🙂 New Year with the Family!
🙁 Closed its doors to private bookings – we were their very last guests for New Year 2021/22.
Djuma – link to the webcam – this is the waterhole that the property overlooks.
We left the spectacular beauty of Blyde River Canyon and arrived at Djuma at 15h00 with an effusive greeting from the team … so good to see dear Luzile again! Settled in and off for our sunset game drive at 16h00 and were rewarded with this beauty hiding in the grass! When a dozing cat yawns … you know he is going to get up pretty soon…. He is called Tortoise Pan Male (before his nose injury). Born: August 2016, Mother: Ndzandzeni Female, Littermate: 1 sister, died late 2016, Father: Suspected to be the Inyathini Male, Spot Pattern 4:3
and he did start walking…
Fantastic start to this stay! Djuma always delivers! We spotted the Safari Live vehicle.
Sunset was spectacular! We stopped for our sundowners admiring the stunning beauty of this special place.
We headed back to camp feeling wonderful. Dinner was a delicious ox tail potjie.
Friday, 31 December 2021
We were up at 04h45 and headed out on our game drive at 05h00. It started to rain … but we were delighted to find some white rhino. This female is 40 years old but never conceived and had a calf. The rhinos here are also being targeted for their horns 🙁
We headed back to camp to warm up and enjoy a delicious breakfast.
We all had a nap and felt refreshed for our afternoon drive. This was again fantastic with another sighting of a leopard – a younger male enjoying a drink. This male is called Tavangumi. He sadly died at the age of 5.5years on 30 June 23 after a severe snaring picked up in adjacent Manyaleti which was removed but left him in a weakened and compromised position resulting in him ambushing staff at the Northern Sabi Sands quarters and so he was unfortunately euthanised. 🙁 Born: February 2018, Died: June 30, 2023, Mother: Schotia Female, Father: Believed to be Nyeleti, Littermate(s): 1 sister, killed by a hyena, Spot Pattern – 2:2.
Stunning creature.
He was so handsome! But he was also hungry and climbed a tree to scan the area.
The heavens opened and we were forced to head back to camp to dry out and warm up as it was torrential!
Fortunately the storm passed after about 30mins and we were able to head out again! Phew. We found female called Cara up a tree with a kill! Daughter of Xidulu and the late Hukumuri, Born December 2018.
What a wonderful afternoon – we headed back to camp for another surprise! The dancers from the local community heat their drums on the fire in prep….
That evening we had our meal inside as it was raining… Caits and El went to bed before midnight but we payed games and waited util midnight to see in 2022!!
We woke to a stunning sunset to kickstart 2022!!
01 January 2022
Headed off on our game first drive of 2022… Our tracker did not turn up and Aubrey (our Guide) was not amused!
We were however delighted to have a sighting of our favourite animal – the hyena!
We had some nice elephant and buffalo sightings.
We drove on to find the Torchwood Pride.
We enjoyed our New Year Champagne stop!
An amazing tree frog and a shongololo.
Another amazing game drive …. we headed back to camp for a champagne brunch and relaxation. While lying by the pool we observed the incredibly interesting dance between to male nyala bulls. Nyala bulls have a rather strange way of fighting. It looks more like a slow-motion waltz than it does a fight. They circle each other, with their faces trained on the ground but still keeping a beady eye on their opponent. They circle each other broadside in a lateral display, attempting to make themselves appear as big as possible. They fluff up their tails and the dorsal manes on their back, whilst arching their heads forward with horns held high. It is in this rather contorted posture that they then deliberately circle one another, slowly high stepping their bright yellow/orangey legs as they go. This is often done in the presence of females and in the hope that these potential mating partners will be watching to see who comes out on top. Typically the male who loses will drop his mane and wander off to groom or feed in a rather sheepish manner, appearing to have forgotten about the fight altogether. The winner will keep his hair puffed up for a while longer, making sure everyone is aware of who won the fight-dance. It ’s this particular male that will then be awarded the mating rights. Seeing this kind of behaviour is always special as it doesn’t happen very often, and just to see the beautiful colours being displayed is incredible.
The yellow bill hornbill kept us entertained as he flitted between flirting with his image in the mirror and heading off to feed his chicks! Hilarious!
A herd of buffalo kept us entertained while we watched them from our room plunge pool.
We all chilled and had a snooze for two hours before heading on our afternoon game drive. Our first encounter was with a stunning herd of elephants.
A leopard was strolling through the grass and onto the road.
We headed to a spectacular spot for our sundowners – the light was perfect for photos!
DIVINE.
On the way back to camp we had a lovely lion sighting of the Torchwood Pride.
We arrived back at camp to the welcoming boma fire…
Just the best
A beautiful day in paradise and a perfect start to 2022! We were all exhausted and retired for an early night! We were up at 05h00 for another gorgeous sunrise. Our tracker was fast asleep! He missed the fresh tracks made by Tlalamba and her two month old cubs – Aubrey was livid with fury as he said we should have seen them if he had been awake…. we searched the area with the Cheetah Plains vehicle for a good 45mins but to no avail 🙁 We were really disappointed as we had banked on seeing her with these two little ones – especially as we have never seen tiny leopard cubs before 🙁 There went the Tracker’s tip …
We stopped for surprise champagne snacks in the river bed which was lovely.
Headed back to camp and ate more brunch and chilled by the pool.
Had a nap and headed out again … but soon drenched by another torrential downpour!! Luckily it blew over quite quickly and we had a damp sundowner!
Found some wet lions! The Torchwood Pride.
Another beautiful leopard sighting…with a ground squirrel alarm calling. This is Shasha male leopard, born to Sibuye and possibly Molwati
Stunning elephants.
A handsome hoophoe and wooodland kingfisher.
A hyena and a female leopard who is blind in one eye appeared next. Nsele Female. Born: early 2009. Last seen in April 2022. Mother: Salayexe. Father: possibly Tyson (later known as Marthly Male in Londolozi). Spot pattern: 4:3. Name means: No sympathy/mercy. Litter mates with Rhulani (male) Litters had: 1st: [unknown] Sept 2013 – Seen with suckle marks but no cubs ever seen. 2nd: [2] Jan/Feb 2014. Two females raised to independence and later named Nchila and Nkangala 3rd: [1] Early 2015. Did not survive. . 4th: [1] late 2015/early 2016. Female cub disappeared at around one year of age.. 5th: [unknown] Early July of 2021. Suckle marks were noticed, but cubs were never seen.. Cubs raised to independence: Nchila: F B: 2014. Nkangala 3:2 F B: 2014. Nkorho posted that she had been seen with the eye injury right after a mating ritual. They think it may have been from the male’s claw.
Monday, 3 January 2022
Caitlyn was late! We were supposed to meet at vehicle at 04h45 but she strolled up at 05h05! Nice hyena sighting.
Our final sighting of this trip and we were rewarded with the Torchwood Pride.
We headed back for our final breakfast before departing with heavy hearts. Djuma and the Djuma Family holds a special place and has provided us with so many special memories.
