It’s been a pretty good week at the Nkurru waterhole with lots of ellies, buffalo and cats.

Let’s kick it off with a small collection of video clips which includes Impala, Brown Hyena, Ellies and a Civet!  Yeah, it seems we have a resident African Civet living around the waterhole as he has put in a number of appearances on our Bushnell Camera Traps.

We have been playing with video on at least one of the cameras but still always keep one of the cameras on normal image mode.  Here are a few of the images from the last week.

This guy is becoming a regular at the waterhole.  So much so that we could almost give him a name!

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Standing at full attention for his picture to be taken.

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Nice looking boy.

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With the puddles starting to dry up the ellies are using the waterhole more and more.

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You might recognize these guys.  No?  Last time we saw them one of them had our camera in his mouth! 

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We are going to be trying something new this week and if it comes off we gonna have some absolute  killer shots coming up!!  Make sure to check back for next week’s update.

Until next time.

Gerry van der Walt

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Yeah, that’s a lioness trying to take a bite of our hot box during coffee stop this morning!

For a few more of these images from this morning visit Photo-Africa by clicking here or on the above image!

Warmest regards,

Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team

Since the last newsletter there has been some interesting wildlife news.

Probably one of the most exciting is this…

The above image, taken by Grant Marcus from Tuningi, shows the Tshabalala females with brand new youngsters.  The above images were taken just east of the Western Airstrip a week ago.  The five new youngsters have been named the ‘Maropeng’ youngsters which means ‘place of origin’.  Gonna be great to keep an eye on these youngsters and see how they grow up.  Incidentally, the Tshabalala female was one of the two females that made a surprise visit to the inside of the lodge a few months ago!  Also, when you next see Grant on the road make sure to thank him for these pics and you can also check out more of his work on Photo-Africa by clicking here.

Other news includes:

• Leopard – A large male leopard was recently found dead close to Buffalo Ridge.  The cat’s jaw was broken which must have been the reason for his death.  More info as we receive it.
• Wild Dog – The dogs have been hanging around on the ridge around the Wonderboom Node.  Yesterday we left the pack at Royal Madikwe’s waterhole where one of the dogs as visibly in pretty bad shape and liming quit badly.  Subsequently we heard that elephants moved into the area, chased the dogs all over the place and ultimately killed the injured dog who could not move away.  More info as we receive it.
• Elephants – They have been missing the last few days but will no doubt be back.
• Buffalo – The big herd has been moving around in the south and sightings has been pretty scarce.

With temperatures soaring to well over 30 degrees, today the mercury is rising to 35 degrees!, and the occasional thundershowers summer is in full swing!

I will be posting some more images on this blog and on Photo-Africa soon.

We are still waiting for some feedback on the Nkurru 2010 mater mentioned in the latest newsletters so please send your thoughts through to the lodge email address.  Also, if you would like to order a copy of Gerry’s book please let us know as will be placing orders towards the end of the week.

More soon.

Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team

A few days ago we drove around in the South.  Great scenery but pretty quiet from a game point of view.  Stopped in at Tau Dam and yeah… pretty quiet.   We sat and watched as the sun set over the dam and suddenly there they were.

Spotted Hyena and Elephant at Tau Dam

A Spotted Hyena and Elephant bull arrived pretty much at the same time.  They slowly circled the water, had their respective drinks and moved on.  Great sighting and just goes to show that sometimes you just have to slow down, sit and wait.  The whole ‘stop-look-at-the-animal-take-a-picture-right-let’s-move-on’ approach only makes for a rushed game viewing experience.  Slow down.  Enjoy the experience.  You never know what could happen.

Incidentally, the above image was shot with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.  It was already pretty dark when I shot the above image but this lens just ‘eats’ light.  The f/1.8 lens has added a whole new low light shooting ability to my camera bag and gives me the opportunity to shoot just that little later into the evenings.

More soon…

Gerry, Adele and the Nkurru Team

Shot this image this morning.

Mateya doing well up North.

Oct 6 2009 @ 08:30

Since the Tshola Mateya coalition started featuring in the lodge newsletters many people have asked about them and they seem to have developed quite a following.  Here is the latest update.

They went off the grid for a few days but this morning they popped up way North in the park – almost at Maokeng Pan.

Since being kicked out of the South by the Kgala males the two big guys spent a bit of time on the ridge close to the lodge but now a whole new development is taking place.

Where are the Sereti males who used to hang around in the North?  Will they stand up to the Tshola Mateya coalition?  Will the Tshola Mateya coalition be setting up territory in the North?

Will keep you updated as things develop but at least it is good to see that Mateya is still going (relatively) strong even with his wonky back leg!

Oh, also posted a new Photo of the Day on Photo-Africa.

More soon.

Gerry, Adele & the Nkurru Team