It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we had just had a yummy high-tea and were setting off for the afternoon game drive.
In the front of the lodge were two old buffalo bulls (dagga boys), enjoying the coolness of the water. While watching the buffalo, two elephant bulls came down for a drink. My guests took some stunning photographs of the wallowing buffalo with the elephants in the background.
After 10 minutes or so of viewing the buffalo and elephant, another ranger called in on the radio that they had just found a rhino. I quickly started the Land Rover as we had to get to there as soon as we could as the property that the rhino was on only allowed us to go off-road for lion and leopard, so we could very easily lose sight of the rhino if we didn’t make it on time.
On our way to the rhino sighting I was driving parallel to a dry river bed. As we approached an open clearing alongside the river, one my guests spotted two leopards up in a Marula Tree! At the base of the Marula Tree we could also see a pride of 7 lions! AWESOME!!! The lions had obviously chased the leopards up the tree and seemed to be patiently waiting for them to come down again. I said to my guests that I was certain that both the leopards and lions would be there for a while and that we would return after viewing the rhino.
We managed to get to the rhino just in time to watch it for 5 to 10 minutes before returning to leopard and lion sighting.
All of this in just 45 minutes! That’s what amazes me so much about the bush, you can out on game drive for hours and hours without seeing much, or see a lot of game in a matter of minutes.
We must not forget about the smaller things that we often miss, like the birds, insects and trees that can often be more interesting than the "Big Five".
The Opportunistic Predator
A few years ago we had a very unfortunate incident that was bound to happen one day.
The lodge where I was working at the time was in need of renovations and new rooms were being built on to accommodate more guests.
The lodge was far from any town and so the construction workers had to stay onsite for the project.
There was no proper accommodation for the workers, so they decided the next best place to sleep would be on the ground between the Land Rovers in the garage. By the way the garage had no doors.
Early one morning at about 5 am I was woken by the sound of someone shouting and screaming from panic and pain! The sound was coming from our staff village which was unfenced and regularly had visitors of the four-legged type. This time it was a spotted hyena that came wondering through the village in search of possible food.
The construction workers who were fast asleep were unaware of the approaching hyena, when all of a sudden the hyena, using her powerful jaws, grabbed one of the men by the leg. Instead of killing him she ran off dragging the poor man behind her across the village floor.
The unfortunate victim was now wide-awake as you can imagine and started shouting and kicking at the hyena in an attempt to escape. This was all too much for the hyena, so she let go her grip and instead of running away into the bush she made a bee-line back to the garage to try her luck with a different meal. The remaining three men in the garage who were also by this time wide awake and on high alert started shouting and franticly waving their hands to try and chase the hyena away.
Their attempt worked as she made a quick u-turn and headed off back into the bush.
The construction worker that was snatched by the hyena was very lucky to be alive but did suffer from deep puncture wounds to his leg, which he had treated by a doctor in case of possible infection.
The reality of this is that incidents of this nature happen all the time in Africa with many people being injured every year as well as numerous recorded deaths by Spotted hyenas.
The lodge where I was working at the time was in need of renovations and new rooms were being built on to accommodate more guests.
The lodge was far from any town and so the construction workers had to stay onsite for the project.
There was no proper accommodation for the workers, so they decided the next best place to sleep would be on the ground between the Land Rovers in the garage. By the way the garage had no doors.
Early one morning at about 5 am I was woken by the sound of someone shouting and screaming from panic and pain! The sound was coming from our staff village which was unfenced and regularly had visitors of the four-legged type. This time it was a spotted hyena that came wondering through the village in search of possible food.
The construction workers who were fast asleep were unaware of the approaching hyena, when all of a sudden the hyena, using her powerful jaws, grabbed one of the men by the leg. Instead of killing him she ran off dragging the poor man behind her across the village floor.
The unfortunate victim was now wide-awake as you can imagine and started shouting and kicking at the hyena in an attempt to escape. This was all too much for the hyena, so she let go her grip and instead of running away into the bush she made a bee-line back to the garage to try her luck with a different meal. The remaining three men in the garage who were also by this time wide awake and on high alert started shouting and franticly waving their hands to try and chase the hyena away.
Their attempt worked as she made a quick u-turn and headed off back into the bush.
The construction worker that was snatched by the hyena was very lucky to be alive but did suffer from deep puncture wounds to his leg, which he had treated by a doctor in case of possible infection.
The reality of this is that incidents of this nature happen all the time in Africa with many people being injured every year as well as numerous recorded deaths by Spotted hyenas.
Life as a Game Ranger
For most people going on Safari it means doing a Game Drive or Bush-walk with their Game Ranger.
The word “Game Ranger” is often used incorrectly. A Game Ranger more correctly is a person that works very hands on in the environment doing either game capture, game counts, anti-poaching or environmental analysis and has very little to do with tourists.
A Field Guide on the other hand is more involved in the Tourism Industry. To be a Field Guide is an awesome, but it isn’t as glitzy and glamorous as everyone else thinks. You get to drive a 4x4 in the wild in pursuit of the “Big 5”, and what really makes it cool is you get to walk around with a big-ass rifle while looking for dangerous game like Lion and Elephant. You’re a “Hero” in your guests’ eyes.This is all great but there are a few cons that go along with this all.
During the Summer time you need to wake up very early (4:30) to go game drive, not so cool if you’re not a morning person.
At most Lodges you host your guests at dinner. You go to bed when all the guests have gone to bed. Some guests won’t go on the early morning drive and instead party the night away, so you join the party and then do the Game drive the next morning.
The telephone is the worst invention ever. At 1 o’clock in the morning you get a phone call from one of the guests: “There’s a frog in our bathroom”. So you get up, get dressed then go remove the killer frog from their bathroom.
At 2 o’clock in the morning, next phone call, “Can we have some more milk in our mini bar please” or “What time is the wake-up call tomorrow?”
You are a Jack of all trades. You’re a plumber specializing in fixing broken or blocked toilets. You fix air-conditioners or at least try to. You learn how to work quite well with a spade when you repair the dirt roads in the reserve. You’re a Barman and a waiter and sometimes the housekeeper. Last but not least, you’re also a receptionist.
So there’s a lot to do as a Field Guide other than Game Drives and Bush-walks. But at the end of the day the pros by far out-weigh the cons and to me if you love the wild, it’s the best career ever.
Uninvited Guests
Here's a really great story from a close friend of mine.
By Chris Stafford
It was a warm night, nearing the end of winter, and the group of students was tired after a day spent in the dry bush of the Pilanesberg, practicing their newly acquired bush interpretation skills. After making sure that the night watch schedule was understood by all, I went to bed early looking forward to a good night’s rest under my fig tree awning. Nature, however, had other plans and at one o’clock in the morning, a firm shake of my foot woke me, and my back up guide hissed “Wake up! We’ve got lions!”
Our group of trailists was camped at Three Trees in School Valley, and the weekend was a jointly run trail between Bushveld Training Adventures and The Wilderness Leadership School. The purpose of the weekend was to practice skills learned through the year, and to use the opportunity to introduce the students to the wonders of connecting with one of the last areas of wilderness available to us.
After scrambling out of my sleeping bag and grabbing shoes, rifle and torch (in no particular order), a quick assessment showed me that a pride of 6 female and sub adult lions were in the process of investigating our unfenced camp area. As our camp contained 2 groups at the time, my first concern was maintaining control of the students, but after all they’d learned, they proved to be quite a help, providing enough light with their torches for NASA to monitor! My back up, Graham, was keeping 3 lions at bay to the rear of the camp, the closest animal being a mere 12 meters away. Sakkie’s backup, Alan, was closely watching as another 3 animals approached our camp from the plain that we overlooked. Sakkie, having experienced this many times, mumbled something about “can’t you all just lie in bed and enjoy their presence?” as he staggered out to have a look, arming himself with a nearby stump of wood instead of the .375 rifle propped against his tree.
As Sakkie and I moved forward to confront a large lioness who had intent in her eyes, we gave instructions to two students to provide us support in the form of torch light. Our approach went smoothly until we crossed into the lioness’s comfort zone – the point where approaching humans wearing boxer shorts only became far too threatening! The response was a loud growl and a short rush, resulting in total darkness for us as the students hurdled the by now raging fire that stood in the path of their escape route. Upon finding that cocking his stump provided no meaningful result, Sakkie hurled his piece of wood at the cat, transforming her from a fierce beast into a feline version of a golden retriever! The tension of the moment was relieved as the cat satisfied her curiosity with the piece of wood instead of my leg. Eventually the lions decided that we were boring hosts, and slowly moved off down the valley.
A half hour later I was again woken by the sound of a cat fight down the valley, and a couple of minutes later our night watch raised the warning, “they’re back!” This time they filed past in a determined rush, the reason for which becoming clear a few moments later as a large male lion announced his presence with a resounding roar. With our torches we picked him out where he sat about 100 meters away, and there he stayed for the rest of the night, serenading us continually, and ensuring that we got no more sleep. What a way to welcome in the new day!
When spending time camping or trailing in big five country, you should always post a night watch. Lions are generally scared of humans, but at night their behavior changes and they can become quite inquisitive. There was no malice in our encounter with the lions, but all the same, I’d rather be awake and aware when they get that close! There is always excitement in the bush and whether it’s a battle between dung beetles, the majesty of a wilderness vista or uninvited guests in your camp, there is always something to keep you enthralled – just keep your eyes open and it will be there.
End
By Chris Stafford
It was a warm night, nearing the end of winter, and the group of students was tired after a day spent in the dry bush of the Pilanesberg, practicing their newly acquired bush interpretation skills. After making sure that the night watch schedule was understood by all, I went to bed early looking forward to a good night’s rest under my fig tree awning. Nature, however, had other plans and at one o’clock in the morning, a firm shake of my foot woke me, and my back up guide hissed “Wake up! We’ve got lions!”
Our group of trailists was camped at Three Trees in School Valley, and the weekend was a jointly run trail between Bushveld Training Adventures and The Wilderness Leadership School. The purpose of the weekend was to practice skills learned through the year, and to use the opportunity to introduce the students to the wonders of connecting with one of the last areas of wilderness available to us.
After scrambling out of my sleeping bag and grabbing shoes, rifle and torch (in no particular order), a quick assessment showed me that a pride of 6 female and sub adult lions were in the process of investigating our unfenced camp area. As our camp contained 2 groups at the time, my first concern was maintaining control of the students, but after all they’d learned, they proved to be quite a help, providing enough light with their torches for NASA to monitor! My back up, Graham, was keeping 3 lions at bay to the rear of the camp, the closest animal being a mere 12 meters away. Sakkie’s backup, Alan, was closely watching as another 3 animals approached our camp from the plain that we overlooked. Sakkie, having experienced this many times, mumbled something about “can’t you all just lie in bed and enjoy their presence?” as he staggered out to have a look, arming himself with a nearby stump of wood instead of the .375 rifle propped against his tree.
As Sakkie and I moved forward to confront a large lioness who had intent in her eyes, we gave instructions to two students to provide us support in the form of torch light. Our approach went smoothly until we crossed into the lioness’s comfort zone – the point where approaching humans wearing boxer shorts only became far too threatening! The response was a loud growl and a short rush, resulting in total darkness for us as the students hurdled the by now raging fire that stood in the path of their escape route. Upon finding that cocking his stump provided no meaningful result, Sakkie hurled his piece of wood at the cat, transforming her from a fierce beast into a feline version of a golden retriever! The tension of the moment was relieved as the cat satisfied her curiosity with the piece of wood instead of my leg. Eventually the lions decided that we were boring hosts, and slowly moved off down the valley.
A half hour later I was again woken by the sound of a cat fight down the valley, and a couple of minutes later our night watch raised the warning, “they’re back!” This time they filed past in a determined rush, the reason for which becoming clear a few moments later as a large male lion announced his presence with a resounding roar. With our torches we picked him out where he sat about 100 meters away, and there he stayed for the rest of the night, serenading us continually, and ensuring that we got no more sleep. What a way to welcome in the new day!
When spending time camping or trailing in big five country, you should always post a night watch. Lions are generally scared of humans, but at night their behavior changes and they can become quite inquisitive. There was no malice in our encounter with the lions, but all the same, I’d rather be awake and aware when they get that close! There is always excitement in the bush and whether it’s a battle between dung beetles, the majesty of a wilderness vista or uninvited guests in your camp, there is always something to keep you enthralled – just keep your eyes open and it will be there.
End
Buffalo Attack!!
About 7 years ago in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve there was a very unfortunate incident with one of our staff members involving a buffalo bull. (For privacy reasons I will call the staff member “Alfred”, which is not his real name)
Our bush-clearing team which consisted of 7 men were out in the reserve opening up an area which had been totally encroached by Flaky thorn (acacia exuvialis).
At about 5 o’clock that afternoon it was time to return back to the lodge. Their transport which was a tractor had broken down and there was no time to try and fix it, as the sun would soon be setting. They had no radio contact at all with the lodge, so there was no choice other than to walk back home.
On the way back they could see in the distance a herd of about 250 buffaloes crossing the road ahead. Once the herd was out of sight the bush-clearers continued down the road, unaware of dangerous situation they were about to encounter.
When they reached the point where the buffaloes had crossed earlier, to their surprise there was still one more buffalo just meters away from them!
As soon as the buffalo got sight of the seven men it came charging at them with the intention to kill! The men scattered in all directions, running for the closest trees to climb and get out of reach from the buffalos thrashing horns.
One of the men (Alfred) was just too slow and before he could climb a tree in time the buffalo rammed straight into him with its horns. The buffalo dug its horn into Alfred’s stomach, just below the ribcage and then flipped him backwards over his back. Upon landing Alfred fell into a hole, possibly an aardvark burrow.
The buffalo intent on finishing the job came back again, thrashing with its horns to try and throw Alfred once again.
Alfred had the advantage of being in the hole as the buffalo couldn’t quite reach him and every time it got to close he started hitting the buffalo in the face with his elbows!
Eventually the buffalo realised he was fighting a losing battle and then turned around and walked off.
Once the buffalo bull was totally out of sight the other men left the safety of the trees to help Alfred back to the lodge a quick as they could. They wrapped clothing around his stomach to slow the blood loss and to keep his intestines from falling out.
Fortunately they were not too far from home and in no time the owner of the lodge flew Alfred in his plane to the closest hospital for assistance.
Alfred was very lucky to survive the buffalo attack but he spent the next 3 months in and out of hospital with all sorts of infections as a result of the buffaloes dirty horns been pushed into his body.
Our bush-clearing team which consisted of 7 men were out in the reserve opening up an area which had been totally encroached by Flaky thorn (acacia exuvialis).
At about 5 o’clock that afternoon it was time to return back to the lodge. Their transport which was a tractor had broken down and there was no time to try and fix it, as the sun would soon be setting. They had no radio contact at all with the lodge, so there was no choice other than to walk back home.
On the way back they could see in the distance a herd of about 250 buffaloes crossing the road ahead. Once the herd was out of sight the bush-clearers continued down the road, unaware of dangerous situation they were about to encounter.
When they reached the point where the buffaloes had crossed earlier, to their surprise there was still one more buffalo just meters away from them!
As soon as the buffalo got sight of the seven men it came charging at them with the intention to kill! The men scattered in all directions, running for the closest trees to climb and get out of reach from the buffalos thrashing horns.
One of the men (Alfred) was just too slow and before he could climb a tree in time the buffalo rammed straight into him with its horns. The buffalo dug its horn into Alfred’s stomach, just below the ribcage and then flipped him backwards over his back. Upon landing Alfred fell into a hole, possibly an aardvark burrow.
The buffalo intent on finishing the job came back again, thrashing with its horns to try and throw Alfred once again.
Alfred had the advantage of being in the hole as the buffalo couldn’t quite reach him and every time it got to close he started hitting the buffalo in the face with his elbows!
Eventually the buffalo realised he was fighting a losing battle and then turned around and walked off.
Once the buffalo bull was totally out of sight the other men left the safety of the trees to help Alfred back to the lodge a quick as they could. They wrapped clothing around his stomach to slow the blood loss and to keep his intestines from falling out.
Fortunately they were not too far from home and in no time the owner of the lodge flew Alfred in his plane to the closest hospital for assistance.
Alfred was very lucky to survive the buffalo attack but he spent the next 3 months in and out of hospital with all sorts of infections as a result of the buffaloes dirty horns been pushed into his body.
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