Exeter- Dulini trip report
 

Some of you may hv read a brief synopsis of my experience at Dulini while i was transitting thru JNB.

While i was there for 3 nights, (seems like such a long time ago)...the Exeter lodges were trying to blend into being part of the CCA wing and mode of operations. The CCA model gift shop was being set-up at the same time.

Those of you who read my Kwando trip report recently posted, you may know that people at the camps are very important to me. Craig and Kellie manage the camp, very efficiently and professionally. 6 suites in camp. Very colonial in setting and really very very nice, just as in the brochures.

Not being full camp, Kellie gladly gave my sister and I seperate rooms. They have two butlers for the camp- Matron and Eric. We had Matron, she is full of beans and very very lively and wonderful. Chef's Jarred and Eric are superb and innovative in their cuisine. Infact, we invited Jarred on an evening drive as he had a day off, and we lucked out watching a female leopard (Makubela) kill a young nyala and climb up a tree.

Note: The western Sabi Sands has no private vehicles as only 20 trucks permitted amongst all the lodges in the area. All vehicles looked cramped with 8 ppl in them. Dulini, accomodating a max of 12ppl in camp is the best bet in the western SSGR (6 per jeep)- We didnt hv more than 4 ppl in our truck at any stage. The Land Rovers at Dulini were very good. Lots of space. Unfortunately, CCA are trying to push their Land Cruisers onto Dulini- I didnt much care for their Phinda Land cruisers.

Craig himself was our guide, along with an excellent tracker in Lucky. Both, very very good. The trackers in the entire western SSGR dont get off the tracker seat, regardless of the animal or sighting. We came to within touching range of the Big 5 on many occassions. I find it strange, but, consider Lucky to be a brave, brave man. Every lodge in the Western SSGR has the same policy.

Game viewing was very good. Leopard viewing on par with any in the SSGR. Saw a leopard cub eating genet cat, the female leopard killing young nyala (already mentioned)

Lion viewing very good. Area has 6 big male lions. (Yep, from Eyrefield pride from MM). Craig doesnt think this coalition will last too long as the males are of varying ages.

Saw the two remaining lionesses from the once mighty sand river pride- on foot during sundowners. You may remember they were a real dominant force, until a large part of the pride escaped from the reserve and were shot down.

The Shimungwe Pride of 16- that concentrates in the southern portion (Near Savanna lodge)

The otthawa pride feeding on wildebeest- this is a less common pride to view in the area, as they concentrate more in Singita/Londolozi.

Obvious to say, with so many lions around in a 10,000 hectare traversing zone- my fav cat- the cheetah is rarely ever seen!

Now the downside:
The trucks have non stop radio chat (almost like a talk radio station), no headsets. All conversation in English except names of animals. It doesnt take long for guests to figure out what ngala and Ingwe mean.....the two car limit at sightings usually results in a wait list for sightings. Obvious to say, you dont stay long at any sightings, and, hence your opportunities for great photos are reduced considerably. That said, i may hv still had a few good shots. You also miss some sightings, if you are far away and are way too far on the wait-list.

If i can draw parallels, for those of you from Cricket playing countries- the Western Sabi Sands is like a quick 20/20 game and wilderness areas like Botswana are a good old-fashioned test match with lots of intrigue and twists and turns.

Overall, Dulini was very good. I will recommend it to friends/family who wish to visit Africa for the first time and want to see everything in one quick bang!!!

Personally, the short stay at sightings put me off....i saw some of the other lodges using a ear-piece, but, they chat so much where is the interaction with guests?

I know Exeter Leadwood is a fancier lodge option, but they only have one vehicle. If lodge is full.....vehicle will be packed.

My only other SSGR experiences are one time stays at Lion Sands and MM. Each of my trips to the SSGR included a bunch of ppl who are first time travellers to Africa, i travelled with. I will refrain from making any comparisons of the 3 lodges, however, most of you guys on these boards hv much more experience than i do in the SSGR.

The general game is mostly nyala and kudu. Saw handful of zebra and wildebeest, not many. Impala, ofcourse.

Rhino sightings very few compared to other areas in the SSGR.

Buffalo, few. Some ellies.

However, as mentioned found the lion viewing phenomenal. In particular,the 6 male co-alition, which i find very impressive....one of them is a real powerful brute!!! I think they are called, the Beach boys (not sure)

Hari

Glad you had great sightings, I do like MM becuase they use headsets, also on MM if you choose you cannhead away from the other vehicles, it reduces your chances of seeing things but does make it more exciting when ou do the tracking and finding.

A 6-Male coaliton of lions! Do you think that's a record? Were all 6 around?

As someone who knows nothing of cricket, I understood your analogy. What made you choose Dulini in the first place?

Some excellent leopard sightings here.

Are the short stops at sightings (that you also mentioned occur at Phinda) because there is a time limit or because guests want to find something else?

Would a request such as, "Can we stay a few minutes longer, the light is just right?" or "I think the cubs are going to nurse." or "She's got her eye on that kudu, let's see if she starts stalking." prolong the stay? Or from your experience would that just become annoying for everybody else?

I'm thinking even 1st timers might like to wait a few minutes to see some cool stuff, if they are given some encouragement.

What a complement these 3 nights were to your Kwando stay.

Do you have plans or at least dreams for a next time?

Thanks again for the email to me answering my questions.

Lynn

I have just posted video of those six and one of their sisters taking down a Buffalo.

Lynn,

All 6 were around, but, they had just fed on buffalo prior to my visit....so were spread out sleeping. Only the really big guy was active (scent marking etc etc). I think they hang out a lot, with the two Sand River Pride ladies.

Lynn, in my experience....i was able to stay longer on request at sightings at Dulini. For example, our guide realized that the leopard was hunting and told the other folks on the radio that he would not pull out of the sighting. At Phinda, the car was really full and at one point....we were watching a cheetah with 3 sub-adult cubs tearing up the internal organs of a kudu, however, we had to lv the sighting very soon as some ppl wanted to see rhino etc etc., it went on and on and on......

Also, i hated the Phinda land cruisers....often they packed in 6-8 ppl. Besides being crowded, there was hardly any leg room for a tall person like myself and no room at all for a tripod.

I think Dulini is a fun little add-on to a Wilderness area like Botswana, both very different in their own way.

But, i suppose most places in the SSGR always deliver something or the other.

Hari

I missed your other question, for a next time.....a longer stay at Lebala, combined with a 3 night visit to either Selinda or Zib. I like staying with animals and watching their behaviour over an extended period....so adding Selinda or Zib, would be nice, as there is a possibility that some animals move bk and forth. It well happen that, the Selinda animals move into Lebala when i go to Selinda and miss them completely, but, that's just the luck of the draw!!!

If i hv to do a short stay in the SSGR, it would probably be Simbambilli or Dulini.

Hari

One more thing, the relationship between all lodges within the Western SSGR is fantastic!!! They all interact very well with each other regarding sightings. i.e., Ulusaba, Leopard hills, etc etc., However, all those jeeps are packed-in like sardines and i know i would've hated it.

Strangely, the only time the radio is shut down is during sundowners and morning coffee breaks....when really, i dont care if the radio is on or off at those stops.

Hari

Napamatt:

So, the 6 were part of Eyrefield and left the pride together? Do you remember if they only left recently?

Thanks
Hari

For best results consult the MM website, the males have been coming and going for almost two years, though I would say they have been pretty much gone and on their own since March / April. Funnily enough they could have easily taken over northern MM form the Split Rocks, even more so now there is only one,but they chose to move right away from MM.

Thks.

Hari

Hi Hari,

Have been reading about your travels, all sounds good. Didn't have a clue where Dulini was but see that you are not too far from Ulusaba, where I was in July 2006. I do not remember the vehicles being overly full, ours wasn't as we only had an english man, so a vehicle with 3 guests, so not too bad, but the camp wasn't by any means full, as we were also given two room for the two of us.

I find the policy of the tracker sitting on the bonnet, unsafe, with any gameviewing. Even doing some of the driving at Londolozi, the tracker I thought was in a dangerous position and there were no animals involved, just up and down dongas, where they seem to be an accident waiting to happen!

I have seen those 6 males, though not since December 2004. The oldest male must be a few months of 8 years old, while the next 3 are approx 5.5 years old, the younger 2 are a few months under 5 years of age. It seems hard to think that they will separate now when they are just being cohesive as a male group. The older 4 were raised together while the younger 2 were part of a group that divided for quite a time, as the two lionesses with a younger group of 4 decided that was best to keep their 4 offspring alive with older cubs that got more food at kills. Time has shown that to be a good decision. MalaMala/Londolozi had the West Street Males that was originally a group of 5, and it is likely that these 6 also offspring of the West Street Males, so its possible. They will certainly give their offspring a good chance of survival if they do stay as a group. Also saw the Othawa Pride at Singita, over a few years and it appears as if some of the young males and 1 female have made their way to MalaMala.

I have experienced both the ear pieces and no ear pieces, and I really do not mind either way, I actually like listening to the radio at times, as not all rangers are forthcoming in what else is being seen. I do not feel the need to race to every sighting, but I do like to know what is being seen! If I need to speak with the ranger then I find I can do it, though the worst would be at Londolozi on this recent trip, as I got a wonderful ranger, but I also got the 2nd ranger in charge, and it was his duty to do all the updates, so to me he did an awful lot of talking, but even though I can be a talker, I also like listening, as you can learn equally from both!

First timers are in every country, I was one myself once! The only way to avoid that is have a private vehicle.

Look forward to more reporting and of course, the photos - really like looking at the photos. Your report was easy to read, sometimes I lose my concentration in those long reports and I seem to miss a lot of info.

Kind regards,

Kaye

Hi Kaye,

Thanks. Yep, like to keep my report simple.

I guess you lucked out at Ulusaba, i guess they werent busy the same time of your visit. Just like Dulini was during my visit.

The tracker sitting up front, is common in several places....however, they get into an empty seat when the car gets closer to certain animals, like cats.....

Thanks for the info on those male lions. Yes, the big guy seems a bit older (maybe, 8 yrs old like you say).

Will try to get to the pics on the kodak gallery at some point, still busy with catching up at work.

Hari

Also Kaye, any good guide wont short-change you regarding the sighting. If there is something to be seen, he should be able to rush you over. If not, he shouldnt be guiding. Any responsible safari camp/lodge should take the responsibility of hiring rangers/guides with a suitable work ethic and guiding skills.

Sometimes, if the animal is skittish and the drive too far....there is no point in heading there. SO, in those cases it's better to stay where you are find something else.

Just my opinion.

However, in the case of the Western Sabi Sands (20 vehicle limit) and if you are waitlisted at say, 15.....who knows....

Hari

Hari

It goes back to vehicle density, I certainly would not want to be 15 out of 20.

Eyrefield Males
Adult 7yrs 10months
2 Sub Adult males 5 yrs 7 months
1 Sub Adult 5 yrs 5 months
2 Sub Adults 4 yrs 8 months

http://malamala.tv/LION_eyref03.htm

Read the families struggles in Feb 2003 and you'll see that some of these Lions have had a very difficult time, but now are big, strong and healthy. This kind of history makes MM incomparable in my opinion for repeat visitors.

Thanks Napamatt:

I will post a couple of my pics of these male lions over the next day or so. Have a couple decent ones of the big guy.....

Hari

Thanks for your comments. In the Selinda area, I'd recommend Zibalianja. I just returned from there.

ok, Lynn. Thanks

Hari

Napamatt:

Couple pics of the big male at Dulini

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-ysasca

Hi Hari,

Just looked at those photos of the male lion. He is looking a bit worn and tattered now, not surprising I guess as it is probably 2 years since I saw him. To keep that male group going, they would need a lot of impalas or a buffalo every 4-5 days I guess, maybe even less than that.

Kind regards,
Kaye

Kaye,

Yes. They like buffalo, i think. They had just eaten prior to my arrival. Strangely, i didnt see the biggish herds in the western SSGR. Just a few dagga boys spread out here and there.

Hari

Hi Hari,

I have been told that out of the big 5, buffalo is most likely the one not to be seen when people visit for a few days only, as buffalo will move away and then be back a week or so later. On MalaMala, I have never missed seeing the big herd of approximately 600, but then my stays are considerably longer than a few days. Maybe that western fence line also poses a problem for the wandering ways of buffalo.

At the size those boys are, they would need a buffalo to get a good feed for them all!

Kind regards,
Kaye

Hi Kaye,

I agree with that theory. Also, i would think MM is a much bigger property and has more traversing area than the entire Western SSGR which is only 10,000 hectares in size.

Hari

Yes MM is about 30,000 hectares.

Hi!

Just got an email from Craig at Dulini. Apparently, the 6 big male lions are causing havoc in the area and have recently killed hippo on one of the causeways......

Apparently, they have taken up the bulk of the lion sightings at the moment.

Hari

Thats going to be one fearsome coalition if they keep it together. Their fathers were awesome Lions, with the last two being remarkably resilient, and providers of some of my favorite camp fire stories.

Napamatt, i concur....

Spelling error earlier in my trip report. The lion pride is correctly spelled Xemungwe pride (usually seen in Singita), but, occasionally trespasses into the Western SSGR.

Hari

Typo again....Xemungwe very much part of the Western SSGR. Otthawa is the one in and out of Singita.

H

Topping it up for AJY

Hari

Topping it up for ellene

Thanks for the topping. Think we are going to go back to our original plan and stay at MM. Had a great experience there before, and cant wait to go back. We were trying to fit Exeter in for some other reasons. Sounds like you had an unbelievable time.