African Safari

African Safari at Arathusa Safari Lodge,

Sabi Sands Safari, Kruger Park, South Africa

February 2012

Saw the Big 5, Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhino - these are classified as the Big 5, as they are the most danergous land animals as refer to the difficulty that they had when they tried to bag these large animals (hunting on foot), and this difficulty owed to the ferocity of these animals when they were cornered and shot at.

Our villa at Arathusa Safari Lodge in Northen Sabi Sands, bordering Kruger Park, South Africa.  Each guest had a private villa, complete with inside and outside shower.  It was amazing.  Love, love, love outside showers.  This resort only hosts 12 guests at a time, so the hospitality is fantastic.  You eat your meals outside overlooking the pond where you watch the wildlife.  We sat on the chairs outside our villa each afternoon watching the hippos in the pond.  Simply amazing.

Inside of our villa ceiling, where the bats were living.  Between the hippos moaning at night (which were right outside our door) and the bats tweeting all night, it was hard to sleep, but that's what you get when your in their world.

Every morning we were up at 5:00 am and  met at the lobby at 6:00 am to venture out on a 9 man open jeep, plus the driver and a spotter that sits at the very front.  He had a skinny twig, which we found interesting, thinking that it would be hard to fend off any animal, but we soon discovered that this was to clear the spider webs, and let me tell you, the webs are HUGE. There are 2 safari's daily.  6:00 am and 4:00 pm.  Each ride is around 3 hours. The animals don't typically come out during the day, as it's too hot, so you can see more at dawn and dusk.  The driver informed us that when we come upon an animal to not stand up, as they see it as a threat of attack.  The vehicle is seen to them as one large unit, but once someone stands, it puts the animal in attach mode.  Why is there always one person who thinks this doesn't apply to them, and why must he sit beside me?

LionThis is the king of the sub-Saharan savanna, which is known to be admired for its beauty and strength. This is said to be one of the most exciting animals that you can view when on a safari. These large cats are known for their hunting skills; but you might end up seeing them sleeping rather than hunting, as they sleep 20 hours of a 24 hour day.  They are saving their strength. An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles (eight kilometers) away.  These lions are highly social by nature. They are known to live in prides, with several females, the young ones, and a couple of males. They will cooperate and coordinate when it comes to hunting a more difficult prey like the buffalo, but when it comes to an antelope, they’d rather hunt alone. Female lions are known to synchronize the births of their cubs, so that could raise them together.

Elephant

The African elephant is said to be the largest mammal in the world. It is remarkably adaptable for an animal that huge. These elephants are quite peaceful if they’re left alone. But you wouldn’t want to stand in the way, if they feel threatened, espically with babies.  These elephants are known to measure up to a cool 14 feet in height and around 30 feet in width. They are known to gobble up 30 gallons of water in a single day and are strict vegetarians.

Elephants are majestic creatures.  Although they seem quiet, when they start flapping their ears, you better get out of there.  They have been know to knock over a vehicle and pull out a hugh tree, roots and all with their strong trunks. 

More elephants

Leopard

The African leopard is said to have larger numbers than its rhino counterparts when it comes to being in the league of the Big 5 animals. The spots of the leopard are what offer for excellent chances of it camouflaging itself into its surroundings. These animals are shy and are best described as nocturnal. These leopards will rarely stay in the same place, and are known to have quite a wide range among which they try to move. The males will have ranges that are wider than the females, and they will mark it by urinating and leaving marks created by their claws. An adult male leopard will be smaller than the adult lion, but can still weigh a whopping 200 lbs

Rick and I were at the very back of the jeep.  Rick turned around and saw this leopard.  When he turned to take the picture, he knocked my sunglasses off my head, so our joke is some Couger is now wearing my glasses, heehee, and yes, I know it's a leopard, not a couger.  You just want to reach out and pet the fur, it looks so soft.

Cape Buffalo

Cape buffalos are large and each adult could stand at around 5 – 6 feet high. The males would weigh somewhere around 1500 pounds. Even the supreme most predators, the African lion, wouldn’t dare take a chance at a Cape buffalo, unless he has other members from the pride along with him. These animals are known to live in herds as large as 1000 buffaloes. Surprisingly, they have very few scuffles between them. This is perhaps because the buffaloes known that their strong horns could cause for some serious injuries. This doesn’t mean that battles do not happen; but when they do happen, they’re brief.

Black Rhino

The black rhinos and the white rhinos – there are two categories that can be seen in Africa. The black rhinos have been known to suffer a lot of reduction in numbers during the last one decade. There are  only about 4000 of them left around the globe.  Black rhinos are said to be more solitary, while the white rhinos are known to be more social, living in groups. The easiest way to distinguish between a black rhino and a white one (they’re all actually grey in color) is the fact that the black rhinos will have a big lip which is helpful when it comes to stripping leaves off the bushes (they are known to live in the shrubby, tropical bush areas). The lips on white rhinos are flat, and these are suited to grazing. Another interesting piece of information about these creatures is that an adult rhino could weigh about 6000 pounds.

Impalas

The impala lives in wide open plains in Africa, in herds of near a hundred.
They consume grass and leaves, or what is readily available. These animals move frequently, and consume what is available in the area they in.
The female impalas do not have horns. The male impalas horns are a symbol of his maturity. Stronger males dominate the herds, and the weaker males are forced to live in what is known as bachelor herds. They stay on the outside of the herd.
During mating season, the dominant male will take his pick in mating. When he has finished mating, they will usually let the weaker males have their turn at mating.   

Mountain Zebras

Mountain Zebras are the third species of Zebra. They are easily recognizable by a flap, known as a dewlap, which is on the base their neck. Their stripes continue all the way to the hooves and are broad, with the stripes as distinctive as fingerprints.  The Mountain Zebra is smaller, normally standing no higher than 12 hands (48 in) at the shoulders.  They do not form large herds, but do exercise a harem social structure.  Today, Mountain Zebras are an endangered species with 5,000 or less left in the wild.

Giraffes

Eats up to 75 pounds of food a day (typically Acacia leaves) and it's tongue is 18 inches long.  Have a four chambered stomach and will regurgitate their food for additional chewing – similarly to a cow. Typically get most of their water from the Acacia leaf, but will drink up to 10 gallons of water per day.  Although rarely heard, Giraffes can moo, hiss, roar and whistle to communicate with one another.  Have the longest tail of any land mammal – up to 8 feet long, including the tuft at the end. Their heart is 2 feet long and weighs about 25 pounds.  Jugular vein contains a series of one way valves that prevent the back flow of blood when the Giraffes head is down to drink water. This prevents the Giraffe from blacking out.  Oxpeckers(tick birds) are often seen "hitching" a ride on the backs of Giraffes. They help keep the Giraffe parasite free by eating ticks and other parasites off of the Giraffes skin.  Have no tear ducts, although they have been seen crying.  Have never been observed bathing.  Mom Giraffes form a type of daycare for their young.  One of the females in the heard will stay behind and baby sits all of the youngsters while the rest of the females go out foraging for food.   Despite its extreme length, the Giraffes neck is actually too short to reach the ground. As a result, it has to awkwardly spread its front legs or kneel on its front legs in order to reach the ground to drink water.  It is the tallest animal in the world.  Males stand 16-18 feet; Females 14-16 feet.  Males weigh up to 2,000 pounds; Females a bit lighter.  Females use their hooves as weapons only to defendtheir young. They are strong enough to kill a lion, which is the Giraffe's only real predator.  Born with horns, both males and females have them.   Their tongue is black.  Can gallop 31-37 miles per hour.  Can rest standing up and usually only sleep 5 minutes at a time

Females have their first conception in their fifth year. Interval between births is generally 20 months.  Life expectancy of 25 years in the wild.  A baby is generally 6 feet tall and will weigh about 150 pounds at birth.  A baby will fall approximately 6 feet during birth before hitting the ground.  A baby will begin nursing within one hour and begin walking within one hour.  They spend between 16 and 20 hours a day feeding.  We saw lots and lots of giraffes.  The funny thing is, we drove right by them and didn't see them at first.  They are so tall, that they blended into the trees.  They are very graceful.  Tall, beautiful with the longest eyelashes.  Here they were crossing the road in front of us.

Hippos

Hippos are very large and often stay to themselve. The males are larger than the females. They can range from 1 ½ tons to 3 tons.  However, it can also be extremely aggressive so you want to keep your distance. They live in groups that can have as many as thirty members in it.
What is very interesting is that in the water Hippos are extremely territorial with each other. They will go to great lengths in order to defect their location. However, they go to the land at night to hunt for food and mate.  Once on land they don’t have any issues about who roams where. There is no conflict about the land belonging to any of them.  The Hippo is easily considered to be the most aggressive animal in the world. Since they are the third largest mammal in the world (only elephants and whales are larger).  They have the strength and temperament which tells us that we should leave them alone.  Under the right conditions, a Hippo can live in the wild for 45 to 50 years.  The Hippo has a hearty appetite so they need to find about 150 pounds of grass to eat every single night. When that environment is taken from them they will fight among each other and many will starve. 

These hippos were outside our villa.  There is a large pond, and this is where they stay.  Mainly in the water throughout the day, but they do venture out.  Their skin will burn within 20 minutes in the hot African sun, so that is why they stay submerge most of the day.  At night they come out for food, grass, etc, and mating.  They are also very loud.  They kept us up most of the night.  One afternoon we witnssed a mother hippo trying to help her calf onto the grass.  There must be quite a elevation, as the calf couldn't quite get from the water to ground.  The next thing we saw, was the mother put her head in between the calfs back legs and pole volted him right onto the grass.  The lodge employee said we were very fortunate to see that.  It was incredible! 

Lioness

Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young. All of a pride's lionesses are related, and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age.  Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.

Vulture

Vulture.  There are over 300 species of birds.  Beautiful colored birds, but too many to remember.  This was a typical picture, vulture waiting for his meal.  The vultures consume about 70% of the wildebeest carcasses available.

WildebeestA full-grown wildebeest can be 4 ft 2 in  to 4 ft 10 in  at the shoulder and weigh 265–600 lb (120–270 kg).  Can live more than 40 years, though their average lifespan is around 20 years.  Zebras and wildebeest group together in open savannah environments with high chances of predation. This grouping strategy reduces predation risk because larger groups decrease each individual’s chance of being hunted, and predators are more easily seen in open areas.   Wildebeest still number in the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, in numerous areas in eastern and southern Africa, which is a testament to the local efforts and foresight to conserve and manage these animals.  Wildebeest are killed for food, especially for biltong in Southern Africa. This dried game meat is a delicacy and an important food item in Africa. The meat of females is more tender than that of males, and is the most tender during the autumn season. Wildebeest are a regular target for illegal meat hunters because their numbers make them easy to find. When preparing the wildebeest carcass, it is usually cut into 11 pieces. The estimated price for wildebeest meat is about US$ 0.47 per kilogram.

We also saw Hyenas and wild dogs, which apparently is rare.  Our camera was stolen so we lost some of our pictures which had those pictures.

On site Spa

I had a massge at the spa.  It was fantastic and probably one of the best massages I've ever had.  Of coure the view of the probably had alot to do with it.  It was outside over looking the pond and grass land.  Watching the animals while relaxing with a massage was another special event!

Our driver and spotter. 

Our afternoon beer break.  They did a great job and  very informative.  Would definatley recommend a safari!  Luckily we can cross this off our "Bucket List"!