Sunday 19th September - Phinda Forest Lodge

We did not know it, but watching the Cheetah kill the previous evening could not prepare us for what we were to see this morning.

VERVET MONKEY

We left our room to see Red Duiker snuffling in the undergrowth, Vervet Monkeys trying to steal food from the breakfast table and Crested Guineafowl preening in the early morning light.

RED DUIKER

Paolo set out to look for Black Rhino and on the way stopped at a waterhole.  An idyllic scene of:  Purple-crested Turaco, Black-collared Barbet, Pied Avocet, Red-billed Oxpecker, an African Jacana, Little Grebe, an African Darter on guard on a dead tree stump, Egyptian Geese honking loudly to guard their territory and a White-breasted Cormorant diving in the cool morning air.

AFRICAN DARTER

African Yellow White-eye darted about in a Scotia Tree and a shy Grey Duiker bounded into the long grass.  We heard over the radio that a Lioness and her three grown-up cubs were feeding on a Nyala Lamb kill at a waterhole.

When we arrived the scene was of two contrasts; Spectacled Weaver built their nests above one bank while Paradise Flycatcher swooped to take water on the wing and Little Grebe chased each other across the still water; on the other bank the three cubs, two male and one female tussled over the kill.  Their mother kept watch over the proceedings because close by were her own mother & sister and it was clear that there was no love lost between them.

NYALA LAMB KILL

Nyala and Impala approached the Eastern side of the dam and the Lioness went into action charging from the thicket but she was not fast enough and the prey escaped.  Then a herd of some 40 Nyala came to the Western side but had to beat a hasty retreat as all six Lions slunk forward in an attempt to launch an attack.

NYALA AT WATERHOLE

The Eastern Impala sensed an opportunity to drink but the Lioness outwitted them easily and worked her way back.  Our Ranger Paolo had the instinct to realise that a kill was imminent and as we drove back to the Eastern end, once again we witnessed the raw power of the big cats as the Lioness took a male Impala at full stretch amidst a cacophony of snarls, bleats and a swirl of dust.

IMPALA KILL

She held the stricken beast aloft, almost in a victory pose as her offspring raced to join the kill.

 

IMPALA KILL

The coup-de-grace was left to one of the young males but he was inexperienced and sadly the animal endured a slow deliverance.

COUP DE GRACE

We learnt that this small pride had stayed by this waterhole for many weeks and that the Lioness had become a prolific killer.  All around the waterhole were the remains of previous kills – Kudu, Impala, Nyala and Warthog.  Indeed the pride was so successful that they didn’t need to finish of one kill before moving on to the next; not long after we left the scene we heard that she had taken a Nyala bull and as we got back to the Lodge that she had killed another Nyala – at least four kills in four hours !

IMPALA SKULL

Against this macabre back-drop life in the wild carried on as normal.  A Slender Mongoose sped across the rise above the dam and Woolly-necked Storks patrolled the perimeters looking for grubs and insects.

At lunchtime we bade farewell to Greg and his family who were moving on to other Lodges.  Outside our chalet a Red-capped Robin Chat (Natal Robin) flicked and rummaged his way through the undergrowth whilst a gentle Red Duiker dozed beneath the balcony.

The evening drive proved to be a more sedate affair but no less enjoyable.  Our first encounter was with a big bull Elephant who gave us an impromptu display of the size of his ears by scratching his neck against a tree trunk.

BIG EARS

We drove down onto the plain once more to observe a mixed and interesting variety of wildlife; Black-bellied Bustard, a huge Brown Snake Eagle, three inquisitive male White Rhino, African Buffalo with a flock of scavenging White Egret in tow.

WHITE RHINO WITH RED-BILLED OXPECKER

Wildebeeste and Reedbuck watched us dolefully and a rare Secretarybird perched in the treetops ready to bed down for the night.  The two killing Cheetah from the previous night looked on, uninterested, as a small herd of Zebra passed by and lastly a White-tailed Mongoose caught our attention as we headed back to a delicious Bush Dinner where we had the company of Paolo and the delightful Chantelle who had looked after us at Madikwe in January.

CHANTELLE