Well this morning I had a great game drive , we left just on 6:00am the air was on the warm side , we headed of not long I got 2 Lionesses walking in the road towards me I switched off , they were walking at a steady pace , the approached the game viewer and sniffed at the wheels ,the where very relaxed with no worry what so ever , but I could notice they were on the hunt by their body language just before getting the 2 females I got some Impala that just crossed the road at the on junction link , and I knew the females would stalk on to them. So I decided to turn around and wait with the Impala to see what would happen , a few minutes went past and I notice the one female low to the ground getting closer to the Impala , She was off after them but no luck she was just to far out from them .
She then re-joined the other female, starting to play a bit when they met up. They then carried on walking in the road in the distance I noticed a big heard of Blue Wildebeest walking towards them , they went down waiting , I knew something had to happen this time, these females where hungry.
The Blue Wildebeest where on their path, I could see the lions had put their eyes on a youngster at the back of the heard they got close within 20 meters of the lions the one female broke off at full speed she was after the young Blue Wildebeest, but the youngster was too quick it was close but not close enough. She gave up and came back towards the road where she lay down next to my Game Viewer for a few minutes getting her breath back. They slowly made their way down into a thicket.
We decide to move on and see what els we could find we managed to get another sighting of Lion a nice male and young female very relaxed lie in the sun on a burnt patch of grass. A little further we got an Elephant bull, lots of White Rhino and a few Giraffe.
It was a stunning drive that we had, there was not for one second that we never had something happening.
Shepherds Tree Head Ranger : Greg Toplis
Friday, 22 July 2011
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Crispy Morning Adventure
So soon after the guest arrived we went down for breakfast , our guest where looking to see Giraffe, Lion , Rhino and Zebra . Little Hanna was soon keen to go out, she did not wanna eat her breakfast. All was set to head out off we went .
The morning was crispy and fresh and was warming up very quickly, not long in to the drive we came across some impala walking in the road , little Hanna got so excited she wanted to see more ...
So we carried on with our drive finding Blue Wildebeest , Impala .
Not to long after we found a Female White Rhino with her youngster walking next to the road feeding as they moved alone side us, we watched them for a few minutes and headed on looking to see if we could find some lions for the family to see.
Soon we got to one of the water holes where there was a Pod of hippos soaking up the warm rays from the sun . We notice a very young one just a few months old lie up next to its mother. While watching them we notice some water buck making their way down to the dam , at this time little Hanna was blown away and wanted to see more .
We carried on with the drive and came cross what we where looking for a pride of Lions in this pride there were 15 of them lion in the long grass as well soaking up the sun . In between them where a few cubs playing between their mothers .
Little Hanna was so excited to see them she kept asking if she could have one .
After some time we move on with the drive we found more Rhino and tons of planes game from , Zebra, Impala and Blue Wildebeest .
On the way back to lodge we notice some thing Lie on the rocks , when having a better look at the rocks we noticed 3 lions, they where so tied just lie there doing nothing .
They where quite far in . so we decide to move on after a few minutes .
And off we went back to the lodge to relax for the rest of the day .
By: Shepherds Tree Ranger Greg Toplis (Head Ranger)
The morning was crispy and fresh and was warming up very quickly, not long in to the drive we came across some impala walking in the road , little Hanna got so excited she wanted to see more ...
So we carried on with our drive finding Blue Wildebeest , Impala .
Not to long after we found a Female White Rhino with her youngster walking next to the road feeding as they moved alone side us, we watched them for a few minutes and headed on looking to see if we could find some lions for the family to see.
Soon we got to one of the water holes where there was a Pod of hippos soaking up the warm rays from the sun . We notice a very young one just a few months old lie up next to its mother. While watching them we notice some water buck making their way down to the dam , at this time little Hanna was blown away and wanted to see more .
We carried on with the drive and came cross what we where looking for a pride of Lions in this pride there were 15 of them lion in the long grass as well soaking up the sun . In between them where a few cubs playing between their mothers .
Little Hanna was so excited to see them she kept asking if she could have one .
After some time we move on with the drive we found more Rhino and tons of planes game from , Zebra, Impala and Blue Wildebeest .
On the way back to lodge we notice some thing Lie on the rocks , when having a better look at the rocks we noticed 3 lions, they where so tied just lie there doing nothing .
They where quite far in . so we decide to move on after a few minutes .
And off we went back to the lodge to relax for the rest of the day .
By: Shepherds Tree Ranger Greg Toplis (Head Ranger)
Crispy Morning
Morning all
Up bright and early getting ready to head out on our morning game drive, its a bit on the cold side with clear blue skys . Waiting on the guests to head down to the lodge for morning coffee and tea , you can hear the morning bush come alive as the air starts to warm up , its strange how one can notice the Francolin and Guine fowl try and take over the morning calls , they are like our bush alarms .
While sitting around having our coffee we can hear the callings of lion in the distance , gracing us with their morning precence , when hearing a lion call one can truly know you are in the bush .
Game viewers are ready ,bags are packed so we are off......
Shepherds Tree Ranger : Greg Toplis (Head Ranger)
Up bright and early getting ready to head out on our morning game drive, its a bit on the cold side with clear blue skys . Waiting on the guests to head down to the lodge for morning coffee and tea , you can hear the morning bush come alive as the air starts to warm up , its strange how one can notice the Francolin and Guine fowl try and take over the morning calls , they are like our bush alarms .
While sitting around having our coffee we can hear the callings of lion in the distance , gracing us with their morning precence , when hearing a lion call one can truly know you are in the bush .
Game viewers are ready ,bags are packed so we are off......
Shepherds Tree Ranger : Greg Toplis (Head Ranger)
Elephants around the lodge
For the pased few days here at Shepherds Tree we have been visited by some of your bigger friends,yesterday we all bared witness to a single Elephant bull that came for a quick drink at your reception's dam...we all thought that it was only the one but as we went up to the rooms we soon found out that is was not the case because low and behold up at room 11 there stood a breeding herd of +- 30 Elephants and what a wonderful sight to see.
They have now been hanging around the lodge area for the last 2 days and signs of there presence are everywhere.
The herd consists of a couple of cows and 1 or 2 bulls but for me personally the best of them all are the little calves still trying to get full controle of there trunks witch are flopping around all over the place...
Ranger; Zander Kotze
They have now been hanging around the lodge area for the last 2 days and signs of there presence are everywhere.
The herd consists of a couple of cows and 1 or 2 bulls but for me personally the best of them all are the little calves still trying to get full controle of there trunks witch are flopping around all over the place...
Ranger; Zander Kotze
Monday, 18 July 2011
Hiding Leopard:
From about the start of 2011 there has been a regular sighting of a female leopard with two cubs in the centre part of Pilanesberg National Park! If you are a ranger in Ivory Tree Game Lodge you would know that this is a absolute special sighting because the leopard is a rare sighting in the Pilanesberg National Park, not even to talk about two cubs!
They where first spotted on Mankwe Way behind the red cyanide rocks! All ivory tree rangers have watched these fascinating creatures since they were very small cubs and it became a very regular sighting until lately!
All rangers of the Pilanesberg National Park, especially Ivory Tree rangers noticed that you don’t really see these cubs anymore! They have become so famous that even the private vehicles knew about them. It’s most probably because of that, that the female leopard decided it’s time to move these youngsters to a new safe location that no one knows about.
It’s now about six to seven weeks since we have last seen them or heard about them. Until yesterday!!!!!!!!!
I heard about a rumor going around about three leopards spotted in the Pilanesberg yesterday 16th of July 2011. I just knew I had to go there to check it out.
I got new guests and they requested to see as much as possible since it’s their first time in South Africa. The three leopards were spotted close to fish eagle picnic spot, which is almost in the exact centre of Pilanesberg National Park.
We slowly made our way finding lots of nice plains game along the way. Just before we got to Fish Eagle I saw all the vehicles keeping an eye out for them. By the time we finally got there everyone gave up and went for a rest stop at the picnic spot. I wasn’t exactly sure where they were spotted last so we just made our way up there very slowly. As we almost approached the picnic site itself we saw two beautiful white Rhinos walking on the road. While we were looking at the rhinos I quickly scanned the koppie next to as there we saw one female leopard basking in the sun!
We watched her for about 20 minutes just walking around in on the rocks. We did not manage to see the cubs, but I have heard that the cubs were spotted there! The one female leopard sighting was still absolutely amazing.
Ivory Tree ranger: Neil Coetzer
From about the start of 2011 there has been a regular sighting of a female leopard with two cubs in the centre part of Pilanesberg National Park! If you are a ranger in Ivory Tree Game Lodge you would know that this is a absolute special sighting because the leopard is a rare sighting in the Pilanesberg National Park, not even to talk about two cubs!
They where first spotted on Mankwe Way behind the red cyanide rocks! All ivory tree rangers have watched these fascinating creatures since they were very small cubs and it became a very regular sighting until lately!
All rangers of the Pilanesberg National Park, especially Ivory Tree rangers noticed that you don’t really see these cubs anymore! They have become so famous that even the private vehicles knew about them. It’s most probably because of that, that the female leopard decided it’s time to move these youngsters to a new safe location that no one knows about.
It’s now about six to seven weeks since we have last seen them or heard about them. Until yesterday!!!!!!!!!
I heard about a rumor going around about three leopards spotted in the Pilanesberg yesterday 16th of July 2011. I just knew I had to go there to check it out.
I got new guests and they requested to see as much as possible since it’s their first time in South Africa. The three leopards were spotted close to fish eagle picnic spot, which is almost in the exact centre of Pilanesberg National Park.
We slowly made our way finding lots of nice plains game along the way. Just before we got to Fish Eagle I saw all the vehicles keeping an eye out for them. By the time we finally got there everyone gave up and went for a rest stop at the picnic spot. I wasn’t exactly sure where they were spotted last so we just made our way up there very slowly. As we almost approached the picnic site itself we saw two beautiful white Rhinos walking on the road. While we were looking at the rhinos I quickly scanned the koppie next to as there we saw one female leopard basking in the sun!
We watched her for about 20 minutes just walking around in on the rocks. We did not manage to see the cubs, but I have heard that the cubs were spotted there! The one female leopard sighting was still absolutely amazing.
Ivory Tree ranger: Neil Coetzer
Thursday, 14 July 2011
What a kill!!!!!!!!!!
The best thing about any game drive in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is that you never know what to expect out there! We try to encourage all guests staying at Ivory Tree Game Lodge to go on all the safaris. You never know what you’ll miss out on.
One morning just as we left the lodge I heard one of the Ivory Tree rangers calling in two female lions just about a kilometer away from us! It was the Central Pride females Noku and Female 74. The central pride is dominated by two big males, Kitumetsi and Labola-Bontle, and the two females Noku and Female 74. Since we haven’t seen lions yet everyone on the vehicle was super excited about the sighting! The best thing of the sighting is the fact that private vehicles haven’t entered the park yet and it was only Ivory Tree rangers at the sighting.
As we approached the sighting we saw one lioness, Female 74, crossing the road and disappearing in the long yellow thatching grass. The other female called Noku was still on the western side off the road where the grass was nice and short! We watched the female lion basking in the morning sun when something suddenly dragged her attention!
About a hundred meters away from her was a small family of warthogs foraging around without even noticing her. The lioness immediately got up and went in full stalking mode! As we were enjoying our game drive we would have never guess what was in store for us!
While watching Noku stalking the warthogs we heard something in the long grass next to us. A Female zebra suddenly game charging out and ran over the road right behind our vehicle with Female 74 chasing her into the open plain! She guided the zebra straight towards Noku, gaining on the zebra with each split second and giving the zebra a monstrous tackle. Noku immediately joined in and helped keep the zebra down so Female 74 could finish the kill!
Everything happened so quickly! Luckily everyone had their cameras ready. One of the guests even took a video. After watching the video we realized that it was a pregnant zebra. It’s something I will never forget and by looking at the expression on my guests faces I’m sure it’s something they will treasure forever!
Ranger: Neil Coetzer
The best thing about any game drive in the Pilanesberg Game Reserve is that you never know what to expect out there! We try to encourage all guests staying at Ivory Tree Game Lodge to go on all the safaris. You never know what you’ll miss out on.
One morning just as we left the lodge I heard one of the Ivory Tree rangers calling in two female lions just about a kilometer away from us! It was the Central Pride females Noku and Female 74. The central pride is dominated by two big males, Kitumetsi and Labola-Bontle, and the two females Noku and Female 74. Since we haven’t seen lions yet everyone on the vehicle was super excited about the sighting! The best thing of the sighting is the fact that private vehicles haven’t entered the park yet and it was only Ivory Tree rangers at the sighting.
As we approached the sighting we saw one lioness, Female 74, crossing the road and disappearing in the long yellow thatching grass. The other female called Noku was still on the western side off the road where the grass was nice and short! We watched the female lion basking in the morning sun when something suddenly dragged her attention!
About a hundred meters away from her was a small family of warthogs foraging around without even noticing her. The lioness immediately got up and went in full stalking mode! As we were enjoying our game drive we would have never guess what was in store for us!
While watching Noku stalking the warthogs we heard something in the long grass next to us. A Female zebra suddenly game charging out and ran over the road right behind our vehicle with Female 74 chasing her into the open plain! She guided the zebra straight towards Noku, gaining on the zebra with each split second and giving the zebra a monstrous tackle. Noku immediately joined in and helped keep the zebra down so Female 74 could finish the kill!
Everything happened so quickly! Luckily everyone had their cameras ready. One of the guests even took a video. After watching the video we realized that it was a pregnant zebra. It’s something I will never forget and by looking at the expression on my guests faces I’m sure it’s something they will treasure forever!
Ranger: Neil Coetzer
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
In For the Kill!!!
With the recent fires ravaging the Pilanesberg, safaris were at an all time high.
Leaving Ivory Tree Game Lodge a little earlier than usual, my guests and I were excited for a good safari not knowing that tonight would be life changing. With a relatively slow start to the game drive, general game was seen in large numbers but the big 5 were a little hard to come by.
Deciding on an earlier stop to stretch legs and have a sundowner, we gave ourselves time to strategize for the second half of the safari. With the setting sun at our backs we headed east. Darkness closing in fast I was in desperate need of a Big 5 sighting. Crossing drainage lines and thickets we moved into Motlobo Plains. Here again were hoards of general game but something was different, they were alert, they knew something was around but what was it!
Scanning the plains with a powerful spotlight I picked up 3 ghostly images. LIONS!!! They were tentatively watching a herd of 40+ Wildebeest, knowing the pride as the Central Pride there was a missing female. Deciding to do a last scan we spotted her. She had flanked the Wildebeest herd and was in a perfect position for an assault.
Closing in quickly, she was spotted and chaos erupted. The Wildebeest headed straight to the kopje (hill) for safety, which would have been ideal if not for 2 White Rhino frightening them back down the hill towards our vehicle. Not wanting to move the game drive vehicle, we split the herd and we now knew we were right in the thick of it!
For one wildebeest it was too late, she had been taken down by the 3 lions we had seen first. The struggle did not last long.
Getting into a better position we witnessed a big male lion ripping a fetus from its dead mother. Making sure my guests were all alright after this life altering experience. We watched in silence until it was time to head back to Ivory Tree.
To my guests, the Pilanesberg will never be seen in the same light again.
Ranger Michael Malan
With the recent fires ravaging the Pilanesberg, safaris were at an all time high.
Leaving Ivory Tree Game Lodge a little earlier than usual, my guests and I were excited for a good safari not knowing that tonight would be life changing. With a relatively slow start to the game drive, general game was seen in large numbers but the big 5 were a little hard to come by.
Deciding on an earlier stop to stretch legs and have a sundowner, we gave ourselves time to strategize for the second half of the safari. With the setting sun at our backs we headed east. Darkness closing in fast I was in desperate need of a Big 5 sighting. Crossing drainage lines and thickets we moved into Motlobo Plains. Here again were hoards of general game but something was different, they were alert, they knew something was around but what was it!
Scanning the plains with a powerful spotlight I picked up 3 ghostly images. LIONS!!! They were tentatively watching a herd of 40+ Wildebeest, knowing the pride as the Central Pride there was a missing female. Deciding to do a last scan we spotted her. She had flanked the Wildebeest herd and was in a perfect position for an assault.
Closing in quickly, she was spotted and chaos erupted. The Wildebeest headed straight to the kopje (hill) for safety, which would have been ideal if not for 2 White Rhino frightening them back down the hill towards our vehicle. Not wanting to move the game drive vehicle, we split the herd and we now knew we were right in the thick of it!
For one wildebeest it was too late, she had been taken down by the 3 lions we had seen first. The struggle did not last long.
Getting into a better position we witnessed a big male lion ripping a fetus from its dead mother. Making sure my guests were all alright after this life altering experience. We watched in silence until it was time to head back to Ivory Tree.
To my guests, the Pilanesberg will never be seen in the same light again.
Ranger Michael Malan
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