Sabi Sands Trip Report
Apr 21st, 2008, 12:24 PM
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Sabi Sands Trip Report
Thanks everyone for their kind input to my Sabi Sands safari, now its payback time, my thoughts on the 3 lodges we stayed at during our trip, 3 weeks ago. Just to remind you our aim was to see some leopards up close and personal, and possibly see lions doing something, not just lying lazily in the sun. After much debate and consideration we decided to hang the expense and go to Mala Mala, even though with a 13 year old this was quite a budget stretch. We also wanted to go to Nottens, as we felt this would furfil our desire for a more low key and authentic bush experience ( or at least as close as you can get in Sabi Sands) Unfortunately availability was such that we could only book 3 days at Mala Mala and 2 days at Nottens , at the last moment I decided to add 2 more days to the schedule and on the advice of a safari company found randomly on the net ( the very efficient Ghecko Safaris) decided upon the affordable Idube Lodge for 2 days – which has very little write up on this forum.
We arrived first rather tired and ratty after a 3 hour delayed flight from Cape Town and an hour and a half land transfer to Idube. The lodge itself is rather modest, it has pleasant communal areas, and a series of red brick round rooms that strangely reminded me of my mum’s 1960’s build bungalow in Northern Ireland, complete with 60’s tiled bathroom. The rooms are adequate rather than designer, but come with a nice deck, comfy loungers and a view over the bush. Immediately we were sent out on our first drive. I had forgotten just how bushy this area is compared to the wide open plains of east Africa or beauty of South Luangwa and for a while my heart sank, there really seemed to be nothing out there at all! But after a short while the usual suspects began to turn up, the ubiquitous impala, Kudu, Zebra etc. Our driver, Robert then screeched to a halt, popped out of the jeep and hooked a puff adder onto his stick, it was looking rather the worse for wear, with some deep looking wounds. We returned o that path later on the drive and found a large cobra on the track, our driver was convinced it had attacked and killed the puff adder.
Next Robert asked if we would like to see an old leopard eating a smelly giraffe, well who could resist? We drove hard and fast and there it was... a leopard with an enormous, and exceptionally odorous dead giraffe. The leopard seemed almost exhausted from the effort of eating it, but he was huge.. the biggest leopard I’d ever seen, anyway apparently he hadn’t killed the giraffe but it had died of natural causes and he had scavenged it... a great end to the day.. but not quite the end. That night all the guests ate together around the boma and the food was simply exceptional.. probably the best we ate in Sabi Sands. Chefy came out to introduce the food (and had obviously eaten a reasonable amount of it himself) and was clearly really really proud of his work. The meal was convivial and fun .. Idube may not be the most luxurious of lodges but its friendliness and rangers knowledge more than made up for it.
The next morning we took off into the scrub and after about 10 minutes hubby screamed out in a commanding voice “oy stop!” We did, reversed and there indeed was our second leopard. Young female, mischievous and stalking some impala... but not too well, they soon cleared off and we were left to witness her leaping around in the scrub chasing hares - for all the world like my Bengal cat at home.
That evening we set out to look for lions and after quite a drive found 3 young lionesses and a young male. They looked really hungry and set off with intent down a track. Robert told us the small young pride had discovered they could trap game against the Sabi Sands fence and had taken to hunting that way. We retired and stopped for a drink, only to be called back to the lions by the other Idube vehicle. Right on cue they had trapped a wildebeest against the fence, we drove Formula 1 style down the track to witness the young gang ripping the carcass apart.. another exceptionally smelly encounter, and the closest I’d come yet to a kill. The noises the ferocity of the lions had nothing in common with the cute scenes on sleeping felines we’d witnessed until then. More gorgeous food that night left us groaning but satisfied with the day.
Guess what, another day, another leopard, close enough to touch - a real beauty - how many leopards does this place have!!. Next for a closer than close elephant encounter, Robert our tracker claimed he knew and trusted this small group of elephants so he wasn’t phased when they came so so close you could have just reached over to touch mama elephants inquisitive trunk. Baby elephant kept mock charging us for fun, and when finally we left timed his last charge just right to look like he’d chased us off, but his mum came charging over and told him off.. I swear she was saying “don’t hassle the humans they’re harmless you know” Ok I have to admit I missed one of the drives, all those early mornings did me in and I’m not used to the nosiness of the aircon and without it the room was hot. Hubby nad daughter saw 3 of the males in that coalition of 6 that by repute have been causing havoc in the area and killing and eating other lions! Also lots and lost of Rhino, 6 in one place! At no point did we feel there were too many jeeps at the sightings, 3 at most and often just us... So I really would recommend the place for a reasonably priced hit of Sabi Sands game viewing... next Mala Mala...
We arrived first rather tired and ratty after a 3 hour delayed flight from Cape Town and an hour and a half land transfer to Idube. The lodge itself is rather modest, it has pleasant communal areas, and a series of red brick round rooms that strangely reminded me of my mum’s 1960’s build bungalow in Northern Ireland, complete with 60’s tiled bathroom. The rooms are adequate rather than designer, but come with a nice deck, comfy loungers and a view over the bush. Immediately we were sent out on our first drive. I had forgotten just how bushy this area is compared to the wide open plains of east Africa or beauty of South Luangwa and for a while my heart sank, there really seemed to be nothing out there at all! But after a short while the usual suspects began to turn up, the ubiquitous impala, Kudu, Zebra etc. Our driver, Robert then screeched to a halt, popped out of the jeep and hooked a puff adder onto his stick, it was looking rather the worse for wear, with some deep looking wounds. We returned o that path later on the drive and found a large cobra on the track, our driver was convinced it had attacked and killed the puff adder.
Next Robert asked if we would like to see an old leopard eating a smelly giraffe, well who could resist? We drove hard and fast and there it was... a leopard with an enormous, and exceptionally odorous dead giraffe. The leopard seemed almost exhausted from the effort of eating it, but he was huge.. the biggest leopard I’d ever seen, anyway apparently he hadn’t killed the giraffe but it had died of natural causes and he had scavenged it... a great end to the day.. but not quite the end. That night all the guests ate together around the boma and the food was simply exceptional.. probably the best we ate in Sabi Sands. Chefy came out to introduce the food (and had obviously eaten a reasonable amount of it himself) and was clearly really really proud of his work. The meal was convivial and fun .. Idube may not be the most luxurious of lodges but its friendliness and rangers knowledge more than made up for it.
The next morning we took off into the scrub and after about 10 minutes hubby screamed out in a commanding voice “oy stop!” We did, reversed and there indeed was our second leopard. Young female, mischievous and stalking some impala... but not too well, they soon cleared off and we were left to witness her leaping around in the scrub chasing hares - for all the world like my Bengal cat at home.
That evening we set out to look for lions and after quite a drive found 3 young lionesses and a young male. They looked really hungry and set off with intent down a track. Robert told us the small young pride had discovered they could trap game against the Sabi Sands fence and had taken to hunting that way. We retired and stopped for a drink, only to be called back to the lions by the other Idube vehicle. Right on cue they had trapped a wildebeest against the fence, we drove Formula 1 style down the track to witness the young gang ripping the carcass apart.. another exceptionally smelly encounter, and the closest I’d come yet to a kill. The noises the ferocity of the lions had nothing in common with the cute scenes on sleeping felines we’d witnessed until then. More gorgeous food that night left us groaning but satisfied with the day.
Guess what, another day, another leopard, close enough to touch - a real beauty - how many leopards does this place have!!. Next for a closer than close elephant encounter, Robert our tracker claimed he knew and trusted this small group of elephants so he wasn’t phased when they came so so close you could have just reached over to touch mama elephants inquisitive trunk. Baby elephant kept mock charging us for fun, and when finally we left timed his last charge just right to look like he’d chased us off, but his mum came charging over and told him off.. I swear she was saying “don’t hassle the humans they’re harmless you know” Ok I have to admit I missed one of the drives, all those early mornings did me in and I’m not used to the nosiness of the aircon and without it the room was hot. Hubby nad daughter saw 3 of the males in that coalition of 6 that by repute have been causing havoc in the area and killing and eating other lions! Also lots and lost of Rhino, 6 in one place! At no point did we feel there were too many jeeps at the sightings, 3 at most and often just us... So I really would recommend the place for a reasonably priced hit of Sabi Sands game viewing... next Mala Mala...
Apr 21st, 2008, 07:18 PM
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Hi YvonneM
Wonderful gameviewing at Idube from the sounds of it! Those large males have seemed to create a lot of destruction - I saw them in January at MalaMala, and I am not sure I want them there again with the Eyrefield Pride still with 9 cubs around. From the cyberdiary, it does seem as if the Styx Pride have lost the four tiny cubs I saw in December and January.
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
Kind regards
Kaye
Wonderful gameviewing at Idube from the sounds of it! Those large males have seemed to create a lot of destruction - I saw them in January at MalaMala, and I am not sure I want them there again with the Eyrefield Pride still with 9 cubs around. From the cyberdiary, it does seem as if the Styx Pride have lost the four tiny cubs I saw in December and January.
Looking forward to the rest of your report.
Kind regards
Kaye
Apr 22nd, 2008, 03:44 AM
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I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Idube. I'll be there this summer. You're right about not hearing much about it on this forum so it's a relief to hear you had a wonderful experience.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.
Thanks
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.
Thanks
Apr 22nd, 2008, 05:35 AM
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Hi Kaye,
Yes - very sad for cubs in general this week - we just got updates the other day of the pride males from Selinda/Kwando and there appears to be huge question marks at the moment for those cubs too! I still have my fingers crossed, though .....
Looking at end September to familiar parts of Botswana, Kaye and will try to go to Chobe National park for two to three days to do the boat cruises and to be able to photographs the large elephant and buffalo herds over there!
Rgds
Hari
Yes - very sad for cubs in general this week - we just got updates the other day of the pride males from Selinda/Kwando and there appears to be huge question marks at the moment for those cubs too! I still have my fingers crossed, though .....
Looking at end September to familiar parts of Botswana, Kaye and will try to go to Chobe National park for two to three days to do the boat cruises and to be able to photographs the large elephant and buffalo herds over there!
Rgds
Hari
Apr 25th, 2008, 07:53 PM
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Hi Matt
I don't know that I would say the Styx Pride are the worst mothers - I would say they are tough mothers, but I think that is a good thing - you need to be tough to survive. The Eyrefield Pride has also had a very long break with cubs not surviving.
I also think it is an incredibly hard life - and a lioness puts her survival above that of her cubs. So I don't really agree that the Styx Pride are bad mothers. I certainly would like to see some survive to adulthood!
Kind regards
Kaye
I don't know that I would say the Styx Pride are the worst mothers - I would say they are tough mothers, but I think that is a good thing - you need to be tough to survive. The Eyrefield Pride has also had a very long break with cubs not surviving.
I also think it is an incredibly hard life - and a lioness puts her survival above that of her cubs. So I don't really agree that the Styx Pride are bad mothers. I certainly would like to see some survive to adulthood!
Kind regards
Kaye
Apr 25th, 2008, 10:48 PM
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Hi Kaye and Napamatt,
I got the feeling in January, that the Styx cubs were a little too young to be shuttled around? It must have been a pretty hectic period for them - given the fact that the Roller Coaster male wasn't in the best of form and the constant threat from the Ex-Eyerefield males??? Tough times for them up ahead .......
Good to note that the Eyerfield pride is doing good, though .......
Cheers
Hari
I got the feeling in January, that the Styx cubs were a little too young to be shuttled around? It must have been a pretty hectic period for them - given the fact that the Roller Coaster male wasn't in the best of form and the constant threat from the Ex-Eyerefield males??? Tough times for them up ahead .......
Good to note that the Eyerfield pride is doing good, though .......
Cheers
Hari
Apr 27th, 2008, 04:49 AM
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Hi Isabel25
I am certainly hoping we see the cubs in early July - speaking of the Eyrefield Pride. Maybe some more Styx Pride, but not the ones that I saw in January.
Also, I am keeping my fingers crossed for Wild Dog puppies!
Kind regards
Kaye
I am certainly hoping we see the cubs in early July - speaking of the Eyrefield Pride. Maybe some more Styx Pride, but not the ones that I saw in January.
Also, I am keeping my fingers crossed for Wild Dog puppies!
Kind regards
Kaye
Apr 28th, 2008, 11:39 AM
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Hi all sorry its taken a while to get to the second instalment but work has an annoying habit of getting in the way of the important things in life. On to Mala Mala then, our bank accounts may be empty but our expectations were high! We were collected by two of the rangers who turned up at Idube looking just as I had anticipated, with dark glasses ... Ranger Top Gun. On the drive to the camp we camp cross an extraordinary leopard sighting, just by the road and sitting silhouetted on a rock was a magnificent male just watching and waiting to pounce on some impala. But oh no we couldn’t stop, we were driving through Londolozi land and of course not allowed to linger even for a moment. What was quite weird was that I asked the rangers where we were and they simply said Sparta Farm, when I pressed and pressed and found out the truth I had to laugh at the thought they couldn’t bring themselves to name what appeared to be some kind of arch rival. On arrival at Main Camp I was pleasantly surprised, our room was spacious, and we loved the view from the main deck open - much more open and grand than the rather closed and scrubby scenery that Sabi Sands often offers. We had quite a scrumptious lunch, which again i hadn’t really expected and so on with the safari. Our vehicle companions were a truly delightful 70 year old granny from Australia who was treating her slightly sulky teenage grand daughter to a bonding trip. I must say she really helped make the experience fun and all the guests we meet at the lodge were entertaining and interesting people.
So on to the game then, our first evening drive found us seeking out the Eyrefield Pride, we drove fast to the Sand river where our ranger had clearly been tipped off they might be, and we then spent a magical hour in their company. The Rollercoster male was with them along with the 9 cubs, at first it was the typical sleeping lions scenario, but then as though to entertain us the cubs woke up and began an enormous feline love in with the mums and the male, they then decided to exert some power by spreading out as a pride and totally surrounding the vehicle. They gazed up at us with those piercing eyes in quite a disconcerting way, with the male close enough to stoke - it was almost scary. Finally they decided to let us leave and reluctantly we did. The next day we spent time searching for leopards. It must be said if I am honest I have some doubts about the methods and style of the tracking at Mala Mala. It certainly seemed to involve an awful lot of driving just slightly too fast to really see anything : and we never never stopped to check tracks. With a combination of the green season, a large area to traverse and fewer vehicles than the more densely tracked western sector we simply had less success in general than at Idube or Nottens. It could have been luck but I do think to some extent you make your own luck. Anyway a lot of unproductive tearing around was compensated by I guess the easier to track antics of the Eyrefield Pride and Styx prides, who nearly came to blows not too far from camp. This resolved with the Eyrefield Pride loping off in disgust to Londolozi, roaring their heads off in an attempt to lure the Rollercoster male away from their rivals. The cubs made a cute spectacle as they play fought on the way out.
There was a rumour at one stage of wild dogs on the property which made me mad with excitement, as I have never seen them “in real life”, but no luck..more of this later.
The next day was spent again chasing the elusive leopard. Eventually one of the other cars had tracked one down, this now was our 5th leopard sighting. Again he walked past within a hairs breadth but we had to share the sighting with 2 other vehicles, just the same as in the crowded multi lodge sectors of Sabi Sand. It all ended in farce when both our jeep and one of the others got stuck in the sand. Our poor tracker was most reluctant to let us get out, but we knew there was zero chance of getting pulled out with our heavy load on board and there was no chance the leopard would take on 3 cars, 15 people and 3 guns (although I guess he didn’t know about the guns) Anyway we did persuade him to let us out and eventually the jeep was pulled free.. all in a days fun! That evening we had a cool moment while drinking sundowners as a hyena just meandered by us minding his own business – it all feels rather different when you’re on foot. That really is an edit of our wildlife highlights. What we liked about Mala Mala were the friendly guests, the lovely view and the pool. Less endearing was the haphazard tracking and infuriating insistence of the ranger in “escorting” us to every meal. Don’t get me wrong he was nice enough but it did get to the point where I felt we had to entertain him, and just a little bit like we were in jail. One day that poor guy got up at 5am and didn’t get to bed until 2am as one of his guests was a young ‘un and wanted to drink. I say that’s slave labour!
Anyway next instalment is Nottens... suffice to say we finally caught up with those wild dogs in a genuine National Geographic moment!
So on to the game then, our first evening drive found us seeking out the Eyrefield Pride, we drove fast to the Sand river where our ranger had clearly been tipped off they might be, and we then spent a magical hour in their company. The Rollercoster male was with them along with the 9 cubs, at first it was the typical sleeping lions scenario, but then as though to entertain us the cubs woke up and began an enormous feline love in with the mums and the male, they then decided to exert some power by spreading out as a pride and totally surrounding the vehicle. They gazed up at us with those piercing eyes in quite a disconcerting way, with the male close enough to stoke - it was almost scary. Finally they decided to let us leave and reluctantly we did. The next day we spent time searching for leopards. It must be said if I am honest I have some doubts about the methods and style of the tracking at Mala Mala. It certainly seemed to involve an awful lot of driving just slightly too fast to really see anything : and we never never stopped to check tracks. With a combination of the green season, a large area to traverse and fewer vehicles than the more densely tracked western sector we simply had less success in general than at Idube or Nottens. It could have been luck but I do think to some extent you make your own luck. Anyway a lot of unproductive tearing around was compensated by I guess the easier to track antics of the Eyrefield Pride and Styx prides, who nearly came to blows not too far from camp. This resolved with the Eyrefield Pride loping off in disgust to Londolozi, roaring their heads off in an attempt to lure the Rollercoster male away from their rivals. The cubs made a cute spectacle as they play fought on the way out.
There was a rumour at one stage of wild dogs on the property which made me mad with excitement, as I have never seen them “in real life”, but no luck..more of this later.
The next day was spent again chasing the elusive leopard. Eventually one of the other cars had tracked one down, this now was our 5th leopard sighting. Again he walked past within a hairs breadth but we had to share the sighting with 2 other vehicles, just the same as in the crowded multi lodge sectors of Sabi Sand. It all ended in farce when both our jeep and one of the others got stuck in the sand. Our poor tracker was most reluctant to let us get out, but we knew there was zero chance of getting pulled out with our heavy load on board and there was no chance the leopard would take on 3 cars, 15 people and 3 guns (although I guess he didn’t know about the guns) Anyway we did persuade him to let us out and eventually the jeep was pulled free.. all in a days fun! That evening we had a cool moment while drinking sundowners as a hyena just meandered by us minding his own business – it all feels rather different when you’re on foot. That really is an edit of our wildlife highlights. What we liked about Mala Mala were the friendly guests, the lovely view and the pool. Less endearing was the haphazard tracking and infuriating insistence of the ranger in “escorting” us to every meal. Don’t get me wrong he was nice enough but it did get to the point where I felt we had to entertain him, and just a little bit like we were in jail. One day that poor guy got up at 5am and didn’t get to bed until 2am as one of his guests was a young ‘un and wanted to drink. I say that’s slave labour!
Anyway next instalment is Nottens... suffice to say we finally caught up with those wild dogs in a genuine National Geographic moment!
Apr 28th, 2008, 11:57 AM
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I am curious as we will be going to MM in September. From your report did you see anything other than lions and leopards? I am just as interested in other animals as I am in the large cats. There always seems to be so much more emphasis on the predators on this board. As a long time scuba diver so many people get so fixated on seeing sharks they ignore all the much more colorful and, to me, interesting species. Do you really need to talk to the guide and let them know your desires to see something besides lions?
Apr 28th, 2008, 12:13 PM
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Sorry I guess I'm a little cat obsessed. All the usual supects were there in terms of prey animals, impala, Kudu, Zebra, buffalo, giraffe etc but this isn't East Africa so there aren't the huge herds that you see there. We also saw plenty of elephants and Rhino. As it was April there were also lots of summer birds still there. Outside our room we were treated to some Kudu doing "dressage" that's the only way to describe their strange mating displays.Lots of insects as well we have a nice photo of a golden orb spider (my next move after this report is to try and post the photos)You'll definitely see all!
Apr 28th, 2008, 12:37 PM
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The dinner-with-the-ranger thing is going to drive me nuts, especially after a couple of days. Is there a way around this? Can we choose who to sit with, or are there assigned seats at every dinner? I think I'd rather skip dinner altogether than to have to make small talk with a ranger that I just spent the whole day with on game drives.
This will be true no matter how well we get along; I just need a lot of down time when it comes to socializing. Is there a way to discreetly let the managers know that I have an anti-social streak when it comes to evening meals?
This will be true no matter how well we get along; I just need a lot of down time when it comes to socializing. Is there a way to discreetly let the managers know that I have an anti-social streak when it comes to evening meals?
