Marula Camp and Hide
Marula Camp is a small but terrific camp. A small herd of Nyalas had made the camp their home and I was delighted when I saw the tiny Nyala lamb. Apparently it was only about about a week old.
The camp is also home to quite a few birds – Black-headed Orioles, African Hoopoes, Burchell’s and Cape Starlings and a Kurrichane Thrush were seen daily.
We also saw a Woodland Kingfisher and I spotted a Grey-headed Bushshrike and a gorgeous Red-headed Weaver.
One of the great features of the camp is the underground hide next to a small waterhole.
Even when it looked quiet, on closer inspection we noticed the constant bird activity. Red-billed Firefinches and Blue Waxbills were daily visitors. There were lots of Yellow-fronted Canaries and a few Paradise Whydahs.
On the first afternoon I even spotted a few Cut-throat Finches.
Emerald-spotted Wood Doves and a Blacksmith Lapwing were regularly seen and a little Three-banded Plover also visited.
The Nyalas came for a drink. Impalas also visited regularly.
A small family of Warthogs came for a drink while a pair of Terrapins basked in the sun.
A Starling had a lovely refreshing bath.
A pair of Red-billed Hornbills were foraging near the chalets.
The Larger Animals
We wend on sunrise and sunset drives daily. While we did see some animals, I was rather surprised at the low numbers. But we did see the usual Impalas. We all kept an eye out for new-born lambs but did not see any.
We did come across some Kudus every now and then. They are stunning antelope, in my view the Royalty of the antelopes.
At one dam we found some Hippos and a very large Crocodile, apparently the only one in the reserve.
We saw a handful of Zebras.
Just after our morning coffee stop on Saturday, we found a small herd of Waterbuck. On the other side of the road were 2 adult Warthogs and one piglet. The piglet was adorable. It tried to suckle even while mom was moving.
Unfortunately, we only had one sighting of my favourite mammal. One elephant was close to the road.
We had a very brief Hyena sighting just before camp at the end of one of our sunset drives. And on our last sunset drive we saw the only Giraffe of the trip.
See-saw Weather
The weather was a feature of the trip and probably played a role in terms of what we saw or did not see. When we arrived on the Thursday, it was around 40 degrees. Just after the sunset drive started the wind picked up and was blowing strongly by the time the drive ended. We all made use of the blankets on the vehicle as few of us brought jackets given the extreme temperatures when the sunset drive started. The temperatures dipped quite dramatically, and the next morning we were all dressed in our warmest clothes for the sunrise drive. Not long after the sunrise drive started, we saw a Woodland Kingfisher, a first for the summer for many of us. 
We laughed at the irony – when the Woodland Kingfisher arrives in SA it is a true sign that summer has arrived, and yet it was one of the chilliest mornings in a while! We even had to put the rain ponchos on just after our morning coffee stop as a light drizzle blew past for a few minutes.
The sunrise on the Saturday morning was preceded by a stunning pink sky.
It was overcast every afternoon when we went on our Sunset drives. There wasn’t much of a sunset, but it was still beautiful.
The next day the temperature was in the mid-thirties again. Thank goodness for the swimming pool in camp.
The weather forecast predicted rain for Saturday night and Sunday, and it arrived on queue shortly after we went to bed. It was still raining the next morning, and as a result we did not go on a morning drive. Almost 30mm or rain had fallen by the time we left. The 6km dirt road to the gate and the 11km dirt road from the gate to the tar road made for some interesting driving. Some of us drove in convoy, and we all made it out safely. But it was not a drive I would like to repeat any time soon!
Small Animals
In addition to the larger animals we saw, we also saw some smaller animals. We had a couple of fleeting sightings of Duiker and Steenbokkies. We also saw Scrub Hares on every sunset drive. On our last sunset drive we came across a Large Spotted Genet.
On one sunrise drive we came across a little family of Dwarf Mongooses. These little guys are extremely cute but should not be underestimated as they are ferocious little predators.
We also had 3 very cool sightings on one sunset drive. Our sharp-eyed Tracker spotted 2 Honey Badgers. It was a brief sighting, but very cool.
The second sighting was of a Lesser Bushbaby. They are normally skittish, but this one treated us by posing for a while before disappearing with a couple of leaps.
But the sighting of the drive was when we saw a White-tailed Mongoose. The sighing only lasted a few seconds, but it was still very exciting as it was a lifer mammal for me and a few of the other guests.
Small Things
On our first evening we had 2 small Solifuges in our room. Later that night I got up to go to the bathroom and saw a massive Solifuge. In the few seconds it took me to get a glass to try and catch it, it disappeared. We searched for about 10 minutes with no luck. We went back to bed. When I opened the curtains the next morning, I found it. Fortunately, it did not move too fast, and I was able to catch it and release it far from our chalet!
We saw 2 Flap-necked Chameleons on our sunset drives. I always enjoy seeing these little reptiles.
Another slow-moving reptile was this Leopard Tortoise.
When I went to the hide on the first afternoon I bumped into a beautiful Rock Monitor. He was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him, and he quickly retreated into a tree.
During our last morning drive, we also found 2 Water Monitors.
I saw a couple of small reptiles around the camp. There was a a little Common Dwarf Gecko near the swimming pool and a large African Striped Skink at our chalet. .
We visited the neighbouring camp for a couple of special birds, and I was also able to add Hermit Spiders to my spider life list.
I absolutely love watching Dung Beetles, and I saw this busy little guy when we stopped for morning coffee.
White Rhinos
I think the White Rhinos were the animals we saw the most of. We saw Rhinos every day, and every sighting was wonderful, even if some sightings were brief and some Rhinos were skittish, resulting in excellent bum views!
On our way back to camp on Friday we saw 2 in the road, but they rushed off as we approached.
But the best and most special sighting was on our last sunset drive. We found this mother and calf. They were so relaxed and came very close to the vehicle.
The female’s horn has been growing back, and seeing that was so wonderful as I could not remember when last I saw a wild Rhino with a horn.
We spent some time with this pair, savouring the moment.
Lions
We had 2 lion sightings. The first was a sleeping male lion at the end of our first sunset drive. He was lying completely motionless, not even his tail twitched. He was so still that we even joked that he wasn’t real but a stuffed lion that had been posed for the guests!
On Friday morning there was a report of some lionesses, and we were able to locate them. As is typical of lions, they were in their normal sleeping pose, and we left them to their naps after a few minutes.
Leopards
These beautiful spotted cats were the stars of the show.
Out trip started with a bang when we found the handsome Ndzalo. He was laying next to a bush just meters away from the vehicle. His kill was in a nearby tree.
Then he got up and started walking towards the tree.
After a pause, he effortlessly leaped into the tree and gave everyone on the 2 vehicles in the sighting the most iconic leopard in a tree pose.
We spend a few minutes with him. As we drove away everyone was in agreement – we could not have asked for a better start to the weekend!
We were about 30 minutes into our morning drive on the Friday morning when we spotted a White Rhino. The guide confirmed that he is allowed to off-road for the Big 5 and if we wanted, he would try and get closer to the Rhino. It was the first Rhino sighting of the trip and we all wanted to see the Special One, and he carefully made his way to the Rhino. And then something unexpected happened – a female leopard appeared from the grass in front of the vehicle! She moved quickly, and we had to be fast with the cameras.
She picked up a small kill and disappeared.
We tried to re-locate her, without success. But this unexpected sighting was really cool!
45 minutes later we found another leopard. This big male was not yet fully habituated to vehicles and when we found him, he made his feelings clear by snarling at our vehicle. But then he relaxed and we could get a few photos of him.
Two leopards before 07h00 – what an awesome start to the day!
When we visited the neighbouring camp for the birds we wanted to see, our birding was interrupted when someone from the group spotted a leopard walking towards the water hole on the other side of the riverbed. He drank for a few minutes before walking away.
Right at the end of our last sunset drive there was a report of a leopard not far from where we were. It was the VW female. When we arrived a the sighting we saw her immediately, and then she jumped and caught a Scrub Hare right next to the vehicle.
It did not take her long to finish this small meal. We were fortunate that she was not bothered by the vehicle and we could get close to her.
She looked up a few times as she saw another Scrub Hare.
After finishing her meal she started stalking the other Scrub Hare, but the hunt was unsuccessful.
What an amazing end to our weekend!
Owls
We saw and heard a few Owls during the trip. We heard the calls of a Pearl-spotted Owlet as well as a Scops Owl.
One morning we heard the Go-Away Birds alarming. The reason for their unhappiness was a trio of Verreaux’s Eagle Owls in a tree.
One of the birds that we wanted to see at the neighbouring camp was the African Barred Owlet. There were 2 of these adorable little owls.
But the Owl sighting and probably the best sighting of the trip was when we found a Spotted Eagle-owl on a nest.
We parked a short distance away, but she was not happy and flew off to a nearby tree. That gave us an opportunity to see what she was sitting on. There was a tiny newly hatched little owl!
There were 2 other eggs, and we could clearly see a crack in the one egg. The little owl was probably only a couple of hours old. We only stayed a minute or 2 as we did not want her to leave the nest unattended too long. When we drove away we were all in agreement – this was the best sighting of the trip!
All about the Birds
The main objective of the weekend was birding, and the feathered ones did not disappoint, despite the see-saw weather conditions.
We found a Red-crested Korhaan calling. It is incredible to see how they blend into the background.
The call was fascinating. It sounds like two birds, but it was only one bird making the sounds!
We saw and heard a few Cuckoo species. We heard Diederik Cuckoo and Klaas’s Cuckoo. On the first afternoon we saw a Levaillant’s Cuckoo and a Jacobin Cuckoo together, somewhat unusual to see these 2 together.
A White-browed Scrub-robin was singing its little heart out.
At one of our coffee stops a Red-headed Weaver was sitting on its nest, probably not in the mood to be out on a gloomy, rainy morning!
We came across many bird parties. These parties always contained a few species. At one of these parties we also saw a Stierling’s Wren-warbler, a lifer for me!
Other bird party sightings included Southern Black Tits, Cardinal Woodpeckers, Burnt-necked Eremomelas, Brubrus, Waxbills, Fire-finches and a Marico Sunbird.
Raptor sightings included an African Harrierhawk, Whalberg’s Eagles, a Bateleur, White-backed and Hooded Vultures, a Martial Eagle and a Dark Chanting Goshawk.
An African Fish Eagle flew off from a fish it was eating while a Hamerkop continued snacking on the same fish.
A Tawney Eagle was sitting on a tree in the distance and was being harassed by a Southern White-crowned Shrike. It was fairly obvious what the Tawny Eagle was thinking of the irritating little bird!
In addition to the Spotted Eagle-Owl nest, we also saw a few other birds on nests. There was a Southern White-crowned Shrike nest with very noisy youngsters. We saw two Fork-tailed Drongo nests.
We also saw a Wahlberg’s Eagle on a nest and a few Crowned Lapwing eggs.
There was a Little Sparrowhak nest in the neighbouring camp. When we went to look for it, the adult was not on the nest but soon came back with a meal.
On our last sunset drive we had some very specific target birds on our list and we found all of them. We had distant sightings of Senegal Lapwings, Temminck’s Coursers and Chestnut-backed Sparrow-larks. We found a small flock of Double-banded Sandgrouse.
After seeing the Woodland’s Kingfisher we also saw a Pied Kingfisher and a stunning Striped Kingfisher that posed against a brilliant blue sky.
Rollers included a few Lilac-breasted Rollers and a striking Purple Roller.
We ended the trip with just short of 150 species seen and heard. My own list of birds seen was 135, not a bad total. Many of these were thanks to the eagle eyes and experience of the rest of the group!
This Thornybush weekend was truly unforgettable, as I was fortunate to travel with an amazing group of people whose enthusiasm made every moment enjoyable. We encountered an incredible variety of animals and birds, making each day unique and memorable..