September draws to a close and we all are astonished at how fast the time flies! Especially out here in the bush, where the sun rises and sets rhythmically to a simple tempo. Mornings are cloudy with the noon sunshine burning them away, skies are blue and the breeze still blows here in the Beho Beho Hills. The heat radiates at mid-day and all creatures great and small go quiet as they rest. The sun turns dusty orange, then crimson red and the crickets start to chirrup – and not long before it is night. The nocturnal brave start to move and get ready for their night-time adventures. Days come and days go – and in the simple world of the bush life – they pass calmly and quickly and each day we say fond farewells and warm welcomes to very special people. The long pod cassia are flowering all around the camp. Bright buttercup-yellow flowers brighten moods and are a refreshing splash of colour in the muted tones of the dry grass and barren trees. The dry season edges forward slowly, but this month we have seen some strange weather patterns. A couple of light rain showers as well as one heavy 30 minute shower falling during tea time – has got everyone talking of early rains. We should usually expect the short rains in early November but we have seen storms brewing over the Uluguru Mountains and predict some early rainfall.
We have seen similar curious changes with the movements of our local wild dog packs. Our beloved ‘Blackie’ and his pack with the heavily pregnant female from June have not been seen for a while. Instead we have seen a different pack now in the Beho Beho area. We first spotted them in early September on a walk with Ian – when they jumped out from behind a doum palm where they had been snoozing in the late afternoon heat. The adults stood and barked and then three little pups went scrambling up the hill first towards the airstrip. The radio call came that dogs had been sighted plus new pups and everyone diverted their drives and plans to go and see them. Everyone, especially the guides were thrilled to see the new pups of the season with hairy, healthy coats, short legs and fat tummies! Thereafter they have been seen a number of times by the game drive vehicles and the entire pack are relaxed enough to snooze around the vehicles with the puppies. Now that the denning season is finished, the dogs will move great distances again with their 3 new additions in tow – searching for food. We do wonder however what has happened to ‘Blackie’ and where his new pups are and how many they may be. They must be somewhere and we hope they return to the area soon giving us not one but two wonderful packs of dogs both with pups.
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The ‘three musketeers’ (the three male lions frequenting the Beho Beho area) have been seen regularly and getting up to all sorts of mischief. Often we stand in the lounge area or for a better view from the pool and see them lounging around on the plains near the giant baobab. On walks we find fresh tracks around the camp and in the night we hear their presence. At the beginning of September they killed a large adult buffalo right on the plains in front of the main area. Each of the three brothers took turns to protect their prized kill from the encroaching vultures who waited patiently for a couple of days. By the end of the second day – the lions eventually gave their kill up with bulging bellies. Then for the next few days they hung around in the area digesting their enormous meal. Luckily for us, we had the perfect elevated view point from camp and during all the excitement were able to glance out on to the plains and see a theatrical vulture chase by one of the lions or them simply lounging with their legs in the air. Thereafter they disappeared for a few days, and we all wondered where our boys had gone? It was thought that these young boys needed some company – especially some lady company. That did make sense indeed! Not long afterwards we found our boys with at least two or three different females in various areas not far from the camp. It was not long before they were all mating – some of the boys with more than one female – naughty! But in all honesty, these are good signs – indications that we may have a Beho Beho pride soon – a coalition of the brothers, pregnant females and some cubs hopefully soon!
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Lots of our guests have been lucky enough to catch the three musketeers in action and see them mating and some guests even got a closer encounter than was expected. On an afternoon drive with Ian, he drove to a nice-looking spot for a sundowner. Guests jumped out and Ian began to unpack the coolerbox – taking out drinks and snacks, when one of the guests – Beth said calmly, ‘Lion….lion.’ And she was right, not far off in the brown grass two ears and wide head watched them curiously. Everyone got back into the vehicle quickly and calmly and Ian put the coolerbox back – and off they went in the vehicle to find one of the young males with one of the new females. After taking some pictures, it was agreed to drive a little further to find a new sundowner spot – one preferably without lions nearby! The three boys also joined us at Bush Dinner one night – they were spotted hanging out around the Beho Beho International Departure Hut (which they love to do) and walked right past dinner whilst everyone ate. One of them also strolled past the main dining area just before tea time one day, at around 3pm when one of our guests was lying on the couch reading his book. I’m sure he could not believe his eyes! The lion just continued on past all the rooms and gave everyone in the rooms a very special veranda safari!
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Lake Manze has also been a hive of activity at the beginning of September. Hungry (and very lazy lions) hang out at Lake Manze in big numbers waiting for their meals to come down to the water to drink. Guests were often treated to feeding lions or lions digesting food lying around sleeping and some were even treated to the odd chase – although not always successful! We have also seen some changes with our Manze pride – as last month saw a couple of them wounded from a few fierce fights – probably amongst themselves and new rivals. It has now been confirmed by Heribert that we have two new Manze boys who have taken over the territory and females of the Lake Manze area. There seem to be just two of the adult females left of the previous Manze pride (nicknamed ‘The Greedy Pride’) and these two have been seen happily mating with the two new brothers suggesting acceptance to the new rule. The guides have no idea what has happened to the rest of the previous pride. There were some sub-adult males and a female with cubs but they seem to have dispersed. A smart move when new males enter the area! Run and take cover! Male lions often will kill previous offspring that is not theirs, when they take over a new pride. This brings the females back into oestrous so they can mate. They will also chase away any sub-adult males which helps to reduce any possible competition in the near future for dominant rights! These two new boys have already been named by the Lion Research Project – ‘Uhuru’ and ‘Umoja’ which means ‘Freedom’ and ‘Unity’. We will be needing some new names for the three young Beho Beho Boys – any ideas are welcome?
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Lake Tagalala is still an interesting and entertaining activity which we encourage all our guests to do! The lake is a bit shallower now as the dry season continues – and from time to time the boat skims over the tops of surprised hippo’s and crocodiles. Did you know? That Lake Tagalala is said to have the highest density of crocs per cubic volume of water in all of Africa. It is no surprise then – that lake trips always involve a gigantic count of crocodiles and some great photo opportunities. With the shallower water the jumping fish are also keeping busy – jumping into the boat regularly. One even jumped and knocked one of our poor honeymoon couples sunglasses off her head! Luckily they didn’t fall into the lake – as no one would be jumping in to retrieve them!
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Onesmo has found himself a new lady…and her name is Lady Luck! He discovered not one but two leopard not far from the vicinity of the camp on his way back from sundowners one evening! It appeared to be a mother and sub-adult cub and they had killed an impala and dragged it down under a bush. They had just started eating it, and Onesmo and guests got a pretty good view of them before they slinked off into the thick bush a little disturbed. He returned the following morning – saw signs of them having been around but missed them by a few minutes. Later on that afternoon as the day was drawing to a close, he passed by again and this time spotted both of them next to the kill – still feeding! Guests were overjoyed and Onesmo was beaming with pride!
September has also seen some very special visitors to the camp. An elephant who was very relaxed and calm right by the main area during teatime. He came right up to the edge of the dining room and posed beautifully for everyone having tea and cake. This same visitor came another day and dipped his feet in the duck pond. We are also thrilled to have had some of the Bailey family visit us. Nicky (Charlie’s wife) visited us for a few days and Mrs B. (Charlie’s mother) has been here for a few weeks. Mrs B. has been visiting Beho Beho since it was purchased by her husband, Christopher in 1977. Since then Beho Beho has been a very special place to her and the family and a wonderful holiday home – a sanctuary to find peace in the tranquillity of the bush and enjoy the pleasure of the wildlife! For guests who are lucky to be here when Mrs B. is around, she will amuse you with fascinating stories of a colourful life lived – about pet Lemur’s named Tiki, elephants that walked through the main area and ate the Christmas cake, and tales of travel to almost every exotic place you can think of in the world!
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And even around the camp, there are not only the big (lions and hippo’s passing by in the night) but also the little. Wahlberg’s Epilletted Fruit Bat’s hang out in the cover of the pathway roofs during the day and giant exotic looking insects are always around. There is also a special pair of slender mongooses who have a burrow under in the bush around the base of the long pod cassia in front of the office. Two heads often pop out from beneath the earth early each morning with bright brown eyes – and then they disperse to feed and forage for the day. We hope this September Newsletter finds you well, healthy and happy. And we hope unlike us that your home dwellings do not have too many creatures big and small!
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September draws to a close and we all are astonished at how fast the time flies! Especially out here in the bush, where the sun rises and sets rhythmically to a simple tempo. Mornings are cloudy with the noon sunshine burning them away, skies are blue and the breeze still blows here in the Beho Beho Hills. The heat radiates at mid-day and all creatures great and small go quiet as they rest. The sun turns dusty orange, then crimson red and the crickets start to chirrup – and not long before it is night. The nocturnal brave start to move and get ready for their night-time adventures. Days come and days go – and in the simple world of the bush life – they pass calmly and quickly and each day we say fond farewells and warm welcomes to very special people. The long pod cassia are flowering all around the camp. Bright buttercup-yellow flowers brighten moods and are a refreshing splash of colour in the muted tones of the dry grass and barren trees. The dry season edges forward slowly, but this month we have seen some strange weather patterns. A couple of light rain showers as well as one heavy 30 minute shower falling during tea time – has got everyone talking of early rains. We should usually expect the short rains in early November but we have seen storms brewing over the Uluguru Mountains and predict some early rainfall.
We have seen similar curious changes with the movements of our local wild dog packs. Our beloved ‘Blackie’ and his pack with the heavily pregnant female from June have not been seen for a while. Instead we have seen a different pack now in the Beho Beho area. We first spotted them in early September on a walk with Ian – when they jumped out from behind a doum palm where they had been snoozing in the late afternoon heat. The adults stood and barked and then three little pups went scrambling up the hill first towards the airstrip. The radio call came that dogs had been sighted plus new pups and everyone diverted their drives and plans to go and see them. Everyone, especially the guides were thrilled to see the new pups of the season with hairy, healthy coats, short legs and fat tummies! Thereafter they have been seen a number of times by the game drive vehicles and the entire pack are relaxed enough to snooze around the vehicles with the puppies. Now that the denning season is finished, the dogs will move great distances again with their 3 new additions in tow – searching for food. We do wonder however what has happened to ‘Blackie’ and where his new pups are and how many they may be. They must be somewhere and we hope they return to the area soon giving us not one but two wonderful packs of dogs both with pups.
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The ‘three musketeers’ (the three male lions frequenting the Beho Beho area) have been seen regularly and getting up to all sorts of mischief. Often we stand in the lounge area or for a better view from the pool and see them lounging around on the plains near the giant baobab. On walks we find fresh tracks around the camp and in the night we hear their presence. At the beginning of September they killed a large adult buffalo right on the plains in front of the main area. Each of the three brothers took turns to protect their prized kill from the encroaching vultures who waited patiently for a couple of days. By the end of the second day – the lions eventually gave their kill up with bulging bellies. Then for the next few days they hung around in the area digesting their enormous meal. Luckily for us, we had the perfect elevated view point from camp and during all the excitement were able to glance out on to the plains and see a theatrical vulture chase by one of the lions or them simply lounging with their legs in the air. Thereafter they disappeared for a few days, and we all wondered where our boys had gone? It was thought that these young boys needed some company – especially some lady company. That did make sense indeed! Not long afterwards we found our boys with at least two or three different females in various areas not far from the camp. It was not long before they were all mating – some of the boys with more than one female – naughty! But in all honesty, these are good signs – indications that we may have a Beho Beho pride soon – a coalition of the brothers, pregnant females and some cubs hopefully soon!
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|
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Lots of our guests have been lucky enough to catch the three musketeers in action and see them mating and some guests even got a closer encounter than was expected. On an afternoon drive with Ian, he drove to a nice-looking spot for a sundowner. Guests jumped out and Ian began to unpack the coolerbox – taking out drinks and snacks, when one of the guests – Beth said calmly, ‘Lion….lion.’ And she was right, not far off in the brown grass two ears and wide head watched them curiously. Everyone got back into the vehicle quickly and calmly and Ian put the coolerbox back – and off they went in the vehicle to find one of the young males with one of the new females. After taking some pictures, it was agreed to drive a little further to find a new sundowner spot – one preferably without lions nearby! The three boys also joined us at Bush Dinner one night – they were spotted hanging out around the Beho Beho International Departure Hut (which they love to do) and walked right past dinner whilst everyone ate. One of them also strolled past the main dining area just before tea time one day, at around 3pm when one of our guests was lying on the couch reading his book. I’m sure he could not believe his eyes! The lion just continued on past all the rooms and gave everyone in the rooms a very special veranda safari!
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|
Lake Manze has also been a hive of activity at the beginning of September. Hungry (and very lazy lions) hang out at Lake Manze in big numbers waiting for their meals to come down to the water to drink. Guests were often treated to feeding lions or lions digesting food lying around sleeping and some were even treated to the odd chase – although not always successful! We have also seen some changes with our Manze pride – as last month saw a couple of them wounded from a few fierce fights – probably amongst themselves and new rivals. It has now been confirmed by Heribert that we have two new Manze boys who have taken over the territory and females of the Lake Manze area. There seem to be just two of the adult females left of the previous Manze pride (nicknamed ‘The Greedy Pride’) and these two have been seen happily mating with the two new brothers suggesting acceptance to the new rule. The guides have no idea what has happened to the rest of the previous pride. There were some sub-adult males and a female with cubs but they seem to have dispersed. A smart move when new males enter the area! Run and take cover! Male lions often will kill previous offspring that is not theirs, when they take over a new pride. This brings the females back into oestrous so they can mate. They will also chase away any sub-adult males which helps to reduce any possible competition in the near future for dominant rights! These two new boys have already been named by the Lion Research Project – ‘Uhuru’ and ‘Umoja’ which means ‘Freedom’ and ‘Unity’. We will be needing some new names for the three young Beho Beho Boys – any ideas are welcome?
|
|
|
Lake Tagalala is still an interesting and entertaining activity which we encourage all our guests to do! The lake is a bit shallower now as the dry season continues – and from time to time the boat skims over the tops of surprised hippo’s and crocodiles. Did you know? That Lake Tagalala is said to have the highest density of crocs per cubic volume of water in all of Africa. It is no surprise then – that lake trips always involve a gigantic count of crocodiles and some great photo opportunities. With the shallower water the jumping fish are also keeping busy – jumping into the boat regularly. One even jumped and knocked one of our poor honeymoon couples sunglasses off her head! Luckily they didn’t fall into the lake – as no one would be jumping in to retrieve them!
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|
Onesmo has found himself a new lady…and her name is Lady Luck! He discovered not one but two leopard not far from the vicinity of the camp on his way back from sundowners one evening! It appeared to be a mother and sub-adult cub and they had killed an impala and dragged it down under a bush. They had just started eating it, and Onesmo and guests got a pretty good view of them before they slinked off into the thick bush a little disturbed. He returned the following morning – saw signs of them having been around but missed them by a few minutes. Later on that afternoon as the day was drawing to a close, he passed by again and this time spotted both of them next to the kill – still feeding! Guests were overjoyed and Onesmo was beaming with pride!
September has also seen some very special visitors to the camp. An elephant who was very relaxed and calm right by the main area during teatime. He came right up to the edge of the dining room and posed beautifully for everyone having tea and cake. This same visitor came another day and dipped his feet in the duck pond. We are also thrilled to have had some of the Bailey family visit us. Nicky (Charlie’s wife) visited us for a few days and Mrs B. (Charlie’s mother) has been here for a few weeks. Mrs B. has been visiting Beho Beho since it was purchased by her husband, Christopher in 1977. Since then Beho Beho has been a very special place to her and the family and a wonderful holiday home – a sanctuary to find peace in the tranquillity of the bush and enjoy the pleasure of the wildlife! For guests who are lucky to be here when Mrs B. is around, she will amuse you with fascinating stories of a colourful life lived – about pet Lemur’s named Tiki, elephants that walked through the main area and ate the Christmas cake, and tales of travel to almost every exotic place you can think of in the world!
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|
And even around the camp, there are not only the big (lions and hippo’s passing by in the night) but also the little. Wahlberg’s Epilletted Fruit Bat’s hang out in the cover of the pathway roofs during the day and giant exotic looking insects are always around. There is also a special pair of slender mongooses who have a burrow under in the bush around the base of the long pod cassia in front of the office. Two heads often pop out from beneath the earth early each morning with bright brown eyes – and then they disperse to feed and forage for the day. We hope this September Newsletter finds you well, healthy and happy. And we hope unlike us that your home dwellings do not have too many creatures big and small!
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