MAKULU MAKETE BUSH DIARY

APRIL 2005

SEASONS

Autumn is in the air, with sparkling, crisp mornings giving way to sunny, warm days. The sting of the summer sun has gone, but it’s still hot enough to get sunburnt spending a day out in the bush, tracking our cheetah. The impala rut has begun. The bachelor herds of males have broken up, and here and there in the bush lone impala rams can be seen, waiting to claim groups of ewes as they pass by. During the rut, the sound of the bush is dominated by the snorts and grunts of sparring male impalas. It is hard to believe that these guttural and predator-like noises are emitted by such a delicate and graceful antelope. At this time of the year, the rams are at their most magnificent, with well-developed necks and sleek coats, in preparation for the gruelling months ahead.

CHEETAH PROJECT

April 29 was chosen as the day to release our first cheetah, Dottie, from the boma (enclosure) where she had been kept for the last three months since her arrival from the De Wildt Wild Cheetah Project. By the end of her habituation period, she was totally relaxed in the company of people, though not at all tame. Anticipation was high amongst the audience of a dozen guests seated in Land Rovers opposite the gate of the boma, and the team from Makulu Makete. How would Dottie react? An impala carcass was placed several metres outside the boma and both inner and outer gates of the boma were opened wide. Slowly and deliberately, the cheetah walked along the fence and through the open gateway. The inner gate of the boma was closed silently behind her to prevent her from taking the impala carcass back inside. She dragged the carcass to one side and spent the next hour and a half devouring her meal. As we all watched, her stomach got heavier and heavier until her svelte, cheetah outline started to resemble an overweight warthog. When she had eaten her fill, she stood up and, to the accompaniment of multiple camera shutters, calmly walked off down the road and to freedom. She was on her own and from now on will have to fend for herself. All the work that Rox had put in over the months with Dottie had paid off. It was a copybook release and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. For all of us at Makulu Makete it was a satisfying beginning to our predator tracking project.

Three days after her release, we had not been able to locate Dottie. We could get no signal from her radio collar using our tracking equipment. There was a great deal of electronic interference from our state-of-the-art electric fence, which is designed to keep the cheetah inside the reserve. Finally, in desperation, the fence was turned off and Rox managed to home in on Dottie’s signal. To our relief, Dottie was found about 3 kilometres from the lodge, and appeared to be unconcerned about the fuss her disappearance had caused. Rox was able to walk with her through the bush for nearly a kilometre. Dottie’s figure had returned to its usual slim proportions, so it is assumed she had not yet made a kill. Rox will be tracking Dottie on a daily basis, to monitor her movements and her behaviour. Guests are welcome to join her as often as they wish for this unique experience, and the rest of the crew at Makulu Makete are eager to tag along. Dottie’s latest exploits will be regularly reported in our monthly bush diary.

GAME VIEWING

There has been a lot of activity lately amongst our population of black-backed jackals. It seems that the now-adult cubs are starting to make their own way in the world and are often seen trotting through the bush and heard at night calling to one another.

A new baby giraffe has made its first appearance. With its mother silhouetted in the sunset, her long eyelashes clearly visible against the golden sky, the little giraffe stood and let us admire its perfect features, its fluffy horns and short, chestnut mane. Our other babies, the pair of genets which Rox has been hand-rearing, have graduated from living in Rox’s bedroom and causing havoc in her wardrobe, to a special enclosure of their own, complete with dry branches to climb on, toys to play with, a warm bed and a diet of minced meat, milk and egg. While still too young to be released into the bush, they are now sporting their lovely adult coat pattern, with white patches under their eyes and rings around their long tails.

PREDATOR PROJECT

As part of our plan to collar several species of predators and monitor their behaviour, we have been experimenting with “camera trapping”. A digital camera has been placed near waterholes and a baiting site to record the animals which pass by. The waterhole produced images of giraffe, waterbuck, gemsbok, eland and kudu coming to drink in the dark. Our baiting site rewarded us with photos of brown hyaena, taken at night and in daylight in the early morning. Using this method, we hope to identify areas frequented by leopards and caracal. The more predators we collar, the less sleep Rox will get, as she follows each species right around the clock!

BIRDING

A new bird species for our list this month was the Secretary Bird, a tall, strange-looking bird which gets its name from the long feathers at the back of its head, which protrude like pencils from behind the ear of an office worker. It walks through the grass, looking for snakes and lizards and occasionally does a shuffling dance to flush its prey, which it grabs in its talons. Temminck’s Courser was also added to the list, joining the Bronzewinged Courser and the far less common Threebanded Courser.

The loud, booming call of the Ground Hornbills has been heard frequently early in the morning and a pair of adult birds has been spotted several times with a juvenile. It is very encouraging to have a breeding pair of this threatened species on the reserve. Another early-morning birdcall which is hard to mistake, is the ape-like grunt of Verreaux’s Eagle Owl. A family of three of these giant owls was seen during the month in tall trees next to the Mogalakwena River. Now that the Carmine Bee-eaters have left for the winter, the most colourful bird in the bush is the Crimsonbreasted Shrike. Following its strident call, you can often see its football-team colours of black, white and bright crimson flying from thorn-bush to thorn-bush.

LODGE

Alan and Cathy joined us from Denver, Colorado in the United States. Some of their best game viewing opportunities came at the lodge cocktail deck, where waterbuck and kudu bulls regularly appeared at dusk, as well as eight giraffe, a wildebeest, impala and duiker. Tiny Lesser Galago (bushbabies) put on an amazing display of agility, leaping through the branches above their heads as they sat watching the sun go down, enjoying the local delights of biltong and Windhoek Lager. Their climb up Kremetartkop was cut short by a violent electrical storm, which forced them to take shelter under a rocky ledge until almost dark. Fit and hardy, Alan and Cathy are used to the rigours of the Rocky Mountains and were not fazed by their African adventure.

Camping at Lulu’s Camp, Greg and Belinda, from Johannesburg, got some excellent night video footage of a brown hyaena at our baiting site. Using their car headlights, they filmed the hyaena crunching through a bushbuck carcass and leaving with the front half of the buck’s body in its jaws. The hyaena was unconcerned by their presence and remained at the bait while they re-positioned their car to get a better view.

During March/April, Jane and Peter spent a month travelling to Hong Kong, Australia, the United States and London, visiting family and friends. While in Australia they caught up with some of our previous guests - Roger and Margaret, from Perth, and Jenny, Tony and Cheryl from Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne. At a “friends of Makulu Makete” party organised by Peter’s daughter Lori in Maryland, USA, they met again Charlie, Judy and Kathy from Maryland and one of our very first guests, Ruth from Washington, DC, as well as getting to know Jim and Sylvia who will be visiting Makulu Makete soon. Ken and Brooke, also from Maryland, didn't make it to the party because the birth of their first son, Anderson, was only days away. Our congratulations go to Ken and Brooke, who have stayed with us twice, and plan to bring Anderson to visit us as soon as possible. Driving over the border from Washington State to Vancouver, Canada, Jane and Peter had lunch with Antonie and Susan Schouten, who generously donated the funds for the cheetah-proof fence. The Schoutens are looking forward to seeing Dottie for the first time in a couple of months.

One of the best friends of Makulu Makete, Danny Brink, died tragically last year. He requested that his ashes be laid to rest at Makulu Makete, where he had spent some of the happiest times of his life. A commemorative ceremony was held for Danny on 30 April, when his friends and family gathered in the bush at sunset and placed stones next to a plaque bearing his name, on a rocky outcrop not far from the Mogalakwena River. Danny will always be remembered by us for his love of the bush and his dry sense of humour. We are honoured to have him with us forever and hope that his wife, Dirkie, daughters Juanita and Nadia, and his new grandson, little Danny, will visit us often.