Tag: patience

Game Drive Essentials You Never Considered

Posted on by James

If you are heading on a safari vacation, you are bound to go on a game drive.
It’s the best way to experience Africa’s beauty up close, sometimes way closer than you bargained for. But, as with any other trip, you should properly prepare for your game drive to ensure you have the best time possible.

Here is a list of some essentials to make sure you have with you, some of which you may not have even conisdered:

A Sense of Humour

This is Africa. Things can change. Plans can get derailed. A rain-squall could roll in. You could get a flat tyre. The animals you are searching for might not co-operate or a dung beetle might fly into you as your guide drives you along.
The unexpected almost certainly will occur at some point during your stay, and it’s important to remember that there are many things out in the bush that re beyond anyone’s control. In remote areas where some of the best safari lodges are located, logistics can be a nightmare. Remember that to get that meal on your plate in a fresh, timely manner most likely involved souring some of the ingredients in another country and then putting them on a truck for a 9-10 hour drive or an aeroplane for three hops out to the nearest landing strip.

In order to really properly appreciate the magnificence of your environment and truly soak up the experience, you need to be able to roll with the changes, adapt, recalibrate, and most importantly, laugh! Laugh a lot!

An Enquiring Mind

The African bush will truly open your eyes to the wonders of nature. The intricacies of ecosystems are truly astounding, but it’s important to remember that healthy, fully-functioning wild habitats are not just dependent on the wellbeing of their flagship species like the elephants and lions. The interconnectedness of nature goes all the way down to the smallest inhabitants, and more often than not, it’s the tinies that are actually propping up the whole thing.

So make sure to dive a bit deeper with your guide. Don’t just ask “what?”, ask “why?”. Strive to gain an appreciation for big and small, and how they fit together. Trust us, you will gain far more from safari this way.

Patience

Animals are on their own timetable.
That lion is not just going to leap into action because you have arrived with your big camera. Nor will the leoapr make a run for an impala if it doesn’t think the odds are in its favour. Only when the conditions are right for their needs will animals do what they have to do.
A good guide will understand animal behaviour to the extent that she or he will be able to predict with a fair degree of confidence what an animal is likely to do next, and a rough timeline upon which this might happen (although there are no guarantees), but in order to see the good stuff, you might have to wait a while.
Get the binoculars out and scan around for birds. Appreciate the finer details of the animal. Ask the guide to tell some stories.

Wet Wipes

You didn’t see this one coming, did you?

Some lodges do provide these; believe us, they are a life-saver when it comes to removing dust or the grease of suncream from your hands. Stopping for a sundowner or early morning coffee usually means indulging in a treat of some sort, and your fingers can feel a little… well… grubby afterwards.

But with wet wipes, those troubles disappear. They are also very handy for wiping camera gear or binoculars down from dust…

The standard things to remember to take on drive like cameras, binoculars, sunscreen etc. we won’t bore you with. Those you should remember anyway.

The biggest thing to remember though, is to have fun…

The BEST Way to Find Big Cats When on Safari

Posted on by James

It’s not tracking (although this is certainly effective).
It’s not staking out a waterhole.
It’s not heading out in the middle of the night with a spotlight, hoping to see the eye shine of a feline predator reflected back at you.

No, the best way to find the big cats is simply to look at birds.

The nest of a diminutive Chinspot Batis sits in the for of a fallen tree. And out of focus in the background lies a lioness in the riverbed. Birding and big cat sightings often go hand-in-hand.

Now this may not sound overly exciting to many of you. Not everyone is a birder, and we realise that the Big 5 – its predatory members especially – are the main drawcard for the ardent safari-goer. Yet it is often in the observation of the smaller members of the bush, and in particular the patience and the quiet that goes with that observation, that the clues are discovered that lead you to the predator sightings.

Rangers scan for any clues as to the whereabouts of a skulking leopard.

Ask any experienced ranger or tracker, and they’ll tell you that it is your ears far more than your eyes that will keep you out of trouble in the African wilderness; a branch snapping may indicate elephants up ahead; oxpeckers calling and then descending probably point the way to where a buffalo is hiding in the thick vegetation. And it is your ears  – that you can only really use when the safari vehicle is switched off – that will hear the calls of the big cats or the alarm calls that point towards them.

An impala watches the approach of a lioness intently. Antelope will give off a warning snort or bark in situations like this, and it is only with the vehicle switched off that you are likely to hear these auditory cues.

There is a wide array of both mammals and birds the take fright when they see a leopard or lion approaching, and they will react accordingly by snorting, barking, or giving off some sort of auditory display to warn their con-specifics of the presence of danger. It is these alarm calls specifically that experienced guides are listening for a lot of the time when on safari, as they can be incredibly reliable in the search for the high profile creatures.

Leopards know what the alarm calls of their prey mean; everything will be on the alert. They often head back into cover as a result.

And it is in the simple act of switching off the car to look at a bird that the quietness is to be found that will reveal these audible cues. Simply racing around in the vehicle looking for tracks and the animals themselves is the surest way to delay their ultimate discovery. So slow down, take the pressure off your guide, and work with the bush.
The rest of the wildlife out there have far more acute senses than us humans, so are far more likely to spot a predator moving past. Monkeys with a great view from the treetops will chatter incessantly when they spot a leopard slinking through the undergrowth. Kudus will give off a booming bark when they catch sight of a lion stalking them. And even little squirrels will kick up a fuss and a heck of a chatter when danger approaches. The more you slow down to look at the small stuff, the more of the big stuff you will ultimately find.

Oxpeckers fly up in fright as the hippo they were riding on submerges. Sometimes a good bird sighting combines naturally with one of a high-profile mammal.

So even if animals of the avian variety are not your particular cup of tea, let your guide do his or her thing when pointing them out to you. Something large and feline might be just around the corner as a result…