Joan Kenny

Lion Monitoring Expedition in South Africa

Arrival Date: 18 Sept 2005

Return Date: 9 Oct 2005

The alarm goes off at 4am. I’m so tired but get up anyway, no way I would do this at home. No time for breakfast, just enough time to wash my face, brush my teeth, thrown on my boots, 5 layers of clothes and a woolly hat! Never thought Africa could be so cold in the mornings! It’s my turn to do telemetry this morning. I stand out at the back of the house and find a signal for the male and female lions. I usually take an apple to eat later. Scott already has the engine running and everyone’s waiting in the back of the bakkie (Toyota Jeep), I jump in and we’re off.

It’s really cold this morning but it’s good because it means the lions might still be active. I tell Scott what signals I got for the males and females and he knows exactly where to go, he has the Selati Reserve mapped out in his head. As we drive through the reserve I try to remember the road names, ‘Rhino Crib’, ‘Thankerton Cutline’ and ‘Sunrise Boulevard’. Liam is doing spotlight. When its dark it’s really difficult to see the animals so we shine a light in an arc across the front of the bakkie and look for eyes shining in the light. Only a few minutes from the house and we spot a serval (member of the cat family). It’s my first time to see a serval, I’m so happy. That’s one for the special sightings list. Then we see about 30 impala feeding and 4 warthogs running through the bush. Few minutes later we come across four rhino. We turn off the engine and sit there looking at them under the moonlight. They have poor eyesight but excellent hearing so we must stay quiet. There are two adult males, one adult female and her 2-year-old calf. Leonie is on data entry so she records where we are and how many rhino we see. If we can identify the rhino we mark down their names otherwise we try and name them. We use distinguishing marks on their ears to identify them and dram them down. Leonie’s teaching me the names of the birds from sight and sound. There is so many its difficult to remember them all but its good fun. The ‘go away’ bird the ‘Grey Lourie’ and the ‘Yellow Billed Horn Bill’ are the most common. When we see game animals, such as impala and warthog, we record how many and where we saw them in the game data sheet. Special sightings such as the serval are recorded in special sightings list because they are not something you see everyday unlike impala – after a few days they’re as common as magpies in Ireland.

When we get to higher ground I check again for a signal for the lions. The males and females are in different places. Scott decides we’ll follow the males first and then try for the females. We track the males to Mahoed Clearing, just as the sun comes up. They’re sleeping in the morning sunshine. Inkanya is lying on his back with his legs sticking up in the air – very undignified. Shaka, the other male lion, is lying on his side beside Inkanya. We get about 8 metres from them. When you get close to the lions you never stand up in the bakkie because this breaks the silhouette. Once you stand up they see you, the human and not the bakkie and they could attack you. I get my camera out and take lots of pictures. They’re so cute I just want to cuddle them but Scott reminds me they’d kill me. Its easy to forget they’re deadly animals because they’re so beautiful. We sit there watching them for at least an hour. They must have eaten last night because they have very full belly and some blood stains on their manes. Lately they’ve been eating warthog and wildebeest. They’re going to stay there for the rest of the day so we decide to find the females.

We track the females to Andrie’s Road. I see Mica sitting among the bush about 5 metres from the road just starring at us. They are so well camouflaged. She’s got some blood on her face. Selati is nowhere to be seen. She’s probably hiding in the bush watching us. She’s very shy. We sit there watching her. Then she gets up and walks over to a dead wildebeest carcass we just spot and starts eating. We can hear her munching on the bones. She eats for about half and hour and then walks towards the bakkie and stops. We can see her swollen belly she’s definitely pregnant. She looks at us and then sits down 3 metres from the bakkie. It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Her face and neck is covered in blood and she’s panting heavily. We leave a while later to allow Selati to feed, as she won’t do so while we are there. Now it’s back to the house for breakfast and a rest.

Usually between drives we catch up on sleep, write in our diaries about our experience, do some chores around the house and have some lunch. Then by 4.30pm its time for the evening drive with Hendrick this time. Each drive we alternate the duties so everyone gets a turn to do everything. First we go back to Andrie’s road to see how much wildebeest the females ate. Part of the research being carried out in Selati involves recording what the lions are eating and how much they are eating. When we find the wildebeest it’s just a pile of bones and skin. The lions ate what they wanted, and then the jackals and vultures came to eat. The vultures picked the skin clean. It’s very difficult to say what percentage the lions ate; we guess it’s about 70%. Hendrick notices that there are no puncture wounds on the in the neck of the wildebeest so the lions didn’t kill it, they must have find it freshly dead. This can happen during the dry season, when there hasn’t been rain for few months; animals die from starvation and dehydration. So we leave the wildebeest carcass to find the males. 

We track the males down and they’re on the move. Hendrick has to drive off road to get closer to them. It’s 6pm and dark already. We come across Shaka in the middle of the bush. He’s eating a warthog. When he sees us he gets up and walks away into the bush. When he’s gone we take a look at the warthog. It’s just a warthog head and probably a juvenile. He’s eaten 100% of it. We decide to follow him so Hendrick starts moving in direction Shaka left. They we hear a noise. We have a puncture. We all get out while Hendrick changes the tyre except Leonie because she’s on spotlight and we need to keep looking around us in case the lions are close by. Once the type is changed we all hope back in. At this stage we decide to go back to the house cause it’s getting late. Hendrick drives out of the bush a different way than when we came in. Suddenly the bakkie jerks and the tyres are stuck. The two rear tyres are stuck in warthog holes about two foot deep. Straight away we all jump out of the bakkie to have a look. Leonie checks for the lions and starts shouting at Hendrick. Inkanya is standing only a few meters away from us on the other side of bakkie and Shaka is sitting behind him, upright and watching us. Hendrick shouts at all of us to stay still and he grabs his shotgun. He runs towards the lions shouting and throwing rocks at them. Inkanya stares at Hendrick and then starts walking towards him. The other volunteers and myself are frozen to the spot. Hendrick shoots at Inkanya to scare him off but he doesn’t even flinch. A few seconds later Inkanya walks away and sits down. It doesn’t look like he’s going to bother us. Hendrick tells us all to jump back into the bakkie slowly and he starts to dig us out of the warthog hole. It takes him an hour of digging but by 10pm we’re out of the warthog hole and start the drive home to get some dinner.

Volunteering in the Selati Game Reserve was the best vacation experience in my life so far. So much happened that made it great I cant name them all, but I will never forget the warthog hole night and when Mica stood beside us with a bloody face and neck. I have a huge love for animals and this adventure has only made me want to do more. Anyone who loves animals or adventure will love the Lion Monitoring Expedition in the Selati Game Reserve

I-to-I Staff and In-Country Co-ordinators

When I arrived in Jo’burg Airport and Pretoria backpackers I found the I-to-I staff very friendly and helpful. They gave us some really good advice and make sure we were happy. A few days before I was leaving Selati I got a call from Alison. She asked had I enjoyed myself and if I needed any more help after Selati. She booked a room for me in Pretoria Backpackers for that night, as I wasn’t flying home until the next day. I really appreciated that and she was very helpful. However, it would be very useful if I-to-I included a transfer from Pretoria to Jo’burg Airport if people are going home directly after their volunteering.

Staff in Selati Game Reserve

I have nothing bad to say about any of the staff in Selati. They are all so friendly and fun. Scott, Cherice and Hendrick are the loveliest people I’ve ever met. Scott is great fun and so eager to teach and ensure we’re learning. He’s always pointing out animal tracks and testing us. Cherice is the sweetest person, always making sure everyone is happy.

Advice:

• Recommend bringing a warm woolly hat, a warm fleece and jumper if you’re going to South Africa during winter, autumn or spring because the research is carried out in the early mornings and late evenings and it can get very cold, especially sitting in the back of a bakkie with cold wind blowing at you. People going during the summer months (October – January) probably don’t need to bring warm clothes as the night times can get as warm as 37°C.
• Don’t forget a head torch, it’s essential.
  
• And I highly recommend bringing binoculars to see the birds and wildlife from a distance and a good camera.
  
• Everyone washes their own clothes but you can wash them in the washing machine for a cost of about €4. That’s all the money you need while you’re on the Reserve. When you go on the weekly trips to town to check emails and buy extra food, there are ATMs where you can get more money.

Joan