At present we have a serious challenge amongst the lion population as to the control of the territory that occurs around Djuma. We have had may encounters between the dominant males and other lions that want to claim this area as theirs. Five male lions from Exeter (south west of Djuma), two male lions from Manyeleti to the north, and also Robson's pride from the west came to look for greener pastures on Djuma. With all this going on we are very happy to say that the Sandy Patch lionesses are doing well at keeping their two young cubs away from the new males. One of the Sandy Patch females is mating with Zambezi and hopefully if he succeeds, it will improve their numbers. A female accompanies the Manyeleti males, with an out dated collar-tracking device on her neck. While they were on a buffalo kill near Sidney's the Sabi Sand personnel saw a chance to dart the female and take off the tracking device. They did try but were unsuccessful, so we are keeping an eye out for another opportunity.
Around the camp we have had regular visits from another lioness. One afternoon Graham said farewell to departing guests and walked back home. Normally in the daytime it is fine to walk around the camp surrounds, but not on that day. On his way to his house he heard a growl, he knew it was a lion although he couldn't really see it. He carefully kept on walking and made it home safely so as to phone and alert the lodge as soon as possible. He was just too late, as Elizabeth (one of our chefs), had just knocked off duty and was already on the same pathway. Elizabeth could see what Graham didn't see and poor Elizabeth was frightened. She amazingly kept her cool and got herself slowly out of that situation and made her way to the staff village to warn everyone. Well-done Elizabeth! The lioness was later identified as one of the Sandy Patch females. The whole day she was hanging around the camp. We even had to assist the guests to the rooms armed. At lunch time that day she was spotted hunting on the other side of our dam. While the guests were having their lunch they could keep an eye out in case she succeeded. Unlucky for her, she was discovered by the monkeys who in turn alerted all prey in the vicinity.
For about a week we were happy to have Manana's two cubs hanging around the lodge and staying close to Inge's house. One night we were having dinner and Warren heard the Impala's calling. He took one of the game drive vehicles and went to have a look. It was the two leopard cubs trying to hunt. He rushed backed to the lodge and offered the guests a quick drive or have dessert. All agreed they would rather skip dessert. They found them later but they had no luck with their hunting. After following them for an hour and half and seeing how they played around, appearing to be having a lot of fun.
Around the camp animal wise it was very busy some days. Now and then one or two lonely buffalo, nice breeding herds of elephants with babies, nyala, zebra, waterbuck, giraffe, kudu and impala had a drink at the dam. One afternoon after tea, a leopard, followed closely by one of the game drive vehicles, walked past the Rubbing Post and then on the main path that is normally used by guests, past the boma and to the dam. All the guests were very impressed and couldn't believe it. They also saw cheetah on drive, one sighting was with a baby cub, which was still young and quite fluffy. The other two cheetahs seen were the sub adult brothers.
May meant it was Indaba time again. Derek Young and Bronwen Smithers joined Jurie and Pippa to market Djuma to the international travel industry in Durban. With that we had a lot of site visits from tour operators whom were interested to see Djuma for themselves. Katie Glenn visited us last year and she came to visit us again, this time with friends. We have to say thank you to Sue Spencer for sending some things for the schools. Congratulations to all the honeymoon couples we hosted this month. Also to some staff - Isaac, Nonku, Luzile and Abrey - congratulations on your birthdays in May. Beverley Robinson has taken some time out from the busy life in Johannesburg and is helping us around the lodge. A very nice surprise visit was from Helen and Nick, who worked here a while back. Funny enough, it felt they were never gone, just away on long holiday.
Thank you all Vuyatela Staff for a wonderful service in May.
Warren and the Vuyatela Family

Galago
Pondering what to write for this month's newsletter, Rexon suggested taking a look at the Guest Book for Galago. What a fascinating read, going back to June 1996. There are also plenty of beautiful drawings and cartoons from guests of all ages. Here follows some actual accounts from guests' safaris during May.
Vernon relates: "Thank you Rexon and William. First the impala were in rut and it was fun to see this behaviour. We wanted to see a leopard and so we did. We passed a herd of buffalo rolling in the mud and just beyond was what looked like a tree-ed leopard. After about half an hour it was up and rolling in the buffalo mudhole. Rexon explained he was taking on the scent for a hunt. We followed behind and before we knew it, the leopard had caught the dominant male (impala). What a rare wonder to see in the wild. Thank you thank you. An experience of a lifetime."
From Fanna and Megan Malherbe (guided by Lex Hes): Lex, thanks! We had an awesome time! The leopard story was so special especially because we experienced the cubs meeting up with 'mom'. Thanks for the amazing patience and perfect positioning for all the lovely photos. We saw amazing things that will stay with us forever!"
Then some snippets from the Mathyssen party who were at Galago celebrating Andre's birthday: The first sighting was 4 ngala (lions) basking in the last rays of the setting sun, we then tracked the male leopard through very thick territory only to lose him and on the way back to camp, we "flew" into a spotted eagle owl, who graciously posed for our team of paparazzi photographers. // We spotted a buffalo mom busy calving - our thinking was we would witness a baby being born - only to discover that the baby was stillborn".
After those wonderfully related tales, we can look forward to more in future Galago newsletter editions.

Join us next month and share our experiences as the seasons march on.

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