SAFARI ChEy IS IN THE HOUSE!: Sunrise Safari

(Apologies for late post today. I just had a busy day)

Sunrise Safari -June 10

Good Morning as we start off with James Hendry in the tent. Bryan Joubert is on camera.
Stefan will be out on a bush walk with Wiam assisting him on camera.
Brent is also out on drive this morning.

James shows us some very dry grasses and some Impala dung which is fresh but extremely dry. The Impala's digestive system removes as mush moisture from the food the Impala eats as is possible.

Dry Grasses And Impala Dung

With James Hendry

We pop over to Stefan who has an Assassin Bug to show us.

Stefan apologises for the coffee shakes he has this morning.

Assassin Bug

With Stefan Winterboer

Over to Brent who introduces us to a new Cameraman who is doing an interview drive this morning as cameraman.

His name is Gerhard.

Brent will be looking for the Nkahuma pride this morning.

Brent has spoken to Efram from Cheetah plains and he will let Brent know if there are any signs of Cheetahs for us to see.

Brent introduces new Interview Drive with Gerhard

Over to Stefan who has found a Pottery Wasp. They use mud to create pottery type homes in which to lay their eggs.

Pottery Wasp

With Stefan

Over to James who has found an undentified type of fly on a grass.

There are hundreds of types of wasps, flies and ants.

Little Fly Wants To Be On Stage

With James

James is talking about how the Seasons have changed and so much vegetation has disappeared

Look How The Seasons Have Changed

With James

Over to Brent to see how his tracking is going.

Brent thinks the Lions might be in the drainage are so he is going to leave that area for Stefan.

He is looking for Karula.

No tracks so far but it is a spectacular morning.

Brent is talking on the game channel and there were Wild Dogs spotted last night.

He loves Wild Dogs and loves Ferrari Safari and driving fast.

Brent Loves Wild Dogs And Ferrari Safari

There are Elephant tracks everywhere. So many Elephants here right now.

He is in the area where we last saw Karula near the Tree House waterhole.

Nothing going on there.

Wait. Brent sees something.

What Is That?

With Brent

Mistletoe which is a parasitic plant growing from a tree.

Over to Stefan who talks briefly about how excellent Brent is at tracking and finding Leopards and Lions.

Stefan has a very large (dead) Dun Beetle and gives us information that I think most of us did not know .

Dung Beetle

With Stefan

As Stefan put his Rifle down, he had noticed a branch that was in a peculiar position.

Upon closer examination he realized it wasnt a stick at all but a high camouflaged Caterpiller

Back over with Brent now.

Update is that Karula has a kill on the South of our boundary.

So Brent is leaving that area.

Inkanyeni is in Torchwood so that means that Brent is going on the search for Wild Dogs.

Tracks were seen just to the East of us. He is hoping to find an animal soon as it has been very quiet this morning.

A quiet morning in the bush is better then any morning in the City.

He quotes Ernest Hemmingway "I have never had a bad day when I was in Africa".

A viewer asks what do the various Lions calls mean and how do they communicate.

Brent answers this amazingly well and provides us with his various Lion calls and what they mean.

Brent Does Various Lion Calls

Brent comes along to some Impalas. Very pretty in the sunlight.

Brent talks about the black stripes on an Impala's bum.

What Are The Black Stripes For On An Impala's Bum

Over to James who has 2 items from the Black Monkey Orange. Each from a different area.

James talks about these seeds and how they contain Strychine. It was/is thought by some that eating these seeds can alleviate the toxicity of a snake bite.

Can Black Monkey Thorn Seeds Cure A Snake Bite?

With James

Over to Stephan who is standing in front of a large Termite mound. It looks quite weathered.

Exposed tunnels from rain pouring down.

Termite Mound Evolution

With Stefan

Stefan talks about the Hinged Tortoise and how we see many during the summer months but do not see any during the Winter months. They go into a state of hibernation during the winter as there is very little food to eat.

It is extremely rare to actually find a tortoise in a burrow so this is an amazing sighting

Hinged Tortoise In His Burrow For Winter

With Stefan

While Stefan was waiting to show us the Tortoise he heard and saw Buffalo. It is quite windy today and dusty and because of this heavy thicket and the wind and dust it is not a good idea to go searching for these Buffalo so he is going to make his way out of this area.

Over to Brent

Brent would love to see Gijima which is one of his favourite Male Leopards. He is setting up a territory slightly north from here.

Brent answers a viewers question about the difference between this area and the Serengeti.

Over to James

He is sitting on the dirt and is going to draw us a map as to where he is.

And he is drawing it upside down.

Great Explanation James

James Draws A Map In The Dirt

Over to Stefan who has gone to check on the remains of the Impala that Karula had. (We have seen this on a previous Drive.

We see one single bone and the tree where Karula originally had her kill placed

Upon closer examination of the tree, we see another portion of the remains. A leg.

Stefan wants Final Control to let Brent know that there are Vervet Monkeys alarm calling very loudly at the power line junction with Triple M.

We can also see scrapes where Karula used her claws to climb the tree while hauling the carcass.

We also notice hairs from the Impala stuck in the bark. It tells quite a story

Stefan shows us the story of Karula and her Impala Kill

Stefan continues his walk into the block. Brent is following up on the Monkey calling.

Over to James who shows us one of his artifacts.

A Male Tortoise shell.

You can see the spinal column showing that the shell is an integral part of the tortious. You cant just remove a tortious from its shell.

A few other Tortoise Shells

Over to Stefan

Who takes a few minutes to discuss what makes some snakes more venomous than other snakes.

(You will be surprised.)

Venomous Snakes

Over to Brent. LOTS of updates and he is in a rush to go somewhere.

The Monkeys were alarm calling at Shadow. He also has tracks of Tingana.

On our way to our first BIG cat of the morning. He is trying to get their quickly as they are on the move.

another update : 4 of the 5 Nkahumas are with 2 of the Birmingham Boys.

Over to James while Brent drives quickly.

A fossil of a Bi-valve

One normally thinks of fossils as being bone. They are not. They are rock.

Bi Valve Fossil


Skull is Still bone

Flaky Thorn grows out in the open. They can take over due to their long tap roots. If the drought continues, these Flaky Thorns will form thickets

Over to Stefan

Predatory Ground Beetle. Very Voracious.

Collect the beetles, grind them up and use them as an aphrodesiac in Humans. Produces tingling of mucas membranes.

It contains Cantheridon (spelling?). He spoke to a paramedic who told him they have many cases of people who have used this and have had to seek medical treatment.

People would buy them from local's to buy this "love" potion. Has been handed down over thousands of years. They would administer it to the lady who is the object of their desire.

Over to Brent

He is still searching for the Tsalala Lions.

Over to James

Large Warthog Skull With a large tusk

The tip is completely blunt

Bottom has been polished smooth by its teeth.

The tusk sharpens the bottom tooth as it is constantly rubbing.

James also has a skull from a young Male Leopard

The warthog skull is much larger then a Leopard Skull

Warthog Skull on Left and Male Leopard Skull on the Right

A male Lion Skull in comparison to the Warthog. Much more similar in size.


Warthog Skull on left with Male Lion skull on right.

Leopard will usually not take the risk in trying to take down a large Male Warthog. They will however not hesitate to take down a smaller one.

Over to Stefan

Who is sitting in the dirt.

He points out a pointy track with 2 lobes

They have become pointy. Gives them the ability to dig in and run fast.

Wildebeest tracks or could be a track of a Waterbuk. He is now talking himself out of the idea that it might be a Wildebeest track.

Definately not a waterbuk

Pic of Waterbuk track

Over to Brent for an update.

No luck with the Lions.

Keep an eye on the Arathusa dam cam because they will most likely go there for a drink.

Lots of Elephant tracks.

He is on the river system (which is dry) but had water in it last December.

Beautiful large Elephant Bull

Huge size difference between the Bull and the Cow.

Over to James in the tent.

James is so strong holding this huge bone. A Femur of a large Elephant Bull

Over to Stefan with an unidentified beetle on a type of Sedge bush.

The Sedge Bush smells of Camphor (menthol with a bit of mint)

Pansy Butterfly

Amazing Crab Spider. Wiam got it all on camera. The crab spider lets out silk into the wind and when there is enough drag it carries the spider to the next flower.

Crab Spider In Action

Over to James

James says Stefan's ability to find the smallest things in the bush is unfathomable.

Wax on this Giraffe bone.

From a Stingless Bee