Madikwe and Entabeni Game Reserves, Drakensberg, Golden Gate Highlands NP and Kingdom of Lesotho - September/October 2015

[michael-ibk]

That strategy backfired, then - but understandable, I would have done the same.

 

Must be wonderful to sit there and have all the animals parade by. Great Klippspringer shot, an animal I really hope to finally see this year.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Tau Lodge, Madikwe Game Reserve.

 

 

There were a few young crocodiles living in the waterhole in front of the restaurant. The birds didn't seem to be bothered by them, Murray mentioned that the crocs were still young and ate fish only. Here is one of them with Black-winged stilts (thanks @@michael-ibk for ID-ing the birds):

 

 

Another croc with the pair of Egyptian geese:

 

Elephant enjoying the waterhole:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I should have mentioned earlier that there were actually two waterholes at Tau Game Lodge - one right in front of the restaurant and one to the left. From our chalet we had a good view to both of them the "restaurant" one would be to the right and the "other one" slightly to the left of us. Here we are back to the chalet, enjoying the view to the "other" waterhole:

 

 

Behind the "other" waterhole we could also see some of the hills, that are typical for the northern part of Madikwe:

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

That strategy backfired, then - but understandable, I would have done the same.

 

Must be wonderful to sit there and have all the animals parade by. Great Klippspringer shot, an animal I really hope to finally see this year.

 

The Klipsrpringers were well camouflaged, this was kind of the clearest out of a few shots that I took.

[Big_Dog]

First klipspringers, nice!
What a view from the waterhole too, as others have said. No feel sorry for the little crocos though, does look awfully shallow and with a high trample risk.
Eager for more!

[Terry]

Hi @@FlyTraveler,

 

I am working on my trip report and photographs, but I have not yet begun to upload it. Wild dogs in Madikwe have been hit in recent years with Rabies. There was one pack left with nine puppies in October. We saw them once as we were traveling up a high hill on a narrow track, they were running down the hill. When we got turned around and drove back down the trail, the dogs were gone.

 

We saw a small number of giraffes and had one sighting of the cheetahs. It looks to me that you saw a good many animals, a good match for our list, except for the differences I mentioned. Tau lodge has a natural look to it. The Bush House lawn is manicured. All kinds are good, just different.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

[Kitsafari]

really enjoying this trip with you to Madikwe. Brown hyena! add me to the list of envious people. definitely on my list especially after I had read the book by Guy mills.

 

that view from the restaurant is fabulous. and so wonderful that you brought your daughter along to share your love and passion for Africa.

 

Love those jostling elephants!

[TonyQ]

@@FlyTraveler

What amazing views from your dining table! I would fine it difficult to eat also. It looks like a harsh environment so I can see why the waterhole(s) are so popular.

[deano]

@@FlyTraveler - I am pleased to see another trip report featuring Madikwe (gets me more excited for our trip their later in the year). The landscape looks amazing even without the wildlife and you have great pics of both. Really like the ele shots but the contrast between the blue sky and red earth has got me doing searches for a good landscape lens. Did you do any shots of the night sky?

 

No need to tell us your sidekick thought her safari was nice - her face says it all and no doubt having else as her first ever sighting must have helped. You've planted a seed there. Good job.

 

Keep it coming.

 

Kind regards

 

deano.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Tau Lodge, second day in Madikwe Game Reserve.

 

 

Well, I'll make some sort of attempt to resume the work on my TR (whenever I have time). We are at Tau Lodge between the game drives and enjoying observing and photographing animals around the two waterholes - one to the left of our chalet and one right in front of the restaurant (and to the right of our veranda).

Lots of elephants, they always come in the afternoon:

 

 

Elephants and Warthogs:

 

 

 

 

Elephants playing in the mud:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime two youngsters were sparring:

 

 

 

 

Suddenly our guide Murray stopped his vehicle just behind the playing in the mud Elephants (looks like he was bringing a new guest to the lodge):

 

 

 

[PT123]

@@FlyTraveler

 

That's what I call safari room service...the animals come to you! I really like the tussling tusker sequence in post 45.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Tau Lodge, second day in Madikwe Game Reserve.

 

 

I am turning my camera to the waterhole in front of the restaurant (to the right of our chalet) where we could see a small group of Elephants and some of the resident birds - Black-headed and Grey Herons, Yellow-billed ducks, Black-winged stilt and Red-knobbed coots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon a bigger group arrived and started playing in the waterhole:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephant, Zebras, male Greater kudu and an young croc in the water:

 

 

 

 

 

Greater kudu and zebras approaching the waterhole while an young Elephant is drinking:

 

 

 

 

Just to get chased away by the Elephant:

 

 

Reflections of Elephants:

 

 

Reflections of Zebras:

Edited April 9, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

@@FlyTraveler

 

That's what I call safari room service...the animals come to you! I really like the tussling tusker sequence in post 45.

 

Indeed, I would say as sheer numbers, we saw more animals at the waterholes in front of the lodge than on game drives. Well, this was the end of the dry season, really dry all over the reserve.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

 

After lunch our guide Murray told us that we will be the only guests in the vehicle for the afternoon game drive and he had a surprise for us. He also asked if we could leave half an hour earlier to have enough time to go the the southern part of Madikwe. Needless to say we were very happy to hear that and at 15:30 h. we headed South.

 

As soon, as we left the lodge, we saw a Common waterbuck, I really wanted to show the "toilet seat paint stamp" on the but to my daughter:

 

 

Here and there we would stop for some elephant sightings, but after watching hundreds of elephants just in front of our chalet at the lodge, the occasional group of 2-3 animals would not really keep our attention. I would not bother posting photos, either (there will be tons of Ellies in front of the lodge during the next few days).

 

 

Juvenile Bateleur eagle (is it?):

 

 

 

 

Southern pale chanting goshawk:

 

 

 

 

There were a few stops for Wildebeest and Zebras, which I am not going to showcase here, since there weren't something to write home about.

It was time to discover what Murray's surprise was. I was secretly hoping that they have located the wild dogs' den and he was taking us there, but it turned out to be a coalition of four cheetah brothers:

 

 

 

 

Most of the time they were resting, but not that close to each other, so it was hard to get four of them in the same frame:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[Marks]

I seem to remember seeing lots of ads for Tau in the days of Africa Geographic. Your ele series does an even better job of recommending the location!

[FlyTraveler]

I seem to remember seeing lots of ads for Tau in the days of Africa Geographic. Your ele series does an even better job of recommending the location!

 

I believe that it is worthwhile going to Tau even if you just stay at the chalet and watch the animals coming to the two waterholes (during the dry season). The number of Elephants on the above posted photos is not that great, wait until I get to days four and five...

[Atravelynn]

Great music for the eles. Your stills really show a mudfest with the eles at the waterhole. All that splashing around in the video by the eles reminds me of the agitation of a washing machine. Cheetah bros are always a welcome addition.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

 

When we arrived at the cheetah brothers sighting there weren't any other vehicles around, so we spent a good 20 minutes alone with the cheetahs. Unfortunately they were resting and not very active, once in a while one of them stood up and moved a few meters to a new resting place. Then other vehicles arrived and we had to move on (the rule in Madikwe, like in Sabi Sand and Timbavati is max three vehicles per sighting).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly we saw the same cheetah brothers on the next morning very far to the north of the reserve, but wait until I get there.

 

It was strange that I haven't seen any cheetahs since my first safari in Kenya. Then we had plenty and very interesting cheetah sightings in Ol Kinyei conservancy and Masai Mara (including successful young Wildebeest hunt), which I almost took for granted and thought that it's not such a big deal to see cheetahs while on safari. During the next safaris in South Africa and Botswana we didn't see any cheetah. Couldn't see cheetah even in Ruaha NP in Tanzania (there are cheetahs there, we just didn't see them).

 

Here is our guide Murray, driving the Land Cruiser:

 

 

The next sighting for the day was a beautiful female Southern giraffe:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This game drive was meant to be good for predators, right after the Giraffe we saw a pride of 5 lions - females and juveniles who were doing what lions do best - sleeping:

 

 

 

 

Here is the biggest Lioness (the one on the left) that I have ever seen. Murray said that her weight was about 180 kg. (comparing to about 120 average weight for a Lioness and about 200-220 for a fully grown male Lion):

 

Murray also told us that the massive Lioness had a bad temper so we had to stay still and silent:

 

 

Here is the other (regular sized) Lioness in the pride:

 

 

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

 

We had to move on from the lion pride sighting since other vehicles arrived, the female Giraffe was still around:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove past the Catholic mission ruins and the reserve's HQ (we were in the southern part of the reserve, indeed):

 

 

When are a lucky, we are lucky. Murray found a coalition of three handsome male lions. They were on the move or as the guides would say - "mobile". Murray drove parallel to them, then overtook them and waited for the lions to come and pass by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brother #2:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brother #3:

 

 

Edited April 9, 2016 by FlyTraveler

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

 

A few more photos of the three brothers male lions coalition:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was already quite dark and we headed north since we had pretty long drive to the lodge. On the way we saw a few Buffaloes, couldn't figure out if the rest of the herd was nearby or those were just dagga boys:

 

 

 

 

No sundowner stop (I and my daughter were the only guests in the vehicle and we were not interested in such activity, we didn't have time for a stop, anyway). Murray just got the spotlight out when it was already completely dark.

Not much luck during the night safari. One Steenbok:

 

 

... and couple of Impalas:

 

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

Sept. 24, 2015. Our second day in Madikwe Game Reserve - afternoon game drive.

 

We drove past the Catholic mission ruins and the reserve's HQ (we were in the southern part of the reserve, indeed):

 

~ @@FlyTraveler

 

Does that mean that the mission is no longer in active use?

I appreciate your posting that image, as it brought to my attention a bit of history which I hadn't known.

The coalition lions are formidable!

Oh, I like the inclusion of a steenbok image. They're a favorite of mine.

Thank you for adding to your very nice trip report.

Tom K.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

As usual waking up at 05:00 h (half an hour before the guide's wake up call). There was an elderly British lady named Bernie, who was staying at the lodge for extended periods of time (20+ days) and who would go for a game drive only when she felt like it. She was assigned to Murray's vehicle and we have met during dinner the previous two evenings. She was coming for a game drive this morning and as far as I remember, she was the only other guest in the Land Cruiser. Later on it turned out that the reason for Bernie's repetitive and long visits to Tau Lodge was that her daughter was a guide there. What a luck for the elderly lady, I hope that my daughter becomes a safari guide one day and I am still alive to visit her at the lodge / camp. :)

Waiting for a breeding herd of Elephants to cross the road. Bernie was sitting always (when she was present on a game drive) next to Murray:

 

 

Some Impala shots taken during the "Golden hour""

 

 

 

 

Some "wide" shots taken with the good old Nikon D50 (to be retired for the next trip). Wildebeest and the hilly landscape typical for the northern part of Madikwe:

 

 

 

 

A lonely Gnu and Zebra, not a sighting to write home about if one is in Masai Mara or Serengeti during the migration, but here we stop for photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lonely Elephant is adding to the "Singles' club parade" this morning:

 

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@FlyTraveler

 

Your wide shot sets the scene so well.

I'm glad that you included it. If I go on another safari, I hope to take more wide shots.

Stopping for wildebeest photography makes good sense, especially with such pleasing lighting, right s it steps into the track.

The first image, despite having been taken behind the front seat, nonetheless effectively conveys the sense of waiting.

Thank you for posting such interesting photos.

Tom K.

[FlyTraveler]

Sept. 25, 2015. Our third day in Madikwe Game Reserve - morning game drive.

 

 

On with our morning game drive. After a turn we suddenly saw a male lion walking on the road in front of us. Murray recognized him as a part of two brothers coalition:

 

 

The lion went off-road, so we were able to overtake him and see him from the side:

 

 

Then he disappeared in the bush, we were at the foot of a small hill, so couldn't follow, just waited for about 5-10 minutes on the road to see if the lion will show up again. He didn't and we moved ahead.

 

 

Young male Greater kudu:

 

 

We approached a waterhole and there were larger groups of Zebras and Wildebeest hanging out before or after a drink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collection of Zebra buts:

 

 

[FlyTraveler]

~ @@FlyTraveler

 

Your wide shot sets the scene so well.

I'm glad that you included it. If I go on another safari, I hope to take more wide shots.

Stopping for wildebeest photography makes good sense, especially with such pleasing lighting, right s it steps into the track.

The first image, despite having been taken behind the front seat, nonetheless effectively conveys the sense of waiting.

Thank you for posting such interesting photos.

Tom K.

 

Thanks for the interest @@Tom Kellie! I am reading your excellent trip report from Leopard Hills lodge in Sabi Sand (will need longer time to catch up and to post comments).

[lmSA84]

@@FlyTraveler - great to see that you have started your Madikwe TR again! Not least of all because of your excellent photography - along with everyone else I think that your landscape shots are fantastic.

 

It's interesting to contrast our experiences. In a few months the vegetation had totally changed and the cheetah brothers were gone but still we both saw the coalitions of male lions and the huge lioness in similar areas.

 

I think your observations about the Red Hartebeest are also interesting - we only saw them once across all our drives and yet you seem to have seen them regularly indicating that potentially they are more numerous in the North West of the park.

 

We also saw Giraffe most days indicating, as you suggest, that they are more common in the South.