Blog - Page 2

THE AFRICAN BUSH IS A MAGICAL PLACE AND HAS A WAY OF TOUCHING ONES SOUL.
ENJOY A COLLECTION OF POEMS WRITTEN BY ONE OF OUR GUESTS REBECCA CAMPBELL INSPIRED BY HER STAY WITH US HERE AT UMLANI BUSHCAMP.

CHANGE IS GOOD, THE OLD SAYING RINGS TRUE AS WE HAVE SEEN A MAJOR SHIFT IN OUR LEOPARD POPULATION OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS. SADLY IT LOOKS LIKE NTHOMBI HAS PASSED ON, MUCH LIKE MARULA WE HAVE BEEN LEFT TO ASSUME WHAT HAPPENED, ALL WE KNOW IS HER TRACKS ARE NO LONGER LEFT ON THE ROADS, GAME PATHS AND DRAINAGE LINES AS THEY ONCE DID, AS SAD AS A LOSS IS SHE HAD A LONG LIFE AND GAVE US MANY INCREDIBLE SIGHTINGS AND SO LIKE THE OTHER PASSED LEOPARDS BEFORE HER SHE WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED. HOWEVER AS I MENTIONED CHANGE IS GOOD AND WE HAVE SEEN A HUGE SHIFT IN OUR OTHER RESIDENT LEOPARDS. BOTH NYELETI AND THUMBELA HAVE MOVED WAY WEST FROM THEIR FORMER TERRITORIES IN THE FAR EASTERN CORNER OF OUR TRAVERSING AREA, NYELETI SEEMS TO HAVE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OVER NTHOMBI'S OLD TERRITORY AND HAS BEEN SEEN A NUMBER OF TIMES BOTH ON KILLS AND MARKING TERRITORY WHICH IS A CLEAR SIGN THAT SHE HAS MOVED HER TERRITORY. THUMBELA HAS NOW BEEN SEEN AROUND UMLANI FOR THE PAST MONTH ALSO SCENT MARKING AND MAKING KILLS, SHE ALSO LOOKS LIKE SHE IS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PREGNANCY WHICH WILL BE AMAZING IF SHE HAS THE CUBS ON OUR PROPERTY. WE HAVE ALSO BEEN SEEING A FEW NEW LEOPARDS BOTH MALE AND FEMALE IN THE AREA WHICH IS ALWAYS GOOD AND VERY EXCITING FOR THE FUTURE. FOR NOW ENJOY SOME OF THE LEOPARD SIGHTINGS WE HAVE HAD RECENTLY AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING EVEN MORE UPDATES SOON.

WE HAVE BEEN BUSY AT CAMP TAKING THIS QUIET TIME TO DO SOME NEEDED REPAIR WORK AROUND THE CAMP AS IT IS NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE TO DO IT WHEN WE ARE BUSY, THIS HAS MEANT THAT WE HAVEN'T BEEN GOING OUT ON MANY DRIVES LATELY, FORTUNATELY I SPENT A WHOLE WEEK OUT IN THE FIELD RECENTLY WHEN WE HAD TWO OF THE WILDEYE GUIDES TREVOR MCCALL-PEAT AND MICHAEL LAUBSCHER OUT HERE ON A CONTENT GATHERING ASSIGNMENT, TO SAY THE WEEK WAS FULL OF HIGHLIGHTS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT, FROM TRACKING LIONS TO SPENDING TIME WITH NYELETI'S LATEST CUB WE EXPERIENCED IT ALL.

ANOTHER WEEK HAS COME AND GONE AND WHAT A WEEK IT WAS. WE DEFINITELY FEELING THE GRASP OF WINTER AS THE MORNINGS ARE MORE THAN A BIT CHILLY BUT THIS ALSO SIGNALS THE START OF THE INCREDIBLE WINTER GAME VIEWING, AND IT HASN'T DISAPPOINTED SO FAR. WE EVEN GOT TO SEE A VERY VERY SPECIAL AND RARE SIGHTING IN THE FORM OF A PANGOLIN. SO ENJOY THIS WEEKS HIGHLIGHTS IN PHOTOS.

TEMPERATURES DROPPED THIS WEEK AND THE MORNING WINTER CHILLS HAVE DEFINITELY SET IN, THIS HOWEVER HASN'T AFFECTED THE FANTASTIC GAME VIEWING THAT WE HAVE HAD. ONE THING I HAVE NOTICED IS THE LACK OF ANIMAL ACTIVITY AROUND THE WATERHOLES, THERE STILL SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF SMALLER WATER HOLES SCATTERED THROUGH THE BUSH AND THEREFORE THE ANIMALS DON'T NEED TO COME TO THE BIGGER WATER POINTS JUST YET, HOWEVER IN THE COMING WEEKS AS WE MOVE FURTHER INTO WINTER THIS SHOULD CHANGE. FOR NOW THOUGH ENJOY THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS LAST WEEK IN PICTURES.