Our Wildlife Diary

The Chestnut Weaver is only the second ever recorded for South Africa

The past two weeks have revealed new growth in the population of lion on Tswalu. The first evidence was shown when two pregnant females from the Southern Pride had repeatedly headed up to the mountains. We have been expecting for some time now a few new additions to the pride. On the 20th December, Field Guide Christo de Jager and tracker William Gaotsenwe were out following tracks of one of these females, which successfully lead them to a small rocky outcrop known as Nicky’s Hill. With closer examination of the area, Christo and William found the first tracks of two new cubs following their mother, possibly their first trip away from the hills. Following these little tracks, the lioness and her cubs, which were not more than one month old, were eventually sighted nearby the Stoffberg water hole on their way to one of the valleys in the Korranaberg Mountains.

This last week has revealed a continuation of a heartwarming Tswalu success story. To give you some background, the story goes back a few years to when a female cheetah, that had originally inhabited these arid regions, was captured in farm lands and kept under horrifying conditions. Her captors eventually sold her and she was moved to the northern parts of South Africa. On 3 December 2009, accompanied by celebrities Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen on private aircraft, we were able to bring her back to the Kalahari. It was two days later that she had made her first kill, and it was clear she would settle very quickly back in these arid areas.

On the 18th October 2010, Tswalu became host to three young learners from the Komani San community which is situated near the boundaries of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. Dirk Pienaar, Frederik Padmaker, and Mans Maasdorp have been selected by the African Safari Lodge Foundation to participate in a learnership programme designed to develop young South Africans and provide them with the opportunity to become qualified Nature Guides.

I have now for a long time been toying with the idea of traversing the entire length of Tswalu Kalahari on foot. Now although it may at first sound like any old hike, you need to take into consideration the terrain you will need to cover. First through dense rhino country and then onto kilometers of thick Kalahari duneveld. All of this, of course, will be done in the infamous Kalahari heat. The idea first came to me as I pondered a way to initiate new guides joining the safari team. As is customary in the bush, it is usually expected of a guide to undergo some intense physical challenge to earn their stripes and join the ranks of their seniors. This type of challenge allows all guides to share a common challenge to reflect over and does wonders to strengthen the bond of friendship and camaraderie of a team.