WHAT ELSE CAN BE SHOWN!

There was a group of 12 guests who stayed at &Beyond Dulini Lodge for two days and then came to &Beyond Exeter River Lodge for their last two days. While they were at Dulini Lodge, they saw everything, so we didn't know what we could possibly show them! But in the bush there is always something different to see or be shown! On their first night at Exeter River Lodge we headed up into the North of the reserve. We had to cross the Sand River to get to the North and, while we were at the river, we had to get through a big herd of Elephants, which was a fantastic sighting! We watched them drinking water and slowly feeding their way through the river. After we had a good look we crossed the river and proceeded North. While in the North, we came across a herd of Zebra, Wildebeest, Kudu, Impala, Waterbuck and even two Common Reedbuck (which is a rare sighting), all in this one area! What a great sighting of all the different species! Eventually we left the area and went for some celebratory drinks. It was quite late when we finished our drinks and decided to head home. We were all in good spirits, which were lifted even more when Phikson - my partner in crime out in the bush - spotted a female Leopard! We couldn't believe our luck. We followed her for a bit as she saw some some Impala and even tried to hunt them, but with no success. We decided to leave her and let her carry on with her evening without us hounding her from behind. BUT there was another surprise just before we got back to the lodge - another female leopard! What was fascinating about this female is that she was following in the tracks of the first female almost exactly where she had walked, as the territories of these two females overlap near Exeter River Lodge. It was amazing to see how incredible their sense of smell is and how they react when there is another leopard in their territory. The second female leopard eventually caught up to the first female, but nothing happened, as the second female ran off when she saw her rival, so that resolved that possible conflict! So, again, we left them to themselves and headed back to the lodge. But, to everyone’s surprise, a Hyena came through the same area that both leopards had walked through, probably following the alarm calls the Impala gave out when they discovered that there were two leopards in the area. We did eventually get home because, after the Hyena, we had no more surprises, besides the lovely dinner the guests had. So there is always something new you can get to see or find out in the bush!

Posted: Exeter Lodges by Craig Parsons, Date: 8 November 2012