Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
News:
On the 31st between Topi plains and the south side of Rhino Ridge a new cub has been sighted, it is approximately three weeks old with the 1st breakaway Madomo pride, the mother is the young Lioness who is Madomo's daughter; she is the same age group as the five lionesses of the marsh pride. The sire to this cub is either of the two black maned lion, guests and guides both said the male lion showing strong ties or an altruistic behaviour towards this cub is Blackie, this should indicate that this cub is his offspring. The other four cubs that are six months old were all together with the two males Blackie and Lipstick. Earlier on this pride had moved down from the southern Rhino ridge fan.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Reynolds
Leopard
Romi the female leopard who has two cubs that are five months old has been seen often within the riverine woodlands of the Mara River.
Siri the female leopard with an 18 month old sub-male cub of the Serena pump house area has often been seen, her male sub-adult also hunts in the same home range, although he is quite capable of supporting himself he can be seen some quite distance away.
'Bahati' the female leopard who has been seen on the Talek River area, she has two cubs that are approximately five months old.
The female leopard Saba with a 12 month old male cub is being seen frequently on the Olare Orok River. This male cub is very adventuresome and is intrigued with many moving things, on the morning of the 19th he attempted to stalk a warthog and was very surprised that the warthog saw him and stood up to him quickly sending him off running up a fig tree.
Photo courtesy of Jo Plisnier
Cheetah
Malaika the female cheetah has two sub-adult male cubs who are 18 months old, she has been seen south of the Double crossing and into the short grass plains of the Masai conservation areas. These open plains are the favoured hunting areas for cheetah since the reserve has longer grasses and many other dominant predators such as lion and spotted hyena who pose a strong threat for cheetah survival. Malaika has been feeding off Thomson Gazelles and Impala.
There is another young male in the southern Masai conservation areas that the guides and researchers call 'Warren' he has also been feeding off Thompson Gazelles and female impala; he apparently hunts in the same home range as Malaika and is often seen following her.
The female cheetah Nora who had the two six months old cubs last month; she unfortunately earlier on this month in the east Masai conservation areas lost one cub suspected to be that from hyena, later as the rains prevailed she then moved further south with her one cub and was heard being seen in south Masai land near the fig tree camp of the Talek river.
December News Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge
4 January, 2016
Lodge news
December has brought some more rain to our little corner of Northern Rwanda, with showers every-other-day and rainstorms less frequently. The weather has changed to give us mostly hazy mornings that often continue on throughout the day. Average temperatures drop to around 10-12�C at night, then rise to hang around 18�C during the day, meaning pleasant mornings climes for hiking. Check out our short time-lapse of clouds rolling in over the Virunga volcanoes one morning as seen from the lodge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xEdSD_rf7A&feature=youtu.be
The chefs have been working their magic in the kitchen as usual. One of our vegetarian specialties, the wild mushroom and Parmesan risotto is made using oyster mushrooms that are lovingly grown by one of our head chefs- Fofo. She buys the spores at the local market and within about a week can pick the delicious fleshy fruiting body that adds a wonderful earthy flavor to the dish.
Imbabazi Farm visit
Earlier on in the month we drove down towards lake Kivu to visit Mugongo farm the home of the late Rosamund Halsey Carr (1912-2006). This is where Rosamund farmed pyrethrum and other flowers for 49 years. What makes her such an inspirational woman is that at the grand old age of 82, having never had children of her own, she turned her old pyrethrum drying plant into an orphanage for over 150 Rwandan children who had lost their parents and families during the 1994 genocide. Here they were fed, clothed, taught and given the love of a mother. They named this centre of hope Imbabazi. Since her passing, the Rwandan government has closed all such orphanages. So now Imbabazi is a small primary school for local children. The farm is still in operation, growing an assortment of vegetables, flowers and rearing livestock for meat and milk. We had the pleasure of tasting some of the artichokes, picked on our arrival, followed by a tour of the farm and school grounds.
The old pyrethrum drying plant/ orphanage has since been converted into a small museum, illustrating the life of Madam Carr. The gardens have been kept as she had them, blooming with an assortment of colourful flowers. For those of you who are familiar with the movie ''Gorillas in the mist'', it is here that Dian Fossey stayed after fleeing from the Congo. Once again, Rosamund was there to show compassion for someone in need.
A visit to the farm with a lunch included costs about $20 per person. There is also an option (for an extra $10 per person) to be entertained by traditional Rwandese dancers in the beautiful manicured garden as Rosamund used to arrange for her guests. Alternatively one can be given the guided tour of the home, farm and school for $15. It is roughly an hour's drive from Sabyinyo Silverback lodge and you take in views of Lake Kivu in the distance and the very active Nyiragongo volcano just across the border in the Congo. We are pleased to now be supporting this foundation through the weekly purchase of flowers, artichokes, rhubarb, parsnips and other herbs!
Note- For those of you who would like to learn more about her fascinating story, you can read her memoir called ''Land of a thousand hills- my life in Rwanda''. http://imbabazi.org/
Gorilla trekking- Sabyinyo Family
On the 10th of December we went to visit the Sabyinyo family, who live between the northern slope of Mt. Bisoke and the southwestern slope of Mt. Sabyinyo. We were assigned the ever-entertaining Francois as our main guide along with Placid as second guide. As mentioned in previous newsletters, Francois is the longest running park guide. His knowledge of the individual gorillas and their behaviour is second to none. Along the way we were treated to him mimicking gorilla calls and chest beating, and every now and then we were invited to vocalize these ourselves!
We drove for about twenty-five minutes from the park headquarters, first along the tarmac road and then (almost too soon) along the bumpy rocky 'road' leading up the volcanic slopes. The benefit of this ''African massage'' (as the guides call it) meant that we parked almost at the park boundary wall. So after a brief stroll and some gorilla etiquette demonstrated by Francois we entered into the land of the mountain gorillas. This area was dominated by stands of tall and newly shooting bamboo. The paths, as usual for this time of year, were muddy but at least not too wet, as it had not rained the evening before.
Francois advised that we were in for about an hour's hike to reach our group, Sabyinyo. However, within about fifteen minutes of walking we were suddenly all silenced from the guides up at the front. We were told that we were passing another gorilla family, Agashya, but since they were not 'our' gorillas we must not stop but continue on past them. It was the first glimpse of gorillas for the rest of our group, so I think they found it hard not to stop and snap a couple of pictures; but as instructed, on we marched.
We went through a number of open marshy glades, where I kept hoping to spot a glimpse of a forest elephant, buffalo or bushbuck. Alas I had no luck with that. But after the one hour of walking, almost down to the exact minute we came upon our trackers. We could already hear the munching of bamboo shoots, the cracking of branches around us and make out the occasional shadow of a powerful being moving past us in the gloom.
Once we had all removed our cameras and left the rest of our belongings with the porters and trackers on we went with Francois and Placid. The area opened up around us and suddenly we were in gorilla heaven!
Silverbacks roamed past us, youngsters rolled in the grass, mothers snoozed in the sunshine and Big Ben (the only bald gorilla) reclined like a Buddha observing us!
This sighting was by far the best that I have witnessed out of the five so far that I have been privileged enough to go on. What made it for me were the little ones. There was a muddy puddle where five youngsters found endless joy. They were so like human children, splattering the surface of the water when seeing their reflection there, and deliberately splashing water into each other's faces. One of the older ones began to drink from the puddle and soon after the smaller two decided to followed suit! It is not often that you see wild gorilla's drinking water directly from a pool, most of the time they obtain all the water that they need from the pulpy vegetation that they consume.
After about forty minutes of this delightful performance. Guhonda, the number one silverback (he is the oldest and largest of all the silverbacks in Volcanoes National Park) rose from his slumber and decided to move off along the glade.
Shortly afterwards, his son, Gukunda led the rest of the family onwards too. We followed behind as they snacked on thistles.
A few mothers had babies on their backs, as did some of the older siblings.
Gukunda lay down beside a thicket of bamboo for an afternoon rest, only to be disturbed by two of the youngsters who tried to push their luck by catapulting from the bamboo onto his back, until eventually he grabbed one of them and held it in a head lock by his feet!
Why we love January in the Masai Mara
8 January, 2015
January is the peak of Summer in the Masai Mara and days start off cool and move to hot by midday. There is sporadic rain and the grasslands remain fairly short, lush and green. Up on Paradise Plain the grass grows long to almost half a metre. The short grass is perfect for the resident plains game as it is nutrient rich and predators are much more visible.
Mocker and Green banded swallowtail Butterflies flit through the forests and there is a large presence of raucous black and white hornbills. The Warburgia trees are fruiting and this draws in Parrots who sit in the high branches eating only the seeds inside the fruit, they drop the flesh and skins below to baboons who happily feast on their leftovers.
The new generation of plains game is thriving on the new lush grass brought on by the rains. Elephants are regular visitors to the Governors family of camps, families of elephant move through the marsh feeding on the sedge grasses and into the forests around our camps, where they feed on the new growth of Teclea and Warburgia fruits. Elephant bulls often in musth follow the herds looking for females in oestrus and amongst the family groups there are often small calves. Bull elephants like to rock large Warburgia trees shaking them so that the fruit falls down, we have had comical sights of baboons peacefully feeding in the canopy of a Warburgia tree only to be followed by shrieks of panic as baboons hold tight as a determined bull elephant shakes the tree, on occasion baboons fall out and one January we watched as a hungry elephant shook 4 baboons right out of a Warburgia tree!
Photo courtesy of Will Fortescue
Mara River levels drop and hippos get squeezed into the last remaining deep pools, all this close living results in tension and fights breakout amongst the males. Females whose young are around 4 - 8 weeks old tend to keep their distance from the larger pods for safety reasons. The Marsh Pride of lions spend more time apart as the game becomes more sparse and they need to cover more ground. They come together on occasion when there is a meal to be shared or they are in need of social bonding. With Mara River levels getting lower the Paradise Pride crosses the river regularly spending their time hunting hippos. Cheetah also have to move further in search of prey, they frequent the short grass plains regularly hunting antelope and feeding quickly before the resident hyena move in. Leopards have more frequent encounters with baboons and we hear the calls of both taunting one another in the forests around our camps. With the grass short Serval Cats seem to jump up at every turn their camouflage not so effective in the short grass.
Photo courtesy of Deborah Price
Birds
We see some amazing migratory birds like the Steppes Eagle, which comes all the way from the Russian Steppes, Violet backed Starlings which migrate around Kenya following the fruiting trees. European Bee-eaters, Eurasian Rollers, Pallid Harriers, Common Kestrels and a few white storks. We also see huge flocks of Swallows, Swifts and Martins flying ahead of the rainstorms picking up insects that have been startled into flight.
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2016
From a closer look at tribal culture in Namibia and Ethiopia, to beautiful landscape photography in Lesotho and Kenya, this week's selection of photos from the Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year 2016 competition will have you applying the sunscreen in preparation for your next adventure.
The beauty of Kenya �Savan Malde
A flock of Cape gannets in Lambert's Bay, South Africa �Derek Dunlop
Sunrise at the Sani Pass in Lesotho �Jasmin Nagel
A female lioness backlit by the late afternoon sun in Etosha National Park �Anja Denker
A beautiful view over Prince Albert, South Africa �John Vosloo
A small family of elephants enjoys a mud bath in a dwindling waterhole in Kruger National Park, South Africa �Bert Fourie
The migration in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya �Butch Mazzuca
A lion cub on the lookout for milk from its mom �Greg McCall-Peat
It's playtime in the Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana �Jaap Wildeboer
An oxpecker on a zebra's back in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya �Yaron Schmid
Dawn breaks in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe �David Fettes
Leopards fighting in MalaMala Game Reserve, South Africa �Gerald Hinde
Quintessential Africa in Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana �Olwen Evans