After a lot of badgering from the boss and many comments from guests about the shortage of letters, I have finally succumbed to writing a newsletter; I have to say I have been rather apprehensive trying to be half the scribe my old pal Paul was.
Well I can’t believe its almost two years since Louise & Paul Left Ndutu. It really seems like just yesterday we were having our hand-over meeting on the shores of Lake Victoria.
The latest on Paul and Louise is that Louise is racing around the wilds of Exmoor in an Ambulance or on a “huge” horse. Paul has been busy building a patio and more importantly a BBQ which is to be tested very soon. And the “poppet” well what do you expect being trapped at home with Paul all day. Probably narrating poetry and playing the guitar?
Aadje has actually just spent a long weekend with them in Exmoor so I will leave her to update you all further.
2007 / 08 was an interesting year with the big fire and Ol Donyo Lengai the active volcano erupting, we were lucky to have Owen & Amanda here filming for the BBC and they managed to capture some fantastic moments on the film “The Great Migration” broadcast at the end of February this year as part of the series Natures Great Events. I hope you all had a chance to see this fantastic film.
If you have then you will be desperate to know about the “Ndutu Pride” or Thin Pride – well they have built themselves into a fantastic pride of four females, two very majestic males and eleven cubs, and have given many many clients immense pleasure and, I’m sure, some beautiful photos.
Talking of which please remember to share your pics on our website.
We also have three female lions in the marsh area with nine cubs and they too have given clients good opportunities to watch and photo successful hunts in and around the marsh or them just catching up on sleep all 22 hours of it? The flies forcing them to nap in the trees.
The Massek pride who seem to have split up into smaller groups are being seen but not as the big pride last year. The two Males from the Marsh (one with the half tail) have been seen in the evening with the Marsh Females and by morning with the Massek females. “Double duties” which must be quite a rare sighting.
After the fire there was very little undergrowth left and then with less than average rainfall since has left a lot of the Ndutu area void of places to hide and so we have had excellent sightings of all the smaller rarer creatures, the likes of Caracal, Aardwolf, Aardvark, Serval and lots of Wildcat.
The rains came early and plentiful in November 08 and it seemed we were in for a good rain season. The wildebeest came on a direct march from the northern Serengeti and amassed in huge concentrations on the plains around Ndutu. It was Fantastic! Only one slight problem…Not enough people to enjoy the spectacle. November / December is always a gamble depending on the rain but if you were here this year you had one of the best examples of wildebeest concentration that I have ever seen.
There was even an afternoon where we had Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Impalla, Dik Dik Buffalo and Elephant all just in front of the lodge. Who needs a car?
Unfortunately the rain that seemed so promising in November was not as impressive in December, January, February and March where we had rain, but below average. As the grass had not been able to grow with all the animals grazing it as quick as it could grow we were able to again get great sightings of all the cats and a very full African Rock Python lying out on the plain under a small bush trying to digest whatever it had swallowed (probably a wildebeest calf) as quick as possible and get back to the marsh away from the vehicles who had turned it & its little bush into a roundabout centre piece.
Unfortunately due to the lack of long grass we seemed to loose our Elephants with only a few small family groups remaining in the area. Even our old friend DT after arriving literally behind the first Mobile camping truck as it arrived in November and then promptly chasing our service car as it took the vegetable waste to the compost cage, so much so the driver had to abort the mission and return back to base with the waste till DT moved off. He then was not seen again until the end of April.
The Cheetah are always a welcome sight and although this year sightings seemed to be less maybe due to the wandering lions or just the fact that Eleanor and her 6 cubs moved across the border into the Serengeti into a “no go zone” so sightings of her and her surviving 5 cubs were few and far between this year. We can confirm that Eleanor was seen minus her now adult cubs and looking pregnant at the small Marsh in March.
Another of the regulars “Loupy Lou” had three cubs this year. The latest news of Loupy Lou is that she was seen at Serengeti South Airstrip but with only two Cubs.
The two males from her previous litter have been sighted regularly about 60 km north of Ndutu unfortunately not doing very well without a territory and with a lot of Mange which I am told is brought on by stress….?
This female and her three cubs who had not been recorded for over a year by the cheetah project turned up recently on the Makao Track and seemed very relaxed and healthy.
Some clients were very lucky to visit the den of a pair of very relaxed striped hyena thanks to Hamisi, who cunningly managed to keep their location a secret from me and so unfortunately no photo. In fact only this week one was sighted in the same area. So we will keep an eye out for the future.
The late rain at the end of May/ early June has extended our season with small pockets of wildebeest still on the northern plains (triangle) and lots of Zebra and big impressive herds of Eland and Thompson Gazelle. So there is still plenty to see and not to forget food for the predators to see them through the coming dry spell.
More groups of Elephant have returned this month and just sitting watching them feed as the sun sets is a real pleasure.
As the dry season starts the grasses are turning into golden yellow and huge flocks of red billed Quelea eating up the seed. And not to forget the Fishers love birds that are now flooding the birdbath in the morning with their vivid colours again.
Good news is that the pair of Von der Decken Hornbills that made a habit of coming for tea and “bird cookies” have been seen feeding a youngster.
On the subject of Birds. I thought I‘d keep this till last as its one of those things as a visitor passing through you may never notice, but it is the nesting habits of our very common house sparrow who lacks the bright colours of many of the popular birds on the check list but makes up for it in character. The overwhelming urge to build a nest in the most unusual and unpractical spots! But they have been successful.
The regular pair who builds under an old Land Rover Peak Cap hung up in the garage on an old coat hanger that holds a worn out pair of overalls, and flaps in a very insecure wave in the wind.
The pair that decided that the exhaust pipe of the service car was the ideal spot and they would wait for the car to return in the evening and as it parked up for the night you would see these blackened birds shoot into the exhaust. The driver needed to remember to knock on the exhaust in the morning before starting the engine. This same pair then decided that the lorry exhaust was a better bet as it’s used less often. Leonard was worried at the amount of nesting material going into the exhaust. So he blocked the pipe and rigged up an old exhaust pipe nearby which our “coal miner” sparrows moved into instantly.
Another pair decided a box section on the water truck was ideal even though it drove between the lodge and water wells all day. As the chicks hatched the parents would wait food in mouth for the truck to return. Then a feeding frenzy took place before the truck took off for the next load. As the chick got bigger it could not stave off the hunger and fell out of its bizarre nest. Abdallah picked it up and pushed it back into the box section. After that every trip a rag was pushed into the hole to keep the hungry passenger in, then on return out came the rag, and feeding continued. I’m pleased to announce that all managed to raise their young.
The cold season is now with us with chilly winds coming off the Ngorongoro Mountains. Don’t forget your warm coat or better still you can now buy our new Ndutu Fleece. Not sure if we are doing mail orders yet.
Mr White, get the coals on the BBQ.
Colin.
P.S This February we had a special guest at Ndutu Lodge. Jerry Rilling from the US. He had been the manager at Ndutu lodge many years ago. It was his first time to be back after all these years, so there were lots of stories to tell about the good old days, and Jerry has written about his trip.
