Here is a list of the sightings we saw just the FIRST day at Mashatu:

4 cheetahs (3m-1f)
a journey of giraffe (16)
zebras
baby leopard
bat earred fox
steenbok
porcupine (next to our tent)
hyena
warthogs
elands
baboons
giant eagle owl
lilac breasted roller
grey lourie
kori bustard
impala (lots!)
jackals
lions
elephants (one less than 24 hrs old)
white fronted bee eaters
spotted genet
crowned plovers
guinea fowl (hundreds of fleas!)

A few of the special sightings at Mashatu:

Pack of wild dogs on a huge warthog kill. We got their shortly after the kill. A few of the dogs got punture wounds during the kill.

The 2 female wild dogs were denning in the area and we were not allowed to visit the area. Just a couple weeks ago the news arrived that there are 10 pups. Any one going to Mashatu soon is in for a treat.

A 12 ft long python that had been killed by a honey badger. Also nearby another dead 8.5 ft python.

Ardwolf

African wildcat (daytime sighting) sitting under a bush waiting for a rodent to come out of a termite mound.

Cheetah- two separate coalitions (5 of out the 6 days we had sightings)

We kept requesting a Pangolin sighting and all we got were big smiles and chuckles from our rangers~lol!

Very special thanks to all the staff at Mala Mala and Mashatu.

Nils Kure and Tom Bloy were incredible hosts. This camps attention to detail is amazing!

The managers, Aly and Mapula at Mashatu made sure all our needs were met and made arrangements for us to visit Pete's Pond.

Mashatu touched my heart in a way I have never felt. I cried like a baby the entire last day, it was just an experience that is so hard to explain...I will never forget it.

I hope our tracker's (Justice) face has healed after the freak tree branch experience we had on a night game drive.

Thanks to Andrei, the predator researcher at Mashatu. We spent an evening game drive with him and followed a leopard.

On a sad note, one of our guides on our walking safari, Paul Grobler, at Mashatu passed away a couple weeks ago at the age of 40. He had a massive heart attack. He was a big part of manning the Nat Geo wildcam Africa at Pete's Pond as well. It is a huge loss for all and my memories of our short time together will live on forever.

My photos and videos were taken with the Canon S2. I took 20MG of memory cards and an Epson P3000 for backup.

BIG TIP: If you are shooting lots of videos with this camera, this eats up your batteries like crazy. I took 3 packs of lithiums (one will last me a year normally)and went through those fast, had to use some of Cindy's and buy more at the gift shop at MM (that only lasted a day).
On the last day at MM we were about to witness a pride of lions kill a buffalo and I ran out of batteries. You can imagine the words I was using. Unfortunetly we were unable see the kill( we will not talk about it!)and I have learned a huge lesson about batteries.

The Epson P3000 was a favorite purchase (thanks Cindy and TomG). I enjoy carrying it around to show friends and relatives my favorite photos and videos. A terrific gadget!

Welcome back. How nice you teamed up with others from the board.

The Mashatu sightings list is outstanding!

Your other comments on Mashatu are touching. I want to know about the tree branch incident.

So you did this all by driving.

Off to the photos.

Nice picture of Fatty the croc. Looks like there was a little interpack sparing with the dogs. Plus a jackal. You mentioned some of the dogs suffered injuries from the wart hog. Were they ok? I once saw 1 wart hog send 7 wild dogs on their way.

Great cheetah action! Eland & kudu--all the big boys! The 3 baboons near the end are in perfect light, along with that lilac breasted roller. Your bee eater photo was wonderful. I can see why you fell in love with Mashatu.

Wonderful photos, Carla! It sounds like you, Cindy and the girls had a wonderful trip!

I'm so glad to see you've started your trip report.
I agree about Mashatu being a magical place. It's hard to explain, but it you said it best when you said "it touched my heart."
I love the pix!
We saw an aardwolf too, but very briefly-didn't get a photo.
I'm looking forward to more details.
Did you spend time at the hide?
We were there everyday between 11-3.

Hi Carla

Have just looked at your photos - just wonderful! I had to laugh at your MM ones, as I have so many exactly the same - it was if I was sitting right next to you! I actually looked at the Hemi ones first - he is so cute!

I am so looking forward to Mashatu in January 2009. Everyone seems to love it and I am sure I will not be the exception! Shame about the poor pythons and I am still amazed that wild dog will take on warthog. One photo that you have questioned as Goshawk, I think it is a Gymnogene, which of course is no longer its name.

And I am green with envy over your African Wild Cat sighting and photo!

I was delighted to be sharing the vehicle with you guys, and I am so lucky that you invited me to join you, as those last days gave me some absolutely fabulous gameviewing, especially of the Styx Pride and their cubs, one of my favourite prides and if I may mention, not the bad mothers that some would have you believe! Not like that Rollercoaster Male, who ran in the other direction with his meal when the Styx Pride Lionesses were fending off those Eyrefield Males.

We were all very lucky with our sightings, and as usual, all it does is make me want to return to see more!

Kind regards

Kaye

Carla - Thanks for “checking in”, I was wondering about your safari after the “9 months of labor”. Thanks for the tip about First Car Rental, were they are lot less $$$ than Avis do you recall? And good details on your driving route to/from Mashatu.

Glad the Styx pride had some tiny cubs for you. I saw the Eyrefield cubs a year ago when they were that small. So you had Rob as your ranger, me too in Sep 2007. Great guy I know he really took care of you all. And Nils too, he is a fantastic dinner companion with his years at MM and his stories.

Oh, and yes a lot of very nice photos, shows again that it is the Indian not the arrows that counts. But I must say that Cindy’s lens is not an arrow but a war spear I do believe!!!! Nice photo of Paul, rest his soul. The MM Styx cubs were at looks like a buffalo kill, you didn’t see the kill did you? There's Nils also trying Cindy’s lens, Nils is an excellent photographer and has a beautiful book on MM leopards.

Looking forward to more photos and more trip report from you and Cindy.

regards - tom

I will be in Mashatu in 4 weeks time and will reserve my final judgement until after my visit. I am however not encouraged by what you have been told.
If your poicture is supposed to be a baby elephant less than a day old, then it must have been extremely large at birth. The youngster you have pictured is almost touching its mothers belly, a sure sign that is nearly one year old.
Honey Badgers have never been known to kill Pythons as they are far to large, if anyone actually saw this it needs to be reported to researchers. On the other hand Pythons do kill Honey Badgers I have seen it myself at Gorongosa in South Africa, not a pretty sight and very pungent!

Ken,

Have a look at the following website:

http://www.honeybadger.com/FactFile/Diet.htm

It seems that they sometimes kill pythons.

Johann

I am most surprised.

Ken,

Remember the Leopard killing the Croc? Makes me think, anything possible ...... Or your footage of the Tsetsebe going down to the blood brothers, for that matter.

Now for the MM pics. Lots of heavenly, as you described it, pictures of the cubs. I'm sure it was hard to pull away from them. Some fine leopard shots as well! You did well with owls posing.

As for the dead pythons. I was wondering how you knew it was a honey badger, too. Odd, that there would be 2 dead pythons near each other. Were they intact? I would think they'd be at least partially consumed. Or do honey badgers not eat the pythons and just kill them for self defense? (Hope no one reads this with Sunday brunch.)

Skimmer's link indicates pythons are part of the honey badger diet, up to 3 meters!

When provoked, probably anything will kill most anything if it can.

Which reminds me, that was a vicious mongoose photo in Mashatu with its little snout all covered in blood. Not how we often picture them, all cute and scurrying. (Sorry again for the brunch eaters.)

Lynn, we were on a night game drive and the rear wheel on our vehicle ran over the end of a large loose tree branch and flipped it up over the side of the truck, hitting our tracker on the side of his face. It was such a freak accident. He took the next couple days off to go to the doctor and have it checked. Everything was ok but his face was messed up. I was sitting in the seat in front of him and felt the branch on my arm after it hit him. It was startling moment as it was dark and we couldn't tell what hit us at first (or attacked us! lol)

The vicious mongoose is actually licking his chops so the red you see is it's tongue. Kind of a interesting shot but it was still cute as could be.

I have close up photos and videos of the python that are pretty disgusting. You can see where the badger had been eating it. There was a group that saw it on the night drive, we didn't see it until the next day.

Hi Lilipets, I can't wait to hear about your trip. Sorry you had to leave the wild dog sighting. There is something to be said about traveling with game obsessed companions, no need to worry about that with our vehicle. I spent 3 afternoons at the hide. One time by myself and I fell asleep it was so peaceful. The other afternoons we did a walking tour with Paul, downloaded my photos, showered and washed my hair (it was too cold to do it in the am or pm)

Kaye, I almost took a shortcut with my photos and was going to say..."see Kaye's photos from 7/10 onwards". Yes... you would have thought we were sitting next to each other the entire trip! BTW, you have great narration on most of my MM videos, you will have to join Facebook and check them out! I am having trouble with names of a couple leopard photos if you want to help me out. And anything I have mislabeled let me know. We passed by the African wildcat. I asked Richard to back up so I could make sure that is what I saw and sure enough!

I will have to ask the "other" 6 ears if they heard the baby ellie was a day old. I remember Richard saying we can still see the blood on the mother's rear leg that you see in the photos. I will check it out and let you know.

Sniktawk, are you going to Main camp or tent camp? How long will you be staying? So there is a possibility you will see the new wild dog pups, lucky!! IMO, for the price of admission, you can't beat it. I'm not sure how long it will remain affordable for me. BTW, do you live in Africa? I think I read recently that you were at Mapula. Did you write about it or post photos?

Tom, the rental car was alot cheaper at First Car than Avis plus a few others that I compared. The main thing was they had the Nissan and it was an automatic trans which the others didn't offer.

I had to laugh about Cindy's spear! It was certainly a conversation piece. You would have laughed at my expression the first time I saw it. Oh and I did try to buy Nils' Living with Leopards book but he said it is no longer in publication and has been sold out for quite some time. I really was bummed as I wanted to get one and have him sign it.

I was glad I brought my planner along that had confirmations and prices I had booked online. On several occasions there were disputes on the agreed upon prices and I had my papers to back it up so it was never an issue.

Carla, you are getting me so excited for my trip to Mashatu and Mala Mala in Nov/Dec. I can't wait. I am hoping to see the dogs though I am sure they will have moved on from the den by then. I am so sad to hear Nils book is sold out. I didn't buy it last December and had been planning on buying it this year and having him sign it! Oh well! Your pictures are great!

Carla,
Did I read correctly that you are on facebook with your videos?
I'd love to find out how I can see them.
Thanks!
Lily

Great pics! I can relate to you feelings about Mashatu. I spent 5 days in tent camp in 2004 (pre-wild dogs) and really enjoyed how different the landscape was from the other parts of Botswana I had been to. And your list confirms that the game viewing is better and more diverse than some people think.

PS. The bird you wanted help identifying is a gymnogene.

Wonderful gallery and thanks for reporting back. How fun to see Sundowner, her daughters and Kaye. At least you knew you weren't sharing the vehicle with hunters.

Carla M
We have now been told that Tented Camp is full and that as we have booked a private vehicle we must use Main Camp. We are there for 4 nights at the end of September, we hope to see Wild Dogs at Mapula as well.

Great photos and report Carla, it sounds like an amazing trip. I'm off to Mala Mala and Mashatu in just under 2 weeks time and taking a friend who's never been to Africa so it seems as though it's going to be an incredible trip!

We have 3 nights at Mala Mala and 4 nights at Mashatu. I'd appreciate opinions on whether it's worth doing the predator drive at Mashatu or as we have limited time should we stick with the regular drives?

Hi Carla

Goodness, Rob looks about 10' tall! I have a few leopard identifications for you - photo #2434 is the Ngoboswan Female. Photo #2916 is the Emswagwen Male and Photo #3270 is the Tjellahanga Male with one eye close to being blind if not blind. Also the owl with the kill was a Giant Eagle Owl.

Kind regards

Kaye

I see you've been busy as a bee on your captions, including the White Fronted Bee Eater Photo.

I tried to help with that vultureish bird with the black at the end of its beak. I'm still looking. Hopefully a bird expert will take a look in the meantime.

I saw the open mouth of the slender mongoose, but maybe the extra red on its face was just rosy cheeks.

Cute mother and baby giraffe.

What's so ironic about the rare African Wildcat photo is that it looks no more exotic than the domestic kitty hiding behind the car tire.

I checked out the Cape Town photos again because I now can put them in context.

Carla you really had some outstanding game viewing! From an ardwolf and a wild cat to cheetahs and wild dogs. Quite the spectrum!

Given your good fortune, I would have thought your whimsical request for a pangolin sighting would have been fulfilled. BTW I recently answered an agent's question via email as to what my wildlife viewing objectives were by replying - "baby pangolins." I think she did not quite understand I was kidding around with her as she scrambled to find my best shot at fullfilling that request.*s*

You really had some nice cooperative Grey Louries and lilac breasted rollers and got some very nice shots.

Is the view from the tent porch just the immediate bush in front of you or is their more of a vista that I can see on your photo?

Carla, you have some great pictures! I haven't really had time to look at mine yet but I guess I can just look at yours and Kaye's until I do because they'll all be the same

Mashatu was certainly as good as I remembered it being from my stay there in 2003. Not as many lions or leopards like you find at MalaMala but we did see them. And there sure was lots of other "good stuff". My first bat earred fox
sighting at Mashatu and I can't believe I missed the porcupine. Seeing a porcupine (in the daylight) is on my "to see" list. Along with the pangolin

And the drive between camps. How awesome was that. I'm so very glad we added extra days to be able to drive. I know people always talk about how beautiful the drives are and I'm always, yeah, yeah, yeah, just give me more game drives. I was so wrong. The drives are definitely worth adding on extra days. I can't believe how many baobab trees we saw when we left Mashatu. Crazy!

Maybe I'm getting ahead of you. I'll wait to comment more when you are posting the trip report.

Carla, If you want Pangolins, next time team up with Cybor. Right off the bat--pangolin.

GreenDrake That's hilarious about your agent. So what did she come up with?

Great trip report, Carla. I cannot wait to hear more. Great images, too! I was surprised to see Nils out with a lens. Glad to see that he is able to get out every now and then. I know I would be itching to get out as often as I could.

Your report has me looking forward to 2010 when I will be back at Mala Mala and then at Mashatu. It is a nice 1-2 punch in my book.

Andy

Thanks for all the nice comments and help with the id's!

LynneB, the predator drive with Andrei was very interesting and we did track a young leopard. It replaced one of our evening game drives and Andrei came along in our vehicle with our ranger Richard. Keep in mind you will see lots of leopards at Mala Mala and we had 12 game drives at Mashatu. Are you staying at tent camp? Did I remember correctly that you are also self driving?

Lily, for Facebook.com just type my name (Carla Mitroff) in search and request that we be friends, I will accept, then you can view everything.

Jjmb, I saw some photos on pbase of wild dogs at Mashatu in 2002 and read they used to be there many years ago. It's wonderful they are
being re-introduced to the area and have 2 litters of pups now!

Greendrake, the view out of the tents is looking at the thick brush, just as you see in the photos. They have wires to keep the elephants out but that's it. We could hear the eles but never see them. The vervets were always flying around through the trees and we saw a porcupine and bushbuck next to our tent. At night you could hear the jackals and hyenas calling.

They have an AWESOME boma at Mashatu tent camp with an amazing view of the hide/waterhole. I can't believe I didn't take a photo as I never took my camera to dinner. One night we were having dinner and a huge herd of ellies came in for a drink. That was the best dinner of my life and I don't even remember what I was eating. But to be able to sit by the campfire, under the stars, drinking Amarula and watching ellies drink...well it just doesn't get any better than that!
Cindy and I decided we want to build a replica in our backyards~lol!

Yes, we're staying at the tented camp and now you've mentioned the boma overlooking the waterhole, I'm so excited about my trip I feel like a 5 year old waiting for Christmas!


We're not self driving - limited time and scared friend. Something else I have to do in the future and an excuse to return!

Lynneb, I know that excitement all too well! Have a terrific trip. Tell everyone that Carla says hi.

Lots of Fodorites on their way to Africa...Andy Biggs, Tom G, Johan, Dennis (Matnikstym), Safarichuck....
I have enough FF miles for 2 more trips but no vacation time left...boo hoo! Have a great time all of you!!!!

Cybor and pangolins...will have to make note of that one!

Carla: I'm late catching up to this but the report and photos are terrific! I love the variety at Mashatu, very nice to see good photos of slender mongoose, aardwolf, and African wildcat as well as eland which are difficult to photograph in most locations. Seeing the wound on the wild dog is a good reminder that the life of a predator is not so easy as most think and that was quite an impressive warthog that they took down. I really like the cheetah photo with one jumping over the back of the others and of course the leopard and lion from Mala Mala are captivating.

Good to see photos of all of you too, especially like Sundowner holding up the python head. I'll have to watch the videos soon.

As Carla said - there are several of us headed to Mashatu in the near future. I will be there December 1 for 3 nights. Will anyone else be there then????

I wanna go back right now...I wish flights were cheaper....

Hey, Bill. That snake was heavy. And it felt so gross. And it was kind of slippery. And gross. Richard found a paper towel in the vehicle and I used that to hold it. Did I mention it was gross?

Cindy: at 12 feet long I'm sure it was very heavy. The paper towel and I thought possibly a glove too with kind of a mix of pride and disgust is why I thought it was such a classic photo. I credit you for getting involved, most people wouldn't get that hands on even with the paper towel. Looks like such a fun trip, wish I would have been able to tag along with my Ashley.

Bill, it would have been so much fun having you and and "your" Ashley come along. Perhaps next time.

Cindy is off again to Canada...photographing the grizzlies!

And let me tell you...that python was REALLY gross.

I read "next time." What's the plan and timing for nexttime?

Your 6 and 4 breakdown seemed ideal for this trip and it produced "beyond incredible."

How did I miss this? (Aaah, just checked the date, I was away myself).

WELCOME back and thanks for the report! Sounds like a fabulous trip!

Hi Carla,

Love the photo's that you took. They are fantasic. Did you really take them with a Canon S2!. What else did you have to take such terrific shots.How did you get so close to the animals.I am very interested as I am going to South Africa next year for the second time and would like to buy a new and easy camera to use.I have a slr Canon at the moment.Did you have it set to Auto or did you adjust it.Please let me know. Regards Vicki

Vicki, it was just my little ol trusty Canon S2. And believe me, I had lens envy as all my other vehicle mates had some impressive camera gear. Getting close to the animals was thanks to our rangers/trackers. I shot on manual and used the cloudy or foliage modes most of the time. Occasionally I would try the auto mode. We had all sunny days at Mashatu and all cloudy days at Mala Mala so that played havoc with the photos. I used my video mode quite a bit more on this trip which is fun to watch now that I am home. Thanks for your comments. I just enlarged my Mala Mala leopard photo to an 11x14 and all I can say is WOW~ I really need to start printing and framing some of my favorites rather than leaving them on my computer.

Once again, just now, in Sep I took the S2 primarily for its video mode. It also does mighty nice still shots. Carla, try having Costco make some large prints for you, 11x14 for only $2.95. 12x18 same price. You may find a difference between what you see on your monitor and the Costco print. Color management is the problem. You may have to make a test print with Costco, if you don't like it they will refund cost. Then tweek the original photo jpg you give Costco. The idea being to correct for their printing/your monitor difference so you get prints you like.

For S2 settings (stills and video) I use the "P" mode with white balance set for "cloudy", and auto ISO. This makes for somewhat "warmer" photos that I like. Especially with overcast skies and even night shots with vehicle headlights look fine.

regards- tom
ps - I also had too many cloudy days on safari. Usually makes for flat looking photos. Trip report coming in a little while, Kings Camp and Ngala Lodge.

Thanks Tom. When I bought my memory cards at Costco there were coupons for 50 free prints in each package so I have 200 free prints coming. Probably for 4x6 though.

For anyone interested, there were 25 wild dogs at Pete's Pond today on the Wildcam. 13 adults and the 12 pups visited (for the first time)!! Very exciting news.

But no one go to Mashatu...it's really crummy there!!!

Here is a video from YouTube of the Wild dogs and pups:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4eQ_0oKfU

Hi Carla - Watched first 3 minutes, assuming next 6 minutes are the same. Did he ever zoom in so to see a dog big on screen? Needs much editing. No color, except sepia, in the video. YouTube problem? Decent sound.

How's your S2 video editing coming? Maybe someone here will offer an easy way. I use the program TMPGEnc or edit in Proshow. Have you tried editing in the camera?

Have you read sniktawk's recent report on Mashatu? Your experience much better than his, yes? Sundowner agree with you?

regards - tom
ps - where's Sundowners photos using that colossal Canon lens?

Great scene Carla - pups plus elands!! I was wondering if they feed upon elands. Quick web search on The African Wild Dog Conservation website states they will feed on more medium sized antelopes. They will chase eland and buffalo, but rarely kill them.

Off to Mashautu in 2 weeks and hoping to get a first hand look at the pups!

GreenDrake = Lucky

Carla, The word that came to mind when the video played was swarming. Dogs everywhere and coupled with eland, what a unique combo!

I'd be interested in your observations of collared animals, #s in your vehicle, horseback riding trips that you may have encountered and jumping courses. Sniktawk was not happy with some of these things on a recent Mashatu trip and I wondered if you noticed them as well.

Thanks Carla!

Green Drake, it is really interesting to watch the interaction between the wild dogs and other animals. Quite frequently we watch them "play" around with the waterbuck at the pond. Waterbuck are so amazing how they guard each other and especially their young. A couple weeks ago one of the females chased the dogs away. I will see if I can find the video, it was great. I haven't heard of them catching anything bigger than impala (and there are thousands at Mashatu). The Elands are multiplying like crazy there at the moment.

I didn't check out the horse safari's. We saw several leopard on our regular game drives and only one collared while with Andrei, the predator researcher. I think he said there were 4 total that were collared. We saw cheetah every day except one and none were collared. Out of the thousands of elephants that are there, 4 are collared. None of this was any surprise as I had researched and read every page on the website about their activities. We saw lions and none were collared.

The 4 of us had our own vehicle the entire time except on 2 game drives which we shared with one other couple. If we had any special requests, they were happy to oblige. We were up before sunrise and out on drives when the sun came up and stayed out way past the normal time. I never felt we were shorted time on game drives for one minute. Even after our poor tracker got smacked in the head with a large tree branch, he wanted to stay out but we thought it would be best to go back to camp.

I am sure Cindy will be happy to chime in. This was a return trip for her to Mashatu and Mala Mala.

Green Drake,
Here is that video taken at the Pond of the wild dogs and the waterbucks. It gets interesting around the 3-1/2 min mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-eEjJmXb8E

These are not my videos from the trip, but captures taken on the Nat Geo Africa Wildcam.

scoote29 - you have that right. In fact all of us that have had the opportunity to see these animals in the wild are one lucky bunch!!!


Carla - thanks for the link! I have been trying to time my peeks at the webcam to try to catch them live and have just missed them several times. I tell you watching a mother waterbuck protecting her young against this pack is one impressive sight!

Not sure if you have seen this one from the Pond, but I came upon this one on youtube right after I viewed your link. 14 dogs versus 3 female waterbucks and their 2 calfs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxmXLfzqBWw

Yes GreenDrake, that was one of my other favorite interactions.

The wild dogs and pups just made another appearance at the pond. The pups are really growing fast!

Here is the link to Cindy's (Sundowner) photos:

http://www.pbase.com/cjw

This is hysterical! Talk about lens envy. A mystery person took this photo of us at Mashatu... we have no idea who... and posted it on this website. Cindy found it accidentally while googling info about the release of the wild dogs.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=537800

Ok, found it, way down past the wild dog photos. (Nice shots).

That's you in the center with that little silver thing, right? Well, at least it's a Canon and not Nikon

regards - tom

Hi Carla

What a coincidence that Cindy even found this photo! So, you never know who is taking your photo. Fancy taking a photo specifically of you guys with all your camer equipment - as amazing as Cindy's camera stuff was! You really don't see those huge lenses a lot and I still laugh when I think of how much fun Rob had when other rangers arrived at the sighting!

Kind regards

Kaye

Yeah Kaye, you just never know! So not only were we being spied on at Mashatu, but by the smelly ones at Mala Mala too.

Oh Tom, I forgot to tell you that Rob is no longer at Mala Mala. I don't know what happened but was sad to hear the news.

It is kind of weird to find a picture of all of us on the web. Katie was disappointed that she wasn't in the picture

Rob's gone? So sad! Every ranger I've had at MM has left shortly after I've been there. Tim, Leon and now Rob.

Yeah, Rob Scott was my MM ranger in Sep 2007. I really liked him. Here's a shot of him bringing over a water monitor lizard for closer look.
http://tinyurl.com/6dq6gq
(Yeah, I know he is interfering with the wildlife. The lizard is letting him know that also!!!!).

I think the average term as ranger there is about 2 years. Most go on to do something completely different. All they do would burn me out also in two years.

Cindy, you just can't leave those rangers so heartbroken, it ruins them.

regards - tom

Hey, Tom. Heartbroken, right I don't think I could last 6 months as a ranger there. Or headranger, anyway. Headranger has the same duties as the other rangers plus reviewing the incoming guests to make vehicle assignments so they don't clash (because of nationality) and I think he also worked on the cyberdiary. Seems like more than 24 hour had to fit in every day.

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know what the circumstances behind Rob Scott's reason for leaving Mala Mala was.

He was indeed Head Ranger at Mala Mala and had worked there for 22 months! On one afternoon he had off, he ventured to Londolozi to visit a friend. When he returned home (Mala Mala) he was informed that he was fired.

It is a known fact that Mr.Rattray does not have a very friendly relationship with the Varty's(owners of Londolozi) and the idea of a Mala Mala ranger over at Londolozi probably made him furious. So make what you want of this.

This information came from a reliable source at Mala Mala.

Good day,

KL

I would say two years as a Mala Mala ranger is good going.

A few reasons for this a couple of which are:

- they like to recruit young, very white, very middle class guys who have no intention of working on that sort of wage for very long, it's almost an elongated summer break. The fact Rob could become Head Ranger with less than thre years working at MMM says it all.
- the management (despite all the smiles for the tourists and their names being mentioned here as being great guys) are a set of tw@ts to work for as evidenced by the last post

Krugerlover is correct about there being no love lost between Londolozi and MM. However, whereas MM has hardly any ranger with more than a couple of years experience (never mind having only one black ranger) Londolozi has several who have been there for a many years.

So Cindy...YOU are the jinx-er!

I am sure Rob will excel at whatever he chooses, he is just that kind of guy. But the reasoning behind him leaving sounds goofy to me. I sent him an email but if he's as busy as he was at Mala Mala I am sure it will be awhile before he checks his emails.

On a lighter note, here are a couple of my favorite/short unedited videos from the trip:

(Be sure to click on "watch in high quality" first)


STYX pride lion cubs at Mala Mala:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWMrYtIFTD0


Elephant family @ Mashatu (R rated):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovHwuFHJe5A

Close elephant encounter Mashatu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPOzZ5BliM

I think in the elephant family video, Cindy was commenting on the size of the bulls tusks and Ashley wanted to know which one was the male?

Of course, I just wanted to know how old that cute little baby was

Thanks Carla for the links. Those cubs are so cute. Did you see them squabble over nursing at mom? They can sometimes really get nasty towards each other.

Learned two things about Youtube. "Watch in high quality" was new to me. And it does make a difference. FWIW, the first cub video has a downloaded file size of 4MB in normal mode and 13MB in high quality. And, video files that come down to you don't disappear on playing, they are in your internet temp or cache folders. You can go in and save them if you wish. Their name is an unrecognizable number. But will be dumped out when the cache size reaches its limit. I also learned that you can make the youtube video full size by clicking on a little button on lower right side.

Regarding the eles, that sure was a young one. And re the bull, as one guide I had said - his fifth legged out now.

regards - tom

Was just reading the Mala Mala cyberdiary and they are posting guests videos now and the one of took of the Styx pride cubs is on their website =)

http://www.malamala.com/wildlife.htm

You're famous Carla!

They should give you three complimentary nights at MM!!! Or, at least a complimentary coke on your next visit!!!

regards - tom
ps - yes, if you didn't know, MM charges for cokes/soft drinks!!!

Carla-

It was your trip report that prompted me to book the Mala Mala/Mashutu trip in September and was able to go at the end of October. A as a repeat guest at Mala Mala, it felt like going home, especially to see the Eyrefield lions growing up.

In regards to the somewhat negative sounding guide comments, I would like to point out Nils and Tom have been there for a very long time, as has Bruce and several other guides. They are overworked, but when you speak with any of them-they appreciate where they are and the awesome animal viewing available. Which does make their job easier when there is always something exciting to see.

The welcome-back guest visits prove how special Mala Mala is, and who really cares about the price of a coke. I could only hope there are no further comments about charging for cokes. Beats the heck out of the price of a cup of coffee at the London airport.

Your photos are great, thank you for the inspiration to go and I am glad to have found space on such short notice. The staff at Mashatu were equally awesome, and horseback riding spectacular.

Happy New Year, Mala Mala lovers!

I'm not complaining about the -price- of a coke, it's that they charge -anything- for one!!!!

I've been to MM three times, not planned for 2009, maybe 2010. Last visit was Sep 2007. Here's a few photos from that trip, the first page or so is Kruger and Kings Camp then MM.
http://tinyurl.com/7hdwjo

Happy New Year!!!!!

regards - tom

"and who really cares about the price of a coke"

obviously the owner does

div

Carla,
I am a member of Facebook, and would LOVE to view your videos. Please let me know how to "become your friend".
Barbara Eidel

Carla,

After reading your fabulous report and looking at the wonderful photos and video, I'm considering this combo.

I was already planning Mala Mala for 2010, but couldn't decide if I wanted to do a group tour for the Botswana portion of the trip I was planning or not. The only benefit of that for me is that I'm going to be traveling solo and tours help with the transport issue (no one I know will go on safari with me - they're crazy!).

However, I really don't like tour groups and you seemed to have an acceptable experience using the game drives provided by the camps so I think I would rather forego the tour and just spend all the time at the two camps instead of jumping around. I probably would do the fly in instead of the drive in due to the "alone" factor.

I did really want to spend at least a day viewing Victoria Falls. Does anyone know how easy it might be to take a quick detour there either before Mashatu or after? Although, I will be going in October and I hear the Falls are not as spectacular then so maybe it would be best to just skip it this trip? It might give me a good excuse to return! Not that I need one...

Just curious - on your game drives, did they make sure there was no one in the middle seat? I take lots of photos and definitely need to be on the outside.

Thank you for posting your experience with these two Camps! I can't wait to visit them.

CJ

Mala Mala and Mashatu are under common ownership, and I believe there is now a twice-weekly flight directly between the two, making transfers between these two properties easy, provided that you want to stay long enough at each to accommodate the limited inter-camp transfer schedule. In any event, it will also require a flight from JNB to one, and then back to JNB from the other.

Although Mashatu is in Botswana, it's about as far from VF as you can get and still be in Botswana. So getting to VF will require another flight (probably from JNB) into either Livingstone or VF Town, which I think is about $550 round trip.

I was at VF in Oct 2007 and saw the falls from both the Zam and Zim sides. Not much water at that time of year, but spectacular geology nonetheless. IMO, however, not worth a flight into VF for that alone. If you were in northern Bots on safari and could get over to VF easily and cheaply, It would be more worthwhile.

Thank you for your reply. I'm actually thinking of staying for two or three nights at Kubu Lodge and doing a day trip on the river and things like that(they also have a day trip to Victoria falls from the lodge but only the Zimbabwe Side and I don't know if that's the right side to see the falls in October).

However, Kubu does almost seem like back-tracking if I have to fly back to JNB to get to Mashatu. I can't find a flight that goes from Victoria Falls to Mashatu without going back to JNB.

But that's interesting news about the possibility of a flight between Mala Mala and Mashatu. That would be a lot easier than having to keep flying back to JNB! I'll check that one out.

Thanks!

CJ

Carla

There used to be a flight from Limpopo Valley to Kasane, which I believe is not too far from VF.

Thank you. I'll check that flight combo.

I wanted to tell anyone else consider this Mashatu and Mala Mala conversation that I have confirmed that they now have a flight that goes between these two camps. Good news!

CJ

Carrie, that is so exciting that you are going to Mala Mala and Mashatu! Thank you for the compliments. What time of the year are you going? How many days do you have to spare? Will you stay at Tent Camp or Main Camp at Mashatu?

You may also want to keep a lookout for photos and info from KayeN who just returned from both locations. She has some terrific sightings despite some unfavorable weather conditions. She had flight arrangements to and from the camps although bad weather canceled the MM to Mash flight and they had to use a ground transfer which they did in one day (not recommended).

Rickmck gave you good info. I only have the original email from June 3, 2008 when they were going to have one flight on Sundays starting July 08. So the news about a 2nd flight is good to know.

I was very fortunate to have been able to coordinate my trip with Sundowner (Cindy) and her 2 daughters trip. We were also very fortunate to have the game drive vehicle all to ourselves for the most part. Cindy sat up front with our ranger, I had the 2nd row and the two girls had the 3rd row. Our tracker sat in the last row. At Mala Mala, Kaye and I shared the 2nd row. We are all obsessive game viewers and never had any conflicts when to leave or stay at sightings. It was fantastic to be with such great travel companions.

I visited Vic Falls on my first trip in 2005 but was staying in Kasane (Chobe National Park) so it was easy to get to. Have you checked with Mala Mala about getting there. They have a package deal, I don't know if you saw this but I will post it again:

http://www.malamala.com/itinerary.htm

You may have to save that one for another trip =)

Please let us know if you have any questions and keep us updated on your progress!

Oops, sorry I didn't read back far enough. Shellcat! How did I miss you? Tell us about your trip. Did you post photos? Did you stay at Tent camp or Main Camp at Mashatu?

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about both these places and can't wait to return. I still feel "connected" by watching Nat Geo's Wildcam AFrica at Pete's Pond and reading the cyberdiaries. I chat directly with the cam operator at Pete's Pond on the Nat Geo forum. The technology blows my mind!!!

And Tom...knock it off with the cokes dear or I am going to have Atravelyn beat you with her waders.

Hey, my smart off about cokes was two weeks ago!!!! Where you been girl???? No, no please don't let atravelynn pronk me with her waders!!!!

regards - tom
ps - isn't that true, months after a safari you still often think about it!!!

Carla,

This is the itinerary I'm looking at (self-designed but the first 4 days are with GAP in Cape Town, web: http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/TDACY4N) beginning on the 25th or 26th of September next year):

Day 1 Overnight flight to Cape Town

Day 2-4 Cape Town

Day 5 Cape Town to Chobe National Transfer to Kubu Safari Tented Camp for a 3 night stay.
http://www.kubulodge.net/

Day 6 Kubu Safari Camp
Chobe River cruise, game drive

Day 7 Kubu Safari Camp
Victoria Falls day tour

Day 8 Kubu to Johannesburg
Transfer from Kubu Camp to Livingstone for the flight to Johannesburg. Overnight at airport hotel.

Day 9-13 Johannesburg to Mashatu
http://www.mashatu.com/tentcamp.htm

Day 14-19 Mala Mala game reserve,
http://www.malamala.com/

Day 20 Mala Mala to Johannesburg
That evening board the overnight flight back to the USA.

Day 21 Home!
----
This is inspired by your trip but does depend on me finding someone to share a room with because it is an extra $3,300 if I can't find a roomie. I have a couple people interested so my fingers are crossed! Otherwise, I may drop Cape Town and Kubu and just do the two reserves alone.

I am in touch with Angela from Mala Mala who is going to help with the air scheduling and bookings. She has already been incredibly helpful, but the rates for 2010 aren't out yet so it is a waiting game until then.

Do you think I'll see the wild dogs in October??

I'm so excited about this trip!

-Carrie

Carla-

I am with you on the webcam-it is an addiction that quite possibly will never go away. The rains were very late this year, so it was just starting to turn green during the first week of November. The combination of the two places, Mala Mala and Mashatu made for an interesting trip because they are so different. I had planned on staying at the tent camps, but my
TA switched us at the last minute as the weather hit 108 degrees on arrival day. Oddly enough, it dropped fifty degrees two days later and we bundled up. The highlights were certainly going out with Jeanneta and Andrie for the elepant/leopard programs. And without a doubt, horseback riding with Limpopo Valley stables is something I will never forget. You do need to be an experienced rider, and they do put you through a test in the arena before taking anyone out. We were surrounded by elephants both days, safely moved up and around them, tracked giraffes, saw newborn baby wildebeests (which turns out to be the gauge for the rains coming, per our guide)and the list goes on. Must be a true gauge, as it began pouring down rain the day we departed. Finally saw wild dogs on this trip as the pack of 25 came back over from the South Africa side to provide entertainment.

We ended having to charter a plane from Mala Mala to Mashatu which was very expensive. Not sure about the flight a previous person mentioned as I never heard or saw such an option.

Great leopard viewing at Mala Mala as once again, the trees were just starting to bloom and the Sand River had not started to flow, so the Bicycle Male was easily found and quite beautiful I showed Andrie photos of Mr. Bicycle-and Andrie was amazed at his size and condition.

We stayed in the main camp at Mala Mala and enjoyed meeting so many interesting people. This was different from staying at Rattray's as people seem to enjoy their time at the villas, verses the backdeck of Main Camp. Both are awesome.

We were at the Styx pride kill of the Cape Buffalo that is posted on the youtube. link at the Mala Mala site. That was certainly a first to go from casually watching the Styx lionesses sleeping, being lazy to one hour later stalking the buffalo and bringing him down.

One more thing, meeting the woman who runs Pete's Pond was really incredible. She truly enjoys her job, and it was nice to thank her in person for giving all of us our "fix"

It always seems like there are enough trip photos, and with Kaye just getting back, she will post more recent photos of the lions and leopards. People are always amazed how close we get, and the quality of photos we bring home.

Hope this inspires other people to visit both camps as well!

Carrie, that is quite an itinerary. In fact that is my 2005 and 2008 trip combined. Is this a first trip to Africa for you? Very diversified trip, I like that.

With wild dogs at Mala Mala and Mashatu, chances are good you could see them. And lots of elephants at Mashatu and Chobe too. Hope the roomie situation pans out for you.

You should start a separate post on your trip preparations and keep us updated. I am excited for you

Shellcat, thanks for sharing your wonderful experiences. I saw that You Tube video of the buffalo kill. Are you friends with Matt?

I couldn't agree more, MM and Mashatu are so different from each other and a great combo. I hope to meet Jeanetta the next time I visit Mashatu. She is visiting the US right now but unfortunetly not the West coast. Do you post on the Nat Geo forum too?

CarlaM, do you know if Jeanetta is here in connection with the research projects (such as doing a speaking or fund raising tour)? If so, do you know where she is likely to be and when? (if you prefer, you can email me at rick dot mck at hotmail dot com). Thanks, rickmck

Hi Carla,

It will be my second trip to Africa (well, third if you count Egypt - but the second safari. The first was to Tanzania this past October).

Good idea about starting a new post. I'll do that as soon as things get firmed up a little more...

Also, I believe I have someone who wants to go, but that was before I got the quote from Angela at Mala Mala on just Mashatu and Mala Mala with flights from JNB...a little bit of sticker shock so we'll see if the person is still interested.

But I believe it will be totally worth the expense even if I have to charge half of it and pay it back when I return.

~Carrie

Ahh yes, the sticker shock...I have experience that before

Rick, she said vacation. I will ask about speaking tour and let you know. She is also visiting the UK.

The email I received in June 08 for the charter flight between MM and Mashatu on Sundays cost R2900 per person, one way. It didn't mention any s/s charge.

I beleive Jeanetta is in Colorado visiting friends, and hopes to get some funding as well. No speaking tour was mentioned when I was there in November, although that would have been a great idea.

Check out this week's Mala Mala cyberdiary, we could only be as lucky as Matt with all the great sightings last week. He is sure to have a great trip.

Matt, please say hi to Nils and Tom when you arrive!

Shellcat (shelly)