Summer is here. With temperatures rising to 38’C, our guests enjoy splashing around the swimming pool with a cold beer. What better way to enjoy the endless views at Makumu? Welcome to another update from the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve and Makumu Private Game Lodge, your home away from home. I will cover some of the exciting things we encountered over the last month.
All images in this article were taken by Ruan Ferreira, General Manager.
Leopard:
We did not need to travel too far for our afternoon game drive as our local female leopard, Xivinsi was right in front of the lodge. The guests were even able to view her from their room decks as she was in a tree right next to our water pan with an impala kill in the tree. We drove down there first thing the next morning just to find that she was not there anymore, but two different leopards. Our dominant male, Pale Male, was in the tree finishing off the remains of the kill with a younger female leopard waiting for her chance to eat. Not too far away we finally spotted Xivinsi resting in the grass as she was most likely chased off and had to give up her kill.
Lion:
This month we have been very fortunate with our river pride lion sightings. We came across two kills. One time a buffalo and the other time an adult giraffe. It was very nice to see the pride rejoin together again after being split up into smaller groups for a while. There were about 20 lions together which is always special to witness.
Wild dogs:
Finally, the dogs have returned after denning for a couple of months. And they came back with a bang, giving us a once in a lifetim experience. We followed the pack to our Malembeni waterhole where they hunted down and killed an impala right in the centre of the waterhole. They dragged it out so the rest of the pack could jump in and finish the kill. And the cherry on the top was when 9 of the newest pups came to join to feed on the carcass.
Buffalo & Elephant:
Now at the end of the dry season, our Klaserie River has been an active source of food and water for all general game. Including big herds of elephants and buffalo. One morning there was a big herd of 150+ elephants along the river blocking all the roads. Our guests were not able to pass through the big herd and ended up 30 min late for breakfast. Not a bad roadblock to get caught in.