All Blog Posts (89)

After more than 20 month to six week trips to Africa, Mashatu Tented Camp and the reserve is still my favorite place to be in all of Africa. 

I am beside myself just waiting till September 24,, when I will be there for 7 glorious days. What an outstanding place, but so difficult to get there.  But, my is it worth it.  Pat

Predators have been very active around Tuli Wilderness this past month.

The Lions were seen early one morning, two adult females and two male cubs. Judging by their stomach index, they had recently eaten. They were crossing the plains and soon disappeared into the thickets where they no…

Despite the thick vegetation after the rains, February proved to be a productive month for predators.

A spotted Hyena den was discovered on another part of the reserve. While on trail two adult hyenas were seen in a rocky outcrop near a marsh. After observing them for a while they…

Good rains have finally settled the dry winter of 2012 at Mashatu. With a dramatic change in vegetation and grass cover, herds of wildebeest, zebra, waterbuck and impala are seen grazing all across the magnificent landscape of Mashatu. Over 33mm of rain (6 days of rain) was recorded around Main Camp,…

Playtime!

The past week at Mashatu delivered some amazing wildlife scenes unfolding in front of our guests. Camps have been busy and listening to the stories around the camp fire at dinner…

In the first week of September we hosted a group of guests from 'Wild Africa' Big Cat Conservation, World Expeditions here at Mashatu. The trip was lead by famous Australian T.V presenter of National Geographic Wild AUS, Ben Britton. The idea of this trip was to assist with the collaring of a male…

The past week has been filled with loads of general game and predator sightings. Aged kudu and eland bulls are particularly hard hit by the dry conditions. Their worn-down teeth makes grinding fibrous vegetative content difficult and they seldom obtain the necessary proteins and nutrients, from the remaining browse available, to avoid apex predators such as lions and spotted hyenas.…

Much warmer temperatures have filled the days and nights at Mashatu during the month of August. With rain still a far and distant dream, there are however signs of spring everywhere out there. Acacia tree species are all starting to blossom and the air is even more filled with the sweet aroma of…

With numerous cold fronts moving through South Africa, up here in the Tuli we also experience those effects. Windy conditions, like today, causes most of the animals to move into thickets where they are less affected by it. However, these thickets hold secrets in them, as most predators also rest in these as…

Game viewing in Mashatu was phenomenal during the month of July. Average temperatures (high & low) for the month were 22°C and 6 °C. Considered to be cold out here, it is nothing compared to temperatures in all of South Africa. From a photographic point of view, the majority of days were…

What a terrible blow to conservation efforts in the Tuli area!  Attitudes are hard to change, but we can't be deterred from continuing the effort.

The following post is from Andrei:

Tragedy has once again struck our wild dog pack, this time you can consider it Armageddon for the pack. Yesterday I found that all but 2 dogs were poisoned with Temic. A goat carcass and an impala carcass was laced with poison and on further investigation we also found a…

Wonderful sightings were seen at Mashatu during the month of May. The three cheetah brothers made their way back into the reserve, and there were frequent sightings of…

If I had to only show pictures of this area, without the reader knowing what date or season the pictures were taken in, most people will think they had been taken in August, September or even October. The conditions in the whole of the…

The end of March finally saw a soft downpour in certain areas of Mashatu. Rain of between 10-15mm were estimated in these areas. Various small drainage lines, feeding into the Majale-and Matebole rivers were flowing. Temperatures are rapidly cooling down with mornings becoming a bit nippy on the open…

National Geographic Wild (Aus) was at Mashatu. Have a look at the following three movie clips - they are all part of the Big Cat Week show. Only airing in Australia at the moment.

http://natgeotv.com.au/big-cats/videos.aspx?VideoID=55458CE9…

Weather

Although light showers have been seen in the area the general feel and condition of the bush is harsh and dry. A recent thunderstorm just outside the reserve borders caused most of the smaller drainage lines and tributaries to flow, causing the Matebole…

During January there were frequent thunderstorms seen all around the reserve. Much rain have fallen, some places over 60mm, but this was really sparsely distributed across the landscape of Mashatu. For the amount of rain that some areas had, most of Mashatu's landscape is actually looking dry and arid. A…

Weather

Average temperatures at Mashatu during December ranged around 35°C and 23°C with a recorded maximum of 40°C at one stage. Days were not all that hot and after each really hot day, thunderstorms emerged either during the late afternoons or evenings…