What do you do with 3 boys (6 - 10) at LL?

The week (11- 18 July) flew by too fast and was really too short for all the things we wanted to do! LL certainly did not disappoint in topnotch bush adventure.

Even though I have been to LL almost every month over the last 3 years, we now had the opportunity to discover some of the little hidden secrets - such as the Hippo pool near River Camp which is invested by gigantic crocodiles and hippos galore. Yes, we saw them on numerous occasions as we carefully stalked up to the river bank. Unfortunately we were never ready with cameras to capture any, as they would vanish too quick, but I took the pool on one occasion here.

We loved the long walks and mountain biking trips along the river bank. One morning as I was jogging past Island Lodge, I was surprised by a young elephant bull grazing on the leaves of a Knobthorn, just in time to make a fast retreat before it sniffed me.

On their little ventures around camp Philip, Carl and Malan soon discovered a hole with real muddy clay and it turned out to be their bush haven as they got their hands dirty by forming all their favorite animals. Carl found a small bee-eater in front of the lodge which seemed quite happy to hop into his hand.

We were so surprised by two small baby elephants walking right through our camp one morning. They must have strayed from the herd and walked right beneath the two strand electric wire (which keeps out the larger elephants) onto our front porch. They flapped their ears as if to say "don't mess with us" and then moved out again. One fellow though he could walk right through a tree and was stopped dead in his tracks. He obviously needs some more bush gym training. Even though we tried to herd them clear of the fence, one of them touched the strands and was shocked right off his feet. Stunned for a few minutes it lied there and then got up with flapping ears again - as if to say: "I'm tough enough - nothing gets me down!" And he walked right out of camp. We were too flabbergasted to take much footage so only got this clip of one of the elephants.

Of course another highlight was the visit to the wild dogs and tracking the white rhino breeding herd with the anti-poaching team. Both these breeding programs are doing very well.

We also walked along the springs near Longope to look for the Python pools, but were not able to find any of the big ones out from hibernation yet.

Another highlight was the climbing of LL hill in search of the hyena den. The boys absolutely loved it as you can see here and here. We saw lots of game out on drives but missed the leopard by 30 minutes as Lucky saw it at two cribs.
More videos to be seen on my Youtube and more pics on my www.facebook.com
Jacques

Thomas & Evelyn Rupperti, Vienna, Austria

Small miracles of „Noah´s Ark“

I ´m talking about „small“ miracles of LL because I definitly think people are generally focussing too much on big game and forgetting about the small things.

But even if there is no animal to be seen – the bush is talking to you – showing exciting tracks, smells and sounds……

For me and even to Thomas the most precious thing in LL is definitly to WALK in the bush ( with ranger or near the lodge even without) and watch the small, usually regarded as less spectacular things just like butterflys, dragonflys and beetles, birds, plants and trees, but also kudu, impala and warthog and a lot of other wild animals can cross your way...

We have never been so close to wilderness before as in LL, never learned so much about the bush and life in the bush. And we never felt at home like in LL – thanks to the great stuff and talented rangers.

So we would like to say a big „thanks“ to all, that made this kind of miracle possible – to give Southern Africa back a piece of nature offering us the possibility to share the adventure of creating a new kind of Noah´s ark!

Die kleinen Wunder der Arche Noah

Nicht nur Elefant, Rhino und Leopard sorgen in LL für das ultimative Buscherlebnis – es sind auch die kleinen Wunder, die den Zauber des Wildnis ausmachen: vom Schmetterling über die bunte Vogelwelt bis zu den abendlichen Campbesuchen der Buschbabies, von der Gottesanbeterin bis zur Babykobra vor der Haustür – die Wildnis ist überall…

Für uns war es eine besondere Faszination, den Busch auch zu Fuß erleben zu dürfen – auf Spurensuche mit Petros oder alleine in der näheren Umgebung unserer Lodge. So aufregend die Gamedrives auch sind, die uns zu Blesbock, Eland, Giraffen, Rhinos, Elefanten und vielem mehr brac

hten – zum richtigen “Buschfeeling“ gehört ein ausgiebiger Walk – mit offenen Ohren und Augen, stets bereit, auf Wildtiere zu treffen – oder ihnen auch rechtzeitig auszuweichen! - und begleitet auf Schritt und Tritt von den kleinen Wundern von Limpopo Lipadi.

Hier – Spuren vom Wasserbock, der am Morgen seinen Durst am Limpopo gestillt hat. Dort die markanten Fussabdrücke der Hippos, die in der Nacht vom Fluss zum Grasen heraufgestiegen sind. Vom Fluss hört man ihr Grunzen..

Hinter der nächsten Biegung treffen wir auf eine Warthogfamilie, die uns ungläubig anstarrt, bevor sie sich in die Büsche verzieht. Schmetterlinge umgaukeln uns, allen voran die herrlichen Monarchen, aber auch die bunten Heuschrecken, der schillernde Skarabäus und knallrote Libellen sind allemal ein Photo wert.

Wenn der Wind günstig steht, kreuzen auch Impala, Kudu und Steinböckchen den Weg – und eine Familie von munteren Eichhörnchen äugt neugierig aus einem Loch im alten Baumstamm.

Die „Flying Bananas“, die gelbschnäbeligen Hornbills, streiten sich aufgeregt auf den Ästen des abgestorbenen Baumriesen, Roller und Kingfisher zeigen sich ihre ganze Farbenpracht, eine kleine Leopardenschildkröte schleppt sich ins sichere Gebüsch.

Und selbst wenn weit und breit kein Tier zu sehen ist: Der Busch spricht zu uns - durch Spuren, Gerüche, Geräusche..

Noch nie waren wir so nah am Puls der Wildnis wie in LL. Noch nie haben wir in so kurzer Zeit so viel erfahren, so viel gelernt: 4x 4 Wheel Drive, Erste Hilfe, vieles über die Tierwelt, die Säugetiere, die Vögel, die Reptilien und Insekten, über Spurenlesen und Verhaltensweisen..

Noch nie haben wir uns im Busch so wohl gefühlt wie in den herrlichen Lodges von LL, fürstlich umsorgt von einer bemühten Stuff und im Busch erstklassig geführt von Petros und Co.

Danke an alle, die dieses „Wunder“ möglich gemacht haben – die Afrika wieder ein Stück Natur zurückgegeben haben und uns die Chance geboten haben, auf diese außergewöhnliche Art und Weise daran teilzuhaben!

Thomas und Evelyn Rupperti