from behind a bush and before the impala’s could react it was too late. A leopard can reach a top speed of 90km/h on short distances. To see the hunt from start to finish is always special because it can take anything from five minutes to a few hours and you can never tell what the outcome might be till the end.

Did you know?

Unlike his fish-eating cousins, the Pied Kingfisher and Giant Kingfisher, who prefer mainly fish, a Woodland Kingfisher’s diet consists mainly of small insects.  .

Hope you enjoyed this month’s report. See you out on game drive soon!

Morné Fouché

Young elephant bull cooling down in Big Dam. Photo by Louis Liversage

Monday, 30 April 2012
(30ºC)

• A breeding herd of about 150 buffalo resting on Central
• 4 Tsalala female lions walking west on Kimbians crossing
• 1 elephant bull browsing on Marula Bult Central

Tuesday, 01 May 2012
(34ºC)

• Tsalala female lions sleeping at 2nd Windmill
• A breeding herd of about 40 elephants playing in the mud at Boundary Pan
• A breeding herd of about 25 elephants walking east form Bushcamp West
• 1 buffalo bull feeding north on A-main

Wednesday, 02 May 2012
(29ºC)

• 2 Majingi male lions resting south on Pumphouse road
• 2 Matimba male lions resting north from Baboon Pan
• 2 Majingi male lions contact calling north from Pump track
• Tsalala female lions sleeping in the Morakeng at the rocks
• 1 Buffalo bull resting in the water at Gaby’s causeway

Young Hyena at EP den site. Photo by Richard Davis

Thursday, 03 May 2012
(30ºC)

• A breeding herd of about 40 elephants walking south from Horseshoe East
• Tingana, the male leopard, resting in the open area at Kraaines
• A breeding herd of about 10 Elephants playing in the water in Serengeti Pan

Friday, 04 May 2012
(34ºC)

• 3 of the Majingi male lions resting at Mnisi Mati, with a buffalo standing in the background
• Salayexe scent marking east along Londoz Boundary
• 1 Elephant bull feeding on EP open area
• The Styx female lions and their cubs sleeping north of A-main
• 1 Buffalo bull walking west from Lowveld Link

Buffalo bull and Hippo at Buff Pan. Photo by Louis Liversage

Saturday, 05 May 2012
(32ºC)

• Tingana, the male leopard, scent marking on Robson’s Boundary
• 1 Elephant bull feeding on Francolin Road
• Thandi, the female leopard, resting east of Little Gowrie driveway

Sunday, 06 May 2012
(28ºC)

• 10 Wild dogs moving south on Madash Road towards Wetpatch
• Salayexe stalking a scrub hare on Kuala Bear Road
• A breeding herd of Elephants feeding around One Eye Pan

1. The first thing I notice as a therapist is how dry skin gets during the winter months.Go back to the basics; exfoliating before moisturising. Even the best moisturiser will not penetrate through dead skin, so soak in a warm bath at least once a week and make sure you give yourself a good scrub. Note that I said warm bath, as too much hot water can also dry out your skin.
2.  Secondly you will need a richer moisturiser than the one you use during the summer months. This does not only apply for your body, but also your face. Getting a moisturiser that has good hydrating properties is just as important. We tend to drink less water during winter and our skin can use the extra hydration source.
3. Another good tip is to cover up once you applied any moisturiser. The cold dry air tends to “steal” the moisture right back. Covering up gives it some time to penetrate.
4. Protect your skin against the freezing dry wind. If and when you can help it, avoid the wind at all costs. If you are joining us on safari, wear protective clothing. Prevention is better than cure.
5. Applying a layer of sunscreen on the still exposed areas is a good idea. The sunscreen is thicker than your standard moisturiser and will block out more of the cold air and keep your skin fresh and moist during your stay. Also remember that you can still get sunburn, even in winter time, so don’t take any chances!

If you are visiting us this winter, why not book a lovely massage at the African Health Spa. The massage oils we use will definitely help in moisturising your skin – leaving in smooth, supple and glowing!

Salayexe lying on a termite mound - Louis Liversage

Monday, 23 April 2012

(25 °C, 12 mm rain)

• Salayexe the leopard still feeding on her impala kill at Picanini Utah
• The Nkuhuma lionesses with two of their youngsters, eating the last of their buffalo kill at Boundary Pan
• One buffalo bull walking north at Kimbian’s Crossing

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

(24 °C)

• Shadow the leopard with an impala kill west of Madashi Road
• The Nkuhuma lionesses and youngsters resting on Methlowani Road
• A breeding herd of about 15 elephants swimming in Simbambili Dam
• One buffalo bull resting on Saseka Road
• Salayexe the leopard still feeding on her impala kill at Picanini Utah

Wednesday, 25 April 2012

(27 °C)

• Salayexe the leopard finishing the last of her impala kill
• One buffalo bull feeding on the firebreak west of the Manyeleti riverbed
• A breeding herd of about 20 elephants feeding on Puffadder Road
• Two Nkuhuma lionesses and the two youngsters playing around at Knobthorn Pan
• One buffalo bull resting in the water at Rampan

Giraffes in the mist - Louis Liversage

Thursday, 26 April 2012

(26 °C)

• The Tsalala lionesses sleeping at Big Dam
• One buffalo bull resting at Boundary Pan
• A small breeding herd of 6 elephants walking east along the firebreak

Friday, 27 April 2012

(29 °C)

• Tingana the male leopard on an impala kill close to Sixes Road
• The Tsalala lionesses resting on Eastern Bank Manyeleti
• A herd of 5 elephants feeding west of Landcruiser Crossing
• One buffalo bull resting in the floodplain close to Tamboti Crossing
• An unknown male leopard walking north along Robson’s boundary

Saturday, 28 April 2012

(30 °C)

• Salayexe the leopard walking south from Arathusa Main Road. She found Tyson the male leopard on an impala kill and decided to join him.
• Tingana the leopard still feeding on his impala kill on Sixes
• A pack of 9 wild dogs hunting impala on A-Main
• Three Styx lionesses and one Majingilane male walking south along Annett’s cutline

Tsalalas lying in the Manyeleti riverbed - Louis Liversage

Sunday, 29 April 2012

(33 °C)

• Tingana the leopard walking north on MMM South
• The Tsalala lionesses unsuccessfully hunting giraffe on 1st Windmill
• A breeding herd of elephants feeding west from Shirley’s open area
• Salayexe the leopard stalking impala at Bushcamp
• A big breeding herd of about 150 buffaloes feeding from Serengeti Manyeleti Crossing

Mvula the male leopard with his impala kill. Photo by Richard Davis

Monday, 16 April 2012

(29ºC)

• Lamula the male leopard with a juvenile kudu kill east of Little Gowrie drive way
• Ntima scent marking on MMM south close to Hoffman’s drift
• Salayexe scent marking on EP delivery road
• The Styx lion pride resting on A-main
• A breeding herd of about 15 elephants drinking water at Big Dam

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

(28ºC)

• 1 Elephant bull feeding just off One Eyed Pan
• Salayexe stalking impala on EP delivery road
• The Styx lion pride on a kudu kill just off Jerry Drive
• 1 Buffalo bull resting in the water at 2nd Windmill
• A breeding herd of about 12 elephants feeding on A-Main

A young elephant enjoying a mud bath. Photo by Willie Woest

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

(27ºC)

• 9 Lions of the Styx pride resting next to Safari airstrip
• An unknown male leopard walking north on Robson’s boundary
• Tingana, the male leopard, moving west from Kraaines
• A small herd of 5 elephants feeding south from 5-way Junction
• 4 Female lions of the Tsalala pride sleeping in the Manyeleti river close to Nyati Bamba Road

Thursday, 19 April 2012

(28ºC)

• 2 Female lions of the Nkuhuma pride and their 2 cubs walking west down Pump track
• A breeding herd of about 15 elephants feeding on Marula Bult central

Friday, 20 April 2012

(28ºC)

• A breeding herd of about 20 elephants feeding on Rhulani road
• 2 Female lions of the Nkuhuma pride and their 2 cubs resting on Pungwe open area
• Salayexe scent marking on Puff Adder road
• 3 Buffalo bulls resting in the water at Rhino Pan
• A breeding herd of about 20 elephants feeding and drinking water at Rhino Pan

Young male lion cub of the Styx pride. Photo by Morné Fouché

Saturday, 21 April 2012

(29ºC)

• A breeding herd of about 25 buffalo feeding on Shirley’s open area
• Mvula stalking and killing an impala south of Delta South road
• Thandi, the female leopard and her cub eating an Impala on Wessels old driveway
• The 4 Magingi male lions sleeping on EP airstrip
• The Nkuhuma lion pride feeding on their buffalo kill at Boundary Pan

Sunday, 22 April 2012

(32ºC)

• A small herd of about 5 elephants feeding on Leopard Drift
• 1Elephant bull feeding on a marula tree in Picanini Utah
• The 4 Magingi male lions on a buffalo kill at Grisly Bear crossing

Two male cheetahs - Morné Fouché

Monday, 09 April 2012

(31 °C)

• The Styx pride of lions resting on A-Main
• A breeding herd of about 25 elephants feeding on Simbambili firebreak
• Tingana the leopard scent marking on A-Main
• Two male cheetahs resting at Kudu Corner

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

(27 °C)

• A breeding herd of about 150 buffaloes resting on Gowrie Main
• One elephant bull feeding at Simbambili firebreak
• Another elephant bull feeding on Robson’s boundary
• A breeding herd of about 15 elephants feeding and drinking water on EP open area
• Tingana the leopard walking south from Leopard Drift
• Salayexe resting on EP driveway

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

(27 °C)

• A breeding herd of about 150 buffaloes resting on Oom Corrie’s loop
• Salayexe the leopard sent marking on the firebreak west of Pungwe Pan
• Three buffalo bulls resting in the riverbed, just north of Serengeti
• One elephant bull feeding on our southern boundary

The pack of wild dogs - Morné Fouché

Thursday, 12 April 2012

(27 °C)

• A pack of nine wild dogs resting on Gowrie Main Road
• One buffalo bull resting on EP open area
• A breeding herd of about 25 elephants feeding on Methlowani Road
• Salayexe scent marking on Rhino Ring East

Friday, 13 April 2012

(26 °C)

• One elephant bull feeding on Robson’s Boundary
• One buffalo bull drinking water at Serengeti
• A breeding herd of about 150 buffaloes feeding west of Treehouse Pan
• Lamula the leopard stalking impalas on the eastern side of Treehouse Pan

Saturday, 14 April 2012

(28 °C)

• Eight wild dogs chasing impalas on Sawmill
• Four young Tsalala lionesses playing in the riverbed south of Rhino Ring South
• One elephant bull feeding north of EP Manyeleti Crossing

Lamula the leopard - Morné Fouché

Sunday, 15 April 2012

(31 °C)

• A breeding herd of about 25 elephants feeding around 5Way Junction
• Four Tsalala lionesses stalking a male waterbuck close to 2nd Windmill
• Salayexe the leopard scent marking on Marula Bult North
• Tingana the leopard scent marking on EP delivery road

Roy the hippo. Photo by Alan Castle, UK (Elephant Plains Guest)

March turned out to be a busy month around the lodge! We had a lot of guests in camp and the game viewing was out of this world. On the maintenance side, we are continuing work on the thatch roofs around camp. With the vast amounts of rain we had this year, some of the roofs got slightly damaged. The idea is to maintain them regularly, rather than to end up having to redo them completely at a later stage.  Everything else has been running smooth around camp, to a point where I decided to do some game drives for a few days.  Because we have a high occupancy, our rangers spend most of their six weeks work cycle doing two game drives per day. I always think it’s nice to give one of them off for a few days and this also gives me a chance to reconnect with the bush. In their “off” time they then help out with general maintenance, bush clearing etc. It was great to get into the bush and to see the wild dogs, lions and my favourite leopard, Salayexe. She is still as pretty as always and was seen mating yet again with Tingana. He is massive for his age.  I would go as far as to say that he might be even bigger than Tyson, but it is really difficult to say when they’re not standing right next to each other. And that we do not want!  We have been seeing two packs of wild dogs, one pack of two and one pack of nine. It is crazy to see them running around, hunting anything that crosses their path. The pack of two struggle a bit more and are not as successful as the pack of nine. But we did see them taking down an impala right in front of our vehicle!

Two hyenas walking down the road. Photo by Willie Woest

Francois was out on the roads for most of the month, sorting out the areas that still needed to be fixed after the heavy rains in January.  We also brought a TLB in to help dig up gravel and fix damaged mitre drains. We have started throwing gravel on the surface of our roads. Gravel holds moisture better and does not wash away as easily. At this stage we are trying to resurface our driveway and some of the game drive roads that have a lot of traffic on them. It is a timely process though. First the gravel needs to be dug up, and then it needs to be transported to the various roads. Afterwards, it needs to be flattened and then we need to spray it with water and roll it in order to compact it. But the end result is looking great and you could see the difference when we received a quick 70mm of rain the other night. Once again, regular maintenance is the answer. Never underestimate the power of water, though! It is shocking to see the amount of ground that it can pick up and wash away. In most afternoon showers, tons of soil gets transported from one area to another. Take for example the January floods. The river beds had dropped in depth over the past few years and a lot of them were overgrown. Now, after the floods, the riverbed has risen in some places by as much three meters and most of the overgrown vegetation has also washed away. Driving in riverbeds while off-roading is still a no go at this stage as the sand is too uneven and there are still massive pools of water in various parts of the riverbeds.

We are waiting for the veld to dry our sufficiently in order to be able to burn firebreaks around the lodge. Because of all the rain we received this year, the vegetation and fuel load is extremely high, making veld fires a greater risk. We will be burning an area to the east of lodge and burning a fire break around the camp. Not on the open area, but mostly on the western side. For people that are not too sure how a firebreak works, I will give you a little more detail. The idea is to burn a section or strip of about 60 meters on the perimeter of you property or around your house or lodge. Burning fire breaks should be done early in the dry season as it’s easier to manage and chances of creating a runaway fire is a lot less. Firebreaks form a protection boundary around your property. If there is a runaway fire somewhere in the bush, the chances of it reaching your property is a lot less as this break also helps easing the fire’s strength as well as speed. For this project we have a whole fire fighting kit and as soon as the grass is sufficiently dry, we will have the go-ahead. Another interesting factor is the other things you need to consider while planning for an ideal day to burn firebreaks. Not only do you need enough manpower, but wind, temperature and even sightings in that surrounding area all play a major role.

Mating leopards Tyson and Salayexe. Photo by Willie Woest

On behalf of the Elephant Plains team, we would like to wish the following staff members a happy birth day. We hope you had a fantastic day filled with love and laughter. May there be many more!

Yoldah celebrated her birthday on the 6^th of March. She is the cheerful lady who works magic, being responsible for the entire lodge’s laundry.

Clement celebrated his birthday on the 23^rd. He is one of our trackers, always a pleasure to be around, with his knowledge and sense of humour.

Etienne junior celebrated his birthday on the 26^th. He is the little man that runs around the lodge – acting as if he’s in charge!

Louis celebrated his birthday on the 28^th. Louis has come a far way at EP, from carrying bags during check-in and check-out when he started out as a junior ranger, to being one of the favourite rangers on drive. His laughter can be heard everywhere in camp.

Well, that’s all from my side this month. Have a good one!

Wayne Dovey

I now had you over to Chef Roxanne for a delicious dessert recipe.

White chocolate Panna Cotta, served with Berry Coulis

White chocolate Panna Cotta, served with Berry Coulis

Ingredients

• 45 ml Gelatine
• 500ml Fresh Cream
• 150 g Castor Sugar
• 500l Plain Yoghurt
• 250g White Chocolate

Preparation

Dissolve the gelatine in hot water.

Combine the cream, castor sugar and yoghurt in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until smooth and warm.

Add the gelatine and stir until mixed. Do not over-heat, or the yoghurt will curdle.

Remove from the heat.

Pour into eight glasses, cover and refrigerate for about 6 hours, until nicely set.

Berry Coulis

• 1 Tin of Black Cherries
• 100g Fresh Mixed Berries
• 100g Fresh Strawberries
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1 ½ cups Berry Juice

Boil all the ingredients together until a sauce consistency is reached, blend together and leave to cool.

Place the Panna Cotta onto a plate and then garnish with the Berry Coulis. One can also garnish with fresh mint leaves and Chocolate Cigars.

Serve and enjoy!

Elephants

Styx lioness yawning. Photo by Willie Woest

We had wonderful elephant sightings this month of some fantastic breeding herds with small babies. They are always a treat to watch as they explore the surroundings and swing their little trunks around – not sure how to operate them properly yet! We also had a few big males in musth, following the breeding herds. Females approaching oestrus are usually wary of these big males. They would carry their heads higher than normal, with eyes opened wider than usual, watchful instead of downcast. They would quickly move out of the way when an adult male approaches. If followed by an adult male, the female would leave the herd and walk rapidly away with her head very high, and her tail raised, an oestrus walk. Sometimes she would go around in a circle to rejoin the herd. When the male tries to overtake the female the oestrus walk turns into a chase where the female may go a kilometer or more from the herd over a period of a few hours. The female will stop fleeing when the bull gets within touching distance, whereupon he will attempt to mount her. The chase and particular, the copulation, may provoke ear-flapping, head-shaking and also vocalizing. The distraught behavior of elephant cows during the 2-6 day oestrus creates a disturbance and often excites the other elephants.

Buffaloes

At last we saw a small breeding herd of buffaloes that came through into our area and stayed here for a short while. Some of the cows have small calves with them, as well as last season’s calves, who will still accompany the cows for another few years. It will take the newborn calves a few weeks before they can keep up with the herds for several hours at a time. If the females give birth in the rest period of the herd, she will be left behind and will be forced to go into hiding with the new baby. The only problem with this is that they won’t have the protection of the herd, so they would be very vulnerable to a pride of lions. At the moment we see less bachelor herds than usual. Mating takes place late in the rainy season and this is where the majority of the dominant males have gone: back to the breeding herds, to claim the right to mate and get closer to the females.

Lions

The lions once again kept us busy this month! The black-mane male of the Majingi coalition is often seen joining up with the Styx pride these days. The Styx pride and the black mane Majingi had definitely made for some good sightings. It’s also very nice to see that the big boy spends some time with his cubs and his females. The other three Majingi’s are still very elusive, most probably defending and expanding their territory. BB’s older daughters did come and visit for a short while before they disappeared again and the four young Tsalalas were seen on a regular basis. We even saw them having a stand-off with six hyenas close to our lodge! BB also came to visit a few times on her own, maybe just to check up on the four younger ladies. At a stage the Sabi Sand Game Reserve was basically run by four coalitions; the six Matimba’s in the north, the four Majingi’s in the central part, the four young Southern Pride males in the south and then the three older Mapogo’s in the west. The four Majingi’s are moving more south and ended up pushing the Southern Pride males more westwards, into the territory of the old three old worriers. This is where they came across one of the Mapogo’s, old Mr. T, and in the process killed him to proof a point. Soon we might be down to just three, but who knows what this year will bring?

Salayexe the leopard sleeping in a Marula tree. Photo by Willie Woest

Leopard

Salayexe was again seen mating with Tingana, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed that she did conceive this time around. If it is the case, it’s just another 110 days and we might have brand new cubs in the area. Salayexe is still a young leopard and only seven years old, so she still has another few years to raise more litters. Tingana is definitely turning into a beautiful male leopard. Only a few months ago he was a very shy male and look at him now. Shadow is getting better with the vehicles day by day, but still has her moments that she just disappears and is nowhere to be found. Ntima is now the old lady in the area, but is still looking very good. Her two daughters Kwatile and Ostrich Koppies are also in and out of her territory. Tyson came in just for a short while, marking his territory along Londolozi boundary and left again shortly after. We are unsure of what happened, or why he left this northern part of his territory, but he could be in search of more females, or better territory. Kurula is leaving her two youngsters alone for very long periods of time, it’s almost time for them to leave and explore the bush on their own. By leaving them for so long, it forces them to start hunting for their own food.

Special Sighting

What a treat to see the female cheetah attempting to hunt right in front of us. Although the hunt was unsuccessful, it was still a privilege to witness her immense speed!

Did you know?

The Nyala is the only antelope where the male and female differ in color. There is also a very big difference in size. Because of this, the male is called a bull and the female a ewe.

Hope you enjoyed this month’s report. See you out on game drive soon!

Morné Fouché