The game at Leopard Hills has gone a bit "south" so we are down to sunsets, plants and
spiders. It's Impala infinity and leopard 0 for those keeping score....












Mr "T" the Lion, he just likes to hang aroud the lodge..

Glad you are finally on your way, Cindy. Guess I will have a Plan B in my back pocket for just in case. Safe trip and thanks for all the postings!
-------------
Helen

LOVE the lion with the Mohawk! Mr. T.....perfect.

we are home! so thrilled to be home, although we miss everyone....just read some of my posts......guess i need to purchase one of the keyboards for the ipad that Ralph had. yikes...

Helen, i really think you will be fine. i have to believe this was an odd circumstance. sure hope so atleast. SAA was wonderful in every other way! oh, how i loved seeing the Mr. T picture. He is a surly guy for sure....Safe travels to all........

welcome home Cindy you had one tough return flight :mecry: :mecry: :mecry:

We will have more photos from Leopard Hills soon, but if you have been following the wild dog pups, we had a great sighting of them outside the den this morning. You can see video taken by Anne on the Leopard Hills blog. It was a pleasure to observe this! Those white tales and spotted legs are adorable.

Dena

Leopard Hills blog - wild dog pups video

How cute are they?? I think I counted 6? Can't wait to get there and (hopefully) see them myself.
---------------
Helen

Sitting in the lounge at JNB waiting for our Qantas flight back to OZ. We have had the most amazing time in south Africa, just loved every minute....the game, the group, the lodges....could not have been any better. It was very sad to say goodbye today, we have made so many new friends and will miss them all.

We said "farewell" to Don, Michele, Anne and Gary this morning and wished them well on their next adventure. We were pleasantly surprised to run into a number of fellow ROARers at the Federal Air terminal this afternoon. They were all headed home but we are off for a quick visit to Victoria Falls.

We enjoyed all three camps that we visited - each was very unique. We were lucky to experience special and unique sightings at each one. The highlights at Leopard Hills were 4 lions - three males and one female that were very close to the lodge for the time we were there - and the wild dog pups. The rangers are wild about these pups as none of them have seen this before.

Here are a few pictures from Leopard Hills.

Impala herd

Wild dog mother with pups

Wild dog

Waterbuck

Mr T and his lady friend. They were "courting" for the 4 days we were there.

Our best leopard sighting at LH - a big male that we saw at night.

Zebra

Leaving the South African bush for now - but we will return someday

Grant, I'm sorry to see you guys adventure come to an end. I have so enjoyed the reports and pix. Thanks for sharing your terrific trip with us!

Agree with Betty, Thanks to all for the photos and the commentary. Safe travels to all
----------------
Helen

Anne's wild dog/pup video was fabulous. I didn't realize they were born black and gained their calico colors later.

Sitting in Turkish Air lounge in Istanbul waiting for final leg home. Fantastic trip!

Oh my, getting sad to see "them" leave! Helen (msunderstood), now it's up to you! And the only time I've ever seen you was on the "other side of the glass" at that airport to go on ICE in Ushuaia!

Well I will do my best but can't really live up to the "legends" like Anne and Grant and Ken on this board! We leave LAX on Monday, if I get any more excited my head will explode!
---------------
Helen

Hi all

We are in Rwanda starting ROAR SOME MORE, gorilla division.

We were very, very lucky for our nine day safari - the choice of camps were wonderful, our traveling companions were terrific, and as Grant said, we had lots of unique sightings. We hope Grant and Dena enjoy their Victoria Falls trip as much as we did.



We also were pleasantly surprised on our return trip to Joburg. We touched down about 5 minutes way from Ulu Saba International to drop off 4 passengers and to pick up 7. Yep .. our other ROARers from Lion Sands hopped on board. We got to visit with Sheila and Ken for a while as we figured out if you flight leaves from Terminal A, then you must have to drag all your stuff to check in at Terminal B.

For those of you about to embark to Capetown, let us share a little bush wisdom to help you enjoy your stay. for any confusion, unexpected happenings or missing underwear, follow these rules:

1. TIA (This Is Africa)
2. If rule #1 doesn't help you, follow rule #1 again.

I'd add the rhino sighting and the yellow billed oxpecker frenzy to the Leopard Hills list. I wish I'd gotten a video of the rhino daughter crying to her mother to get out of the d#@$N mud wallow and pay attention to her. The daughter must have been pushing 800 pounds in bulk .. but her whining is very, very soft. Contrast that to the crowned lapwing bird (all of 10 inches stem to stern and perhaps 1/2 a pound in total weight) who you can hear for MILES when they are irritated about something or another.

We loved the light and the clearings at leopard hills, so we were nearing the end of our game drive amidst a herd of cattle. someone spotted and Gary confirmed a yellow billed oxpecker in the midst of all the red-billed oxpeckers on the backs, heads, ears, noses and flanks of the buffalos. The call went out .. and range rovers quickly moved in. This was the first recorded sighting amongst the ranger group in over a year. meanwhile, back at the pups .. not much range rover action. So there you go .. fame is fleeting, lil doggies.

The next morning was the sighting where I shot the video on the website. Background: the beta female had the audicity to have pups. The alpha female is presumed to have headed to her den and killed those puppies as payback. I was speculating if the alpha male was the responsible party, he's got an awful lot of 'splaining to do for that indiscretion.

We arrived to the beta female dropping sticky poop all along our entry to the site. Let me tell you, wild dog sticky poop is the most effective ranger deterrent known to South Africa. It was hard to hold on to our cookies (if you know what I mean) after she let loose with that weapon of mass destruction.

She then went back and forth with one of the older dogs (age is determined by how much black is left in the coat - kind of like humans turning grey, eh?) when they went on high alert. The alpha female came back with a full-ish belly (the rest looked hungry) and headed to the den. The beta female threw herself into a frenzy of rolling over and keeping her belly up, the height of submissive behavior. The pups ran over each other to grab a teat. They all were standing on their hind legs as Momma surveyed the site for safety. The rest of the pack was in the grass nearby the den entry. Finally, Momma gives the cue and the puppies spill out of the den and down the pathway to the grass. This was among the first times the alpha female has let the rest of the pack be near the pups (except for an occasional feeding by their poppa).

Let me tell you, there's a reason wild dogs are efficient (read that vicious) killers. She is one very mean momma. Think Ma Barker (if you don't know the reference, just read the first line or two in Wikipedia). She was aggressively grabbing the pups who strayed a little further, tossing them on their backs, licking and rubbing their bellies. One can evidently never learn submissive behavior soon enough. Then .. she grabs a few (not sure if it was the same one or different pups) in her mouth BY THE BELLY using those handy-dandy razor sharp teeth. The more they cried, the harder she bit down. Wowser .. you surely don't want to mess with her. Grant's picture is perfect - head hanging down, legs immobilized.

Back to our current adventure. We arrived in Kigali after an easy 3 hour flight from Johannesburg. All eight (ken, ngaire, linda, ron, michele, don, gary and I) were back at the hotel around 8 pm. We found the hottest restaurant and bar in Kigali (per our helpful hosts) and had beers and burgers. The best part? A 10 AM departure. It feels like heaven.

Time to hit the breakfast buffet and get ready for the three hour tour to Volcanoes National. Please, please please put your weather juju behind ours and pray for little or no rain on our gorilla treks tomorrow & the day after. Golden monkeys away on the third day.

Cheers, Anne

ROAR 3


May 11, 2011

Other Creature Comforts

As I write this second and final chapter of our 12 day Roar safari vacation, Doug and I are settling in for our final night at our exquisite Ivory Lodge suite, Peregrine. Something has gone terribly wrong with the AC (as I write this in bed)and Doug is being sprayed with ice cubes shooting out of the AC and onto his side of the bed. It's like a hailstorm in here. At Tintswalo, we had no hot water and broken water pipes...here, we have frozen water! Teaches us to have Waterhouse as a last name.

Sadly, not all of the final Roarers got together for our final dinner as we are scattered across various venues at Lion Sands (LS).

Update: We had a great final am drive and found the female leopard we have been tracking on the road. We must have watched her stalking impalas for 90 minutes before heading off to search for the 2 male and 2 female lions. We found only 1 male lion and he was in an area that was not drivable so we moved on. We had breakfast and lunch and left LS at 1 pm. As we drove to the airport, Doug yelled out "lion" and here were the two females and one male lion our sunning themselves right by the road. These lions, once a pride of 20 at LS, are now only 4 and not that easy to find in LS's large compound. But, here they were in mid day - I thought only early morning and evening drives offered viewings. We hadn't gone over a mile from the lions, when someone yelled "leopard!" The two most difficult animals to see were right under our noses as though they came to say goodbye.

Weather: The days both begin and end very cold (30s to 40s) with the daylight hours probably ranging in the 80s, though our final day must have been in the 90s. So, it was back and forth from heat to AC and back to heat. This switching must have been the cause of our inside hailstorm! We have been blessed with delightful weather. Most days have been blue skies and our only rain was during one evening. While it ruined a boma dinner for one group, the following morning was clear and the wet dirt roads showed clear imprints of every lion, impala and other critter who wandered in the dawn. Even I could see the tracks and follow them. Usually I just smile and nod as the rangers circle indecipherable tracks and explain what we are looking at...but I really don't see much and am amazed at what they see.

Schedule: A typical day included
1. Wake up call between 5 to 5:30am
2. Drive 5:45-6am
3. Breakfast at 9
4. Lunch at 1
5. Drive beginning 3:30-4
6. Dinner at 7:30
7. Bedtime 9:30

The entire group met the evening of April 30th at the Joberg Intercontinental before splitting into two groups the next day. One group went to Tintswalo for 4 nights and then to Leopard Hills for 4 nights. We were the other group and did the same itinerary only reversed. We lost 3 couples,David/Cindy from our group and two couples from the other group (not to lions thankfully), who went home. The rest of us continued onto Lion Sands (LS) for our final three nights. Here is where most of us were able to catch up with one another from each of the groups. It is fascinating to note how different the experience can be depending on the day you visited each camp.

Animals seen: turtles, crocodiles, lions, leopards, spotted hyena, wild dog, bats, large spotted genet, serval, caracal, dwarf mongoose, banded mongoose, white tales mongoose, baboons, vervet monkey,elephant,hippos, white rhino, giraffe, zebra, squirrel, kudu, hare, waterbuck, vultures, zebras, steenbuck, buffalo, many beautiful birds and, of course, the impala.

The final days
Our second to last Tintswalo drive was a good one for the ladies and a poor one for the gents. We got the experienced ranger who amazed us all by finding a leopard in thick bush. He and his tracker told us to stay put as he thought he saw leopard tracks. He came back about 10 minutes later saying he saw the leopard and it had a kill but ran away when it saw him. Off we darted and dashed in and out of the thick bush until there before our eyes was not just 1 leopard, but 3. We watched them eat, groom, stare at us for what seemed like hours and then our ranger radioed the guys' ranger and told him of our find. He gave clear directions... Take a right at the vulture nest, then drive 300 yards and take a left at the jackelberry tree and so forth. All of a sudden we heard their jeep near ours and things came to a grinding halt. Our ranger answered a call and it was a distress call from the guys' ranger. As we sat and watched leopards feeding and at play, the guys were about 100 feet from us behind some bushes with a flat tire. As we squealed with delight and watched the leopards with rapt pleasure, we could hear the tire jack and the guys being told to stay put as leopards were a few feet away from them. Not a good night for them!

To make matters worse, the afternoon had been so dull for the guys, that I believe their highlight was photographing termites. While our ranger and tracker sniffed out the leopard, their guide had resorted to finding insects.

During our second to last evening drive at Tintswalo we journeyed in the dark, stopping for sundowners in the pitch darkness and kidded that there were dangerous animals nearby. Our tracker and ranger laughed and we all piled back into the jeep and weren't 100 feet along when we came face to face with a lion sauntering down the road for a drink in a watering hole. A few minutes earlier and we might have been the accompanying dinner!

On our final morning drive at Tintswalo, our little team of Susan F, Ken/Sheila, and Ngaire/Ken found ourselves with the temporary ranger. He worked very hard for us, after his disastrous day before, and found us a couple of leopards...one even in a tree. As if this wasn't enough, we went to see a supposed buffalo kill by lions before we left Tintswalo. The other jeep hadn't been able to find anything, and we thought we would have the same, when a swarm-hundreds- of vultures darkened the sky. We yelled "follow them" to our guide and lo and behold we found the remains of the carcass. The lions had moved on, having devoured the buffalo and having run off when they saw the anti poacher squad on foot. The sight of three various types of vulture in massive quantities was a sight I will never forget.

We arrived before lunch yesterday at Lion Sands. Our tight knit group of Cindy/David, Susan F, Susan/Paul, Guy/Jacob, Ken/Sheila and Doug/me was broken up. Cindy and David stayed behind to return home, Susan F, Susan/Paul along with Ngaire/Ken went to a Lion Sands (LS) property called 1933, Susan and John Walsh (adorable couple--Susan is a gem who works for Ngaire) to another property called River Lodge, and Guy/Jacob and Doug and I joined Pat/Ray, Ralph and Dick at Ivory Lodge. It's cumbersome to get us all together with the 1933 Lodge about 15 minutes away, but we have been promised dinners together.

Our first afternoon drive at LS was nothing special and ended early for a get together at the 1933. We all shared stories of the day and discussed Susan F's greeting by a snake outside of her room. Many of our evening drives seemed devoid of animals, with the morning drives being quite exciting. It's amazing how animals can seem to disappear into the landscape and not be found while at other times you seem to trip over them.

At LH, our rangers were bright, young, full of info and great for photographers; at Tintswalo, our rangers were less informative and talked less and and Eric and Foster were a great ranger/tracker team and really entertained us with cultural information about South African tribal practices. The LS rangers are polished and professional and full of fascinating textbook info on flora and fauna. Our three rangers, Hawgie, Jono and Sidonia, were all excellent and really gave us a new flavor to the drives. Hawgie even made impalas sound fresh and interesting.

Properties
Physically, Lion Sands (LS) is stunning and professionally run. It is definitely the 5 star property of the three. However, personally, I felt food was better at LH and Tintswalo. Others would disagree.

LH needs its rooms refurbished and Tintswalo needs a slightly more professional touch. It is half the price of the other properties, so you have to consider that. While we had the best sightings at LH, the non Roar group which came in after us were disappointed, so game viewing is really a crap shoot.

Lion Sands River Lodge has now been totally refurbished. The basic rooms have been doubled in size and and are decorated in the same style as Ivory Lodge. Additionally, the superior River Lodge rooms are brand new construction and are larger than the bedroom/bathroom combo at Ivory. They don't have the plunge pool or living room, but I have never used the plunge pools provided and have rarely used the Ivory Lodge living room. Each villa at Ivory Lodge is huge, gorgeous and a destination to itself. However, at $500 more pp per day than the superior River Lodge room, I am not sure if you need to stay at Ivory anymore. I always felt guilty not staying in those gorgeous villas at Ivory Lodge.

We all had differing opinions about the properties and, with Tintswalo about half the price of LH, it was a good value. The rooms and food there are exceptional.

Personally, except for the lighting, I was really happy at LH. I loved the way the rooms weren't so nice that folks kept to themselves, holed up in the lovely villas, as I noticed they did at Ivory and Tintswalo.

Cougar
Now, this blog wouldn't be complete without a story of the CP. We were at LS and were discussing CP's inappropriate safari attire when sone rangers started laughing. We found out that she continued her obnoxious behavior at LS. Lion Sands offers a rhino tour. A ranger suggested 10:30. She said "who are you to dictate when the tour begins? We are the clients and we will tell you." Well, the ranger let her set a time and waited but she did't show. When he called her, she nonchalantly responded: "oh, I forgot to tell you I'm not going." she evidently prefers Londalozi...perhaps this is because they have loads of 20 year old males?

Rhino
The rhino has become a favorite of mine. Yesterday, we actually witnessed these grass grazers doing something other than eating. A mother protecting her young rhino got in a fight with a male rhino. Compared to the black rhino, not seen in the Kruger area, it is a far more placid animal and much less prone to attack. It can, however, reach speeds of 40 km/hr over short distances so you don't want to piss one off.

Elephants
Our encounters with elephants continues to be fascinating. We were greeted by an elephant during lunch at Tintswalo who became quite annoyed with our having lunch where he wanted to have a dirt bath. Of all the animals, most of us are most concerned when an elephant approaches our vehicle. Our ranger shared some stories of elephants lifting Land Rovers or chasing them at a fast pace. The bull elephants in musk and female elephants with youngsters pose the greatest threat. With a gestation period of 22 months, you can't blame them for being over protective. This morning, for the first time, I saw an elephant nursing. Since they only have one or two babies at a time, interestingly, they only have two nipples; a fact I never knew. Elephant cows will not hesitate to attack if provoked. Bull elephants, on the other hand, will charge, but it is usually a bluff. When they so attack, they shake their heads and approach you head on with a rocking motion.

Lions
While lion sightings were plentiful at LHs, the lions we saw at Tintswalo and LS were not terribly exciting. The Tintswalo male and female just played cat and mouse with one another while we were there, but evidently got it together just after we left. I'm told they "did it" every 5 minutes.


Leopards
This was certainly a trip filled with leopard sightings. They are perhaps the most beautiful and interesting of the lot because they never stay still. We saw leopards mating, calling for mates, rejecting mates, stalking, fighting, eating, on ground and in trees. They provided hours of entertainment.

Other Critters

Hippo
At Ivory, We were kept awake by the hippos marking their territories all night long. We were even treated to watching them mate...which they do in the water. What was even weirder was that other females try to join in on the act, making it a manage de trois or more! We found out that weird machine gun pooping sound is caused by their flapping their tales on their rumps when they go, splattering the dung everywhere.

Hyena
At LS, there was a hyena den. Hyenas are quite social and form collective clans. We spent a lot of time watching them at play, with the female chasing and reprimanding the month old pup in her brood.

So, here we sit, in the Turkish Air lounge. This trip home is long. We left at one yesterday from Ivory, waited at airport until our 6:30pm boarding, slept fitfully through the 9 hour flight and had a 4 hour layover. We still have another 8-10 plus hours till we get home. Our business class flight was superb and the seats, service and configuration among the best we have had. We were met by airline reps who whisked us through, carried our bags and delivered us to the lounge. We are going home first class. I can only imagine how nice that will be. So this concludes our trip. Tomorrow will be back to laundry, cooking and walking the dogs. Back to reality.

Footnote: They found our laundry at Tintswalo. The monkeys must have taken it to the river, but everything was intact. However, when the bag was returned, two pairs of white socks and a silk tee shirt were missing. Now, either the laundry, after washing the clothes, forgot to pack these three things back into the mesh bag or we have some discriminating monkeys who are now dressed in white socks and my T and have figured out how to zip and unzip our mesh laundry bag! Tintswalow management insisted on sending our lost clothes by private driver even though Susan Walsh told them the clothes could be mailed. Wow!

We have come to expect nothing less than your brilliant story telling Andi. Thank you so much for doing such a great job for us all. I see no need to attempt to add to that detailed explanation of the best trip ever! miss everyone already!

Wonderful reporting, both Anne & Andi! Thanks!

Thanks so much, Andi. Have a safe trip home. Thanks Anne. I look forward to more reports from the gorillas! What a great trip.
-----------
Helen

Can't wait for pix and reports of the gorilla treks!

Andi.....thanks from Ken and me for such a wonderful report.....it says it all. What a fantastic time we all had. The best trip ever, as Cindy said.

We're finally home after a 22 hour trip. We took Turkish Air business class to Istanbul and then First Class Turkish Air Istanbul to NYC.

I love the configuration of the business class section. The video system is top notch with a huge screen. The service was excellent, right down to the L'Occitane soaps, creams, and perfume and the food was good. We even got slippers.

We were greated at the plane and taken to the lounge, and our hand baggage carried; The lounge was small but offered quite a bit of food and beverage. We were ushered all the way from the lounge to our seats. There are 8 seats in first class and only 3 were taken, so you can imagine the service level. The beds were well cushioned and there was almost complete privacy. We received leather kits filled with bulgari products, pjs and two pairs of leather slippers.

We arrived in Istanbul and NYC on time, all baggage showed up and we arrived home to two happy dogs! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful trip.

Cindy, Ken and Sheila glad you are home safe and sound. Helen, have a marvelous time. I know you will!

one day I'm going to go first class if it kills me. which it might from the shock

Diane: It is all about the miles! I happened to find the receipt for how many miles we spent round trip to Africa. I figured the spend based upon $0.02 per mile.
WOW! I truly doubt I would have gone 1st class home if they had asked for real money.

Doug

Finally home after a very long and uneventful flight on Delta. The pictures and reports are just fantastic (so much better than I could ever do).
This has been of my best trips ever and it was wonderful sharing it with friends.

Thank you again Ngaire and Ken for putting it all together.

Susan

Post-ROAR adventures at Victoria Falls

We are fortunate to be able to enjoy a few more days in Africa as we make a quick visit to Victoria Falls. The falls are impressive and flowing at their fullest - we can't see the bottom. We did a sunset cruise on the Zambezi last night and toured the falls today.


Saying goodbye to our tracker, Ronald, at Leopard Hills


Bee-eaters along the Zambezi


Zambezi resident


Sunset over the Zambezi


A small portion of the falls


100-year old bridge - bungie jumping is done from here

Susan, so glad you are home. it is such a long flight, but such good memories to bring home with us.....You are just delightful. I will see you soon I hope!

One more from the pool at the lodge near the falls - the pool feels really good on a hot day here near the falls.....

Love those birds, Grant. Hope your time there is wonderful. Where are you staying?

Cindy, glad you got home safely. Great meeting you finally.

Grant, I need your opinion: I wanted to do this too, go see Victoria Falls but my husband felt we would be tired and just wish we had gone straight home, so, settle it for us, Is this side trip worth it or do you and/or Dena wish you had just gone home?
------------
Helen

We made it home last night about 8:30 pm Pacific time. Had a smooth trip with no delays, but still about 40 hours of travel! So glad to have met everyone, both Paul and I think it was the best trip ever. So many laughs! I'll try to post some belated photos as soon as we get them onto our computer.

Our best to everyone on the "Over-Fed, Under-Slept" group!!!

Susan

Welcome back, Susan. Thank goodness the trip was so good...the trip home is a bitch, even when things go right!

Hungry, Hungry Hippo.

Doug

And the wild dog momma almost jumped!





Doug

great pixs hate to see it end - sure was fun for the stay at homes :) :)

Yes, great pix, and now we have ROAR Part 2 still to come!

Seeing people thru the (looking) glass in Ushuaia is the closest I have come to travelling with LCT'ers, so Roar 3, subsection 2 should be a real treat on many levels, not the least of which is I will meet Jan and Fred and Linda and Ron. A small but prestigous group, me'thinks ;)
------------
Helen

Grant

We are at Victoria falls today . Staying at the royal Livingston! We arrived last night on rocks rail. Funny how paths sometimes across close. We are on our way to Roar III part 2

Jan and Fred

so glad you are home Susan and Paul...... I know what a great feeling that is.... amazingly, we have only been home a few days and could probably stand to go again! We agree whole heartedly, the best trip EVER. Still having some laughs remembering hilarious moments.....