Lions of Timbavati

[Potato]

Tanda Tula update

It feels like ages ago that I sat down to write a Week in Pictures blog, and I guess after over two weeks off drive, it has been a veritable age. As usual, there were some great sightings in my absence; the Giraffe Pride made a surprise and potentially unprecedented visit to Nkhari when they were found there with a zebra kill. That afternoon the guides found them in the area once again, but their presence was eclipsed by sightings of both a pangolin and a black rhino near the lions. Jack told me that they also saw two Vuyela male lions feasting on a young elephant, but no one is sure whether they caught it themselves or found it dead. The Giraffe Pride spent much of the period on the plains and around camp, even popping up to the waterhole for a drink one evening

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I returned to work on Friday, just in time for a few days of guiding over the weekend, and whilst out training for the Timbavati Traverse, listened to the radio with more than a tinge of envy as the guides found the lions that I could hear roaring on Nkhari… and one of the males happened to be a white lion. Some consolation was seeing an ostrich and a secretary bird whilst out on my own; I have seen more white lions in the Timbavati than secretary birds… fortunately, I was heading out in the afternoon with some long-time return guests and we headed straight over to Nkhari hoping to get luck with the white lion ourselves. It was a tough choice, as the Giraffe Pride were resting on the plains near Plains Camp, but I was confident that we would get another chance to see them, so headed to the Birmingham males instead. Luckily for us, their fat bellies meant that they had not been overly active during the day and were found resting not far from where they had settled in the morning. It was a sight to see a growing male white lion in our area. Although the Birmingham males (including the white male) have been seen in the area a few times over the past year, this was the first time they have entered the area and been brave enough to roar. With the territory partially occupied by the Vuyela males, their roars could have led to trouble, but it appears as though the Vuyela males had been out of earshot and did not respond to the intrusion. Whilst it is nice to dream of the white male settling in the central Timbavati, with the other large coalitions also moving around the area, the three Birmingham males are not likely to end up settling down this side. Still, we hope that they continue to visit the area from time to time. 

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The Giraffe pride did end up staying around for the weekend, and we got to see twenty of them on the first day, and then a portion of the pride on the plains the day after, after they had woken us up with their roaring in front of camp. The River Pride lionesses remained active close to Safari Camp over the weekend. Reply