Lions
Iconic doesn't begin to do justice to the image we share of Lions, when we think of African wilderness and safaris. Along with Elephants they are the prime African animal most people would think of first when considering the word 'safari'.
And so it is with the guides and trackers of Africa as they seek to show everyone what they want to see ; a Lion pride, a dominant, powerful male and lionesses with cubs. Preferably on a kill !
So weren't we the lucky ones ! Not only are there two prides within the boundaries of the Thornybush reserve, a piece of land measuring 13,816 hectares (ca. 140 square kms or 54 square miles) was fenced out from the rest of the Limpopo wilderness in 1955) but also a 'visiting' pride (a lion pride will require a territory of between ).
We got to see two of the prides on a few occasions and twice on a kill (meaning fat, lazy lions having gorged on the, both times, Water Buffalo.
Mapusa (who we nicknamed 'Scar' from the 'Lion King film) was the undoubted star, his powerful presence and dominance, despite being battled scarred and have lost an eye, a key feature of the pride.
However for me the cub eating the prime cuts (and innards) of one of the Water Buffalo, was photographically the most captivating.
Needless to say there were numerous vultures, and also a few Hyena (at one of the kills), in attendance (refer to the relevant sections on this page).
Leopards
It is hard to describe the power, beauty and vitality, not to mention, the honour you feel, when in close proximity (no more than 3 metres, in an open top, windowless safari jeep !) to one of these magnificent big cats, and no the zoo doesn't count on so many levels.
I found the immense beauty of these animals, in their natural habitat, to far exceed those seen in captivity.
We were honoured to witness a female eating a just caught Dwarf Mongoose (sadly also hearing the howls from the mongoose's extended family for it's missing member) though photographically it was difficult as she lay in the bush mostly facing away from us.
On the second occasion we again missed the actual kill but our tracker & guide drove us rapidly to the scene of mother and son Leopards fending off a Hyena (chased around the tree by the mother - the Hyena settling for scraps dropped from above) with the male jumping up and climbing an impressive tree, with the Grey Duiker in it's jaws, with ease.
Hyenas
For many people the animals they want to see most are The Big Five (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhino and Water Buffalo, so named as historically these were the most dangerous animals in Africa when hunting).
For my family, on this trip, we had more eclectic tastes !
Our favourite and most desired were Cape Hunting Dogs (I like this name better than the most commonly used name of 'African Wild Dogs') - luckily we did get to see them even if disappointedly just a glimpse in the night under a spotlight.
One of our other favourites being the Hyena (so much bad press, some resulting from their part as the evil foe in 'The Lion King', means the general public, more's the pity, don't hold them in such esteem, pretty much as the film 'Jaws' poorly and without warrant, disproportionately and negatively affected the public's perception of sharks.
Honey Badger, Aardvark, Cheetah and Pangolin filled out our "Weird List' of targets, not seen ... so all offer a more than valid reason to return !
Back to the Hyena (this is the Spotted Hyena, the other species being the Brown and Striped found in other parts of Africa); this is an amazing animal, though most think of them as scavengers stealing from others' kills (which they of course excel at) they are also very successful hunters in their own right, preying on animals up to several times their size, including wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, antelopes, and even young giraffe, hippos, and rhino.
The hunting success rate as a clan can be up to 74% compared to hunting alone with a success rate of only 15%, compared to Lions (30% as a pride and up to 19% as an individual).
One notable feature which allows them to rapidly consume even bones (for the marrow and calcium content), is their amazing jaw strength of around 1,100 PSI (which is claimed to be close to x2 that of a Lion and x3 that of a Wolf).
We loved their mournful call/whoop (pity we didn't get to hear their excited laughing too) that we often heard at night when they were hunting.
Listen to their call/whoop below (track courtesy of Zapslat.com) and see if you agree with us !
Birds : inc. the spectacular Lilac Breasted Roller
As a lapsed birder (15 years as a birder before 'retiring' to mainly shoot travel and landscapes a few years ago) I was excited to see a whole new range of species - South Africa did not disappoint with 60 new species for me (in birding terminology 'lifers') and still counting as I go through my thousands of images.
The bird opposite is a gorgeous Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbill. This beautiful bird is in fact vvery common in this area and if you visit you'll see them daily and happily for a photographer (and non-photographers as they get to see them close-up) they are very accomodating (which means they will allow you to come very close to them before flying away).
However my number one target on my 'hit-list' was the incredibly gorgeous 'Lilac Breasted Roller' (In Europe and Asia we mostly see the European Roller, another beautiful bird) and wow did this location deliver as we saw the bird every day of the 5 days we were there (I spoke to some other visitors who hadn't spotted it once) so we were very lucky - or just more observant haha ! This explains why I've posted so many shots of this sensational bird !
During our stay I was also very lucky to spot two rarities in this region (see photographs below) in the Red Capped Robin Chat, a bird that visits only in very low numbers from the Drakensberg Mountains, and only for a month or two (photographed right there in the Monwana safari lodge we were staying at!), and the Cape Vulture (aka Cape griffon and Kolbe's vulture), a huge bird with the average length of adult birds being about 96–115 cm (38–45 in) and with a wingspan of 2.26–2.6 m (7 ft 5 in – 8 ft 6 in) and a body weight of 7–11 kg (15–24 lb).
Zebra, Elephants, Black Rhino, White Rhino, Kudu, Hippopotamus, Wildebeest, Nyala, Warthog, Impala, Crocodile and Buffalo
Here are a selection of other animals seen inc. just a fleeting glimpse of the Cape Hunting Dog (African Wild Dog), which were sadly for us denning off the reserve, the super elegant Nyala that were happy to come within just a few metres of us as we sat on the decking outside our villa, the gorgeous Burchell's Zebra, the massive Kudu and the real Star of the Show (who gave us the slip but trotted right up to another vehicle later that day) : the very rare Black Rhino (ca. just 2% or 6,000 remain from the 1970's population, with 98% having been poached over the past 50 years) !
Monwana Safari Lodge : Thornybush, South Africa
Our trip to Monwara was rather convoluted ... but more than worth it in the savings accrued by doing so, as we traveled London to Frankfurt to Paris to Johannesburg and on to Hoedspruit and then the one hour air-conditioned drive to the gorgeous Monwara Safari Lodge.
One clarification to be made immediately is that this is not the pre-covid Monwara. During the epidemic they took the opportunity, and to keep staff employed, to totally renovate the lodge and turn it from a '3 star resort' (judging from the reports and pictures online) into this 5 star plus gem (the 'plus' coming from the high quality outstanding new management & service and the exceptional wines on offer).
As can be seen from the photos this is magnificent new resort (with very experienced guides and trackers having 20+ years under their belts) with smaller villas scaled down but mirroring this two family villa.
The food was excellent, the South African wines outstanding and the service amazing (say hello to Robbie, Timba and Daniel for us) !
On top of that many game including Elephants (daily), Warthogs, Baboons, Monkeys, Kudu, Nyala, Giraffes and on occasion we were told Hippos (a Hyena even visited us - 10m away - one evening whilst we were having dinner on the veranda) often came to the waterhole in front of the lodge.
Many bird species are also to be found in the grounds (see the photos below, all of these, both game and birds, were taken within the grounds during our 5 day sojourn).
In fact it was on the very last day, 20 mins before we were due to depart, on a last wander around the premises with my camera+tele lens, that I came across the Red Capped Robin Chat, a mountain bird that is a rare visitor to the savannah and of course a lifetime 'tick' for me.
My wife described this as her best ever vacation so I can't wait to plan a return visit as I know I'll have her permission !
