Dulini Lodge day 1

I am currently staying at one of my favorite lodges for the long weekend, Dulini Lodge, in the Sabi Sands. It is run by the andBeyond Group, and is a beautiful place to stay. For those of you unfamiliar with the Sabi Sands, it is a private game reserve adjacent to Kruger National Park. There are no fences between the two, so essentially the same animals can be viewed in Kruger. The specialty of the Sabi Sands is however the leopard viewing. I am not sure if there is any other place where relaxed leopards can be viewed so easily. Dulini Lodge is situated on the Exeter property, one of the many properties making up the Sabi Sands, and it shares traversing rights with lodges such as Leopard Hills, Idube and Inyati.

We drove in from Johannesburg yesterday morning after a 2-hour flight from Cape Town. On arrival we were greeted with a very tasty lunch overlooking the now dry Mabrak River.  At 4 pm it was game drive time, and we set out with much excitement to see what we could see. The first sighting we had incorporated three of the big five- there were a few Buffalo wallowing in the water, and elephant in the background and a female leopard slowly making her way across an open grass area. She is called the Hlaba Nkunzi female- which means stabbed with a spear. Her name is taken from that of a dam in the area, so named because a Rhino had died in a fight with another after being ‘stabbed with a spear’ (horn).  She was rolling in buffalo dung, clearly trying to take the scent on perhaps to help her later in her hunting. This leopard is incredibly relaxed, so much so that she will lie right at the tyre of a vehicle and show no interest in it what so ever.

Hlaba Nkunzi has a cub of around a year and half, who I had viewed when she was much smaller last year. This cub was strolling along some distance from her mother when she had a bit of an encounter with an elephant, which was fortunately distracted by us. She disappeared into the bush, and we relocated her sitting up on a termite mound. She wasn’t too keen on posing for us though, as she seemed a little tense after the elephant encounter. Gradually she calmed down and moved into an open area where we could view her lying in the grass. She was having none of it, and have our vehicle a pretty aggressive charge stopping a couple of meters from the trackers feet.

There are not many animals that make better viewing than a leopard (in my opinion). They are such sleek, elegant hunters, and their coats so golden. They are also very expressive cats, and rarely lie around doing nothing.

We left the leopard sighting to view a pack of 7 wild dog, but the storm clouds were brewing and they were sheltering in some grass, so we didn’t spend too long with them before heading back to the lodge to find some shelter ourselves! The storm was huge, and we spent the best part of dinner jumping out of our seats as lightning cracked around us. What an impressive display of nature’s power it was though, and it continued for a good part of the night.

This morning dawned hot and grey, the clouds from last night lingering above. After some strong coffee we headed out to read the tracks on the road from the previous evening. The rain had ended around 2am, so any tracks on the wet soil were promising. Close to camp our tracker, Eric, spotted a serval just off the side of the road. It was cleaning itself, but soon got up and made its way across the road. It was a good sighting for serval, and the first the ranger had seen this year. Servals are very dainty cats, with long legs like ballerina’s and delicate facial markings. One day, in a dream world, I’ll get THE shot of a serval, but for now, Im happy just to see this small creature.

We found some lion tracks shortly after the serval and followed them a good few kilometers until another ranger called us to say they had located the lion pair in a clearing further on. On route, we bumped into these two rhino roadblocks, who were completely unconcerned by our presence. The lions were unfortunately doing what lions do best- sleeping! So, after 25 minutes or so we left them to enjoy a hot rangers coffee. For anyone who has not tried this, I highly recommend it: Hot Chocolate, Coffee and a dash of Amarula. I would be hard pressed to find a better drink- it has everything! I’m pretty sure that a bush trip would not be complete without a good rangers coffee in the morning, but I’m not going to risk it to find out!

We relocated Hlaba Nkunzi on the road near camp, and followed her for a short while until she lay down in the middle of a thick block of vegetation. We were just settling in to wait for her when Eric, the tracker piped up “ There is a snake coming out of the bonnet” Our ranger Craig replied with “out of WHAT?”

“The Bonnet” said Eric, as he slowly slid to the opposite side of his seat.

Step one- establish it’s NOT a Mamba- otherwise we’d all be bailing off the vehicle, never mind the leopard sitting a few meters away. Craig climbed onto the bonnet to get a better look and saw it was a small vine snake. Vine snakes are extremely venomous, and there is no antidote for the bite, so Eric was told to be still while Craig poked at the thing, which then moved in Eric direction. Eric meanwhile was getting ready to ‘Baleka’ (run) choosing to take his chance with the leopard instead. Eventually Craig managed to get the thing off the car, and we left the sighting so that the snake would not be temped to find some more warmth with us.

All in all we’ve certainly had a couple of successful drives so far! And now that the clouds are clearing, I’m even more excited for what the afternoon will bring!

The boat that rocked

Saturday morning dawned warm and windless, the way you hope it will when you are off on a 2-hour boat trip just to get into the correct area for the birds. The boat we would be based on was called ‘The Obsession’ and there were 8 of us on board, excluding our skipper Dave Christie, and our bird guide Cliff Dorse. The trip is run through a non-profit organization called Cape Town Pelagics. Profits are in aid of the Save the Albatross Fund.

Atlantic Yellow Nosed Albatross

We were graced with a beautiful sunrise, just as we were pulling out of the Hout Bay Harbor. It gave us a very unique view of Table Mountain. At first, the boat seemed very cozy, and as we began to see birds, the excitement mounted. One of the first we saw was a Shy Albatross, which was gliding peacefully on its huge wingspan over the waves. It was my first albatross sighting ever, and the excitement mounted! It was good timing too, as shortly after the albatross we hit the rolling swells. The boat took them at quite a speed, as we had 30 nautical miles to go before we hit the trawling grounds. This however caused a lot of huge bumps as we crested one wave only to be dumped onto the next. Very glad the forecast was for a ‘flat’ day!!

12 or so miles out, the sea temperature changes from around 13 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees! This is a huge change caused by the currents meeting one another resulting in an area of choppier water. Once in warmer water however the waves did calm down considerably, and the ride became quite a bit more comfortable.

On a Pelagic Birding tour, it is best to find a trawler as the birds are attracted to these, and hang around all day as they make their periodic hauls and throw fish heads and other off cuts overboard. Someone had alerted us to the presence of 3 of these trawlers, so we had a good heading.

Trawler 'ringing the dinner bell' - as the 2 metal slabs crash against the boat, the birds begin to gather as this means the net is about to be hauled.

White Chinned Petrel

My aim for the trip was to see a Yellow Nosed Albatross (endangered on IUCN Red List) and a Sub-Antarctic Skua. I was successful on both counts, and more! Unfortunately Dan did spend the best part of the morning sea sick, despite the tablets we had taken. I however felt fine all day, and Dan did eventually rally after a good sea spraying on the move between trawlers.

Juvenile Black Browed Albatross

The bird life is incredibly plentiful off shore; we were surrounded by birds at all three trawlers, and saw over 300 individual Albatross. The Species we checked were Shy Albatross, Indian and Atlantic Yellow Nosed Albatross, and Black browed Albatross. These are all listed on the IUCN red list as endangered or vulnerable. The problem facing many sea birds is that they are caught in nets while fishing. With Albatross, there is an added problem. When boats are line fishing, and they pull the lines up, often a few fish fall off. These can be swallowed whole by many of the Albatross species, and often the hooks are still caught in the fish’s gullet. Overfishing is also a major contributor in the decline of pelagic species, in particular Gannets, which have only 6 breeding colonies remaining in the world.

Adult Black Browed Albatross with Fish

As far as species go, I will update a species list when I receive one from the guide. We did however see the following:

Indian and Atlantic Yellow Nosed, Shy and Black browed Albatross

Sub-Antarctic Skua, Arctic Skua/ Jager

Common and Swift Terns

Manx, Cory, Flesh-footed, Sooty and Great Shearwater

Wilsons Storm Petral, Northern Giant Petral, White Chinned Petral.

Sabines, Kelp and Cape Gulls

Cape Gannet

It was incredible to watch the agility with which the birds maneuver over the waves and each other, seemingly skimming centimeters above the ocean, yet never touching it. The wingspan of the Albatross was also something special to see, stretching on for well over 2 meters.

Shy Albatross

We left the trawlers at around 1 and began the trip back on a far flatter and more comfortable sea! We even saw a Humpback Whale on the way back.

All in all, it was a very successful day, and I feel I learnt a lot and saw far more than I expected! I highly recommend the trip, especially if you have any interest in birds. It is also good to know that money is being pushed back into seabird conservation, so your trip can make a difference. It is expensive though, at around R1600 per person, with a discount for SA Residents. Contact Amanda at Cape Town Pelagics to book (www. capetownpelagics.com). Winter is the best season to go, quantity and species speaking, but do try and go whenever you have the opportunity to.

Photographically speaking, it is rather challenging to photograph birds when the swells are making the birds and the boat move continuously, and I had a very low keeper rate. Practice makes perfect though, and I will definitely be doing another trip with CT Pelagics. A 200-400 focal length would be ideal for most birds.

As an aside, last night I slept very well, the salt from the sea and the ocean breeze on your face all day makes for a tired body. As does hand holding a 300mm lens and trying to keep yourself steady despite the rolling waves, as I found out when I woke up on Sunday. The arm and upper back muscles had rediscovered themselves and were complaining loudly!

Please feel free to comment below if you want any further information.

Mountain Zebra morning.

Our last morning in the Karoo was slightly slower going, however we did get to photograph a small herd of Mountain Zebra, which I haven't seen up close before, so that was special. Again the birds were out in full force, a great way to start any day! There were some birds nesting in the roof of the chalet and around 5 am they would begin to call, coaxing us out of bed.  Here's a few shots from Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Sadly we had to leave without seeing our lions, but we will certainly be back! There is reason enough to come back in the Black Eagles which nest on the cliff faces. Nests are used year on year, so I will definitely be returning in the not too distant future. Another tip for any one considering a trip there is to have a meal in the restaurant. The Karoo Lamb Rack is incredibly tasty. Its so good in fact that my mouth started watering in anticipation on friday as we left Cape Town... The breakfasts are not great though, so even though they are included, perhaps pack some cereal just in case... A packed breakfast can be ordered for those who like to be out early, but we were actually served cold tomato that had been cooked the night before in ours!

This weekend I will be doing a pelagic birding trip out of Hout Bay harbour weather permitting, so I will hopefully have some interesting sightings to share with you!