Tag Archive for hluhluwe accommodation

Day 2 – Hluhluwe Imfolozi

Lacey / January 26, 2012 / No comments

Day 2 – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi
Thankfully it was not a baking hot day in the park today! The sun was out, there was no chill on the breeze (except at 5 o’clock in the morning maybe) and the bird sightings were fantastic!

hamerkop
woolynecked stork
hadeda ibis
african white backed-vulture
lappet faced vulture
white headed vulture
yellow billed kite
wahlbergs eagle
african hawk eagle
martial eagle

brown snake eagle
steppe buzzard
forest buzzard
natal francolin
three-banded plover
blacksmith plover
wattled plover
wood sandpiper
water dikkop
bronze-winged courser

cape turtle (ring necked) dove
laughing dove
green (emerald) spotted dove
*purplecrested turaco
burchells coucal
mozambique nightjar
horus swift
speckled mouse bird
redfaced mousebird
malachite kingfisher

little bee-eater
african woodhoopoe
red-billed woodhoopoe
trumpeter hornbill
cardinal woodpecker
bearded woodpecker
rufous naped lark
sabota lark
eurasian swallow
greater striped swallow

lesser striped swallow
fork-tailed drongo
black-eyed bulbbul (common)
fantailed (zitting) cisticola
cloud cisticola
levaillants cisticola
lazy cisticola
neddicky
spotted flycatcher
african dusky fly catcher

african paradise fly catcher
yellow-throated longclaw
fiscal shrike
red-backed shrike – this rare bird turned out to be the most common bird in the park today!
southern boubou
brubru
southern tchagra
(three-streaked) brown crowned tchagra
wattled starling
(cape) glossy starling

red-winged starling
red-billed oxpecker
white bellied sunbird
scarlet chested sunbird
house sparrow
southern-grey headed sparrow
spotted backed (village) weaver
redcollared widow
blue waxbill (blue-breasted cordon-bleu)
pintailed whydah

long-tailed (eastern) paradise whydah
dusky indigobird (black widowfinch)
yellow fronted canary
streaky headed seedeater
golden breasted bunting
(cinnamon-breasted) rock bunting

There may also be one or two that have been forgotten on the list, Jason will find out when he goes through the pictures.

And then of course, as a sidenote they also spotted some non-avian species too, such;

chacma baboon
vervet monkey
african elephant
white rhino
warthog
burchells zebra
giraffe
blue wildebeest
impala
buffalo
nyala
leopard tortoise
bells hinged tortoise

All in all, not a bad days game viewing!
As with all the best days, no day would be complete without the telling of stories over a beer in the lappa before dinner.

Hluhluwe accommodation, south africa

Stories and bragging rights exchanged at the bar :)

Category: Activities, Birding, Extreme Nature Tour, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, Jason and Adam, New friends / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Day 1 – Arrival – Nature Tour

Lacey / January 25, 2012 / No comments

We have another nature tour on the go at the moment, but this time the focus is on birds (everything else as well – but mostly bird).
It is off to a great start though! Tired and weary having just landed in South Africa, Jason and Adam made their way to Umkhumbi Lodge, pulling in the gate they saw a Cattle egret, hadeda ibis and a long crested eagle.
Jason and Adam then made the mistake of just having a ‘quick’ lie down, no one can just lie down here – the beds draw you into deep deep sleep as soon as your head hits the pillow usually! But they both woke up in time for dinner, steak was on the menu – no one wants to miss the tender beef steak!
But an early night for the boys as they have an early morning tomorrow with a full day game drive at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi game reserve which is only a 35 minute drive away from Umkhumbi Lodge.

Category: Birding, Extreme Nature Tour, Jason and Adam, New friends / Tags: , , , , , ,

Dinnertime!

Lacey / January 20, 2012 / No comments

Tantalise your tastebuds with the thought of this dinner;

 

Starter

Tomato and pesto bruschetta on a bed of lettuce at Umkhumbi Lodge Hluhluwe

Homebaked Tomato and Pesto Bruschetta served on a bed of fresh, crisp Lettuce

 

Main Course

Umkhumbi Lodge's Summer Chicken Pasta - hluhluwe accommodation

Issie's invention: Strips of tender chicken in a cheese sauce with pasta and vegetables

And last but by no means least, the most important course…

Dessert

Umkhumbi Lodge Pineapple Dessert - hluhluwe accommodation

Refreshingly simple Pineapple Patty made from locally grown pineapples

Category: Dessert anyone?, Emma's Kitchen, Whats for dinner? / Tags: , , , , , ,

Did You Know – King Cricket

Lacey / January 18, 2012 / No comments

Check out his weeks nature factsheet – this week King Cricket

- Onosandrus (King Cricket) - Description: Medium sized cricket with single spine on inner side of upper front leg (tibiae). Pattern on back caused by black markings on cream body - Size: Body length approx 28mm. - Male/female: Mandibles same size in both sexes. - Life Expectancy: Approx 3 years: hatchling to adult - Behaviour: Nocturnal, stay in underground burrows during the day emerging at night to feed. - Diet: Eat small animals (usually insects) and plant matter. - Noise: 'Stridulate' by rubbing legs against the abdomen. - Reproduction: Eggs can take up to 18 months to hatch and take 1 to 3 years to mature. Males can have harems of females which brood eggs and young in special chambers. - Habitat: Dark and damp places; Wet soil, rotten logs, sodden moss. - Distribution: Found across the whole of South Africa. - Did you know: Some adults are missing both wings, sometimes they only miss one! | Make a deafeningly loud noise just by rubbing their legs together.

Category: Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course, Our animals / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Lion

Lacey / January 11, 2012 / No comments

Check out the wildlife factsheet below! This week is the Lion, and it is on two pages!

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Lion Scientific name: Panthera leo - Description: Largest African Carnivore. Lions are social cats and typically spend 20-21 hours a day resting. Most active early in the evening and late at night. - Male/female: Avg height 110cm (females) 120 (males). Short coat, males have manes. Juveniles are spotted with grayish coats (adult colour at 3 months). - Activity: Lions typically spend 20-21 hours a day resting. Most active early in the evening and late at night. - Hunting: Main hunters are usually the lionesses, but will scavenge if their is a kill available. Males will follow behind rushing to join the lionesses once the prey has been caught. Lions can kill prey up to 4 times their size, on ocassion even animals over 1000 kilos can be brought down, larger prey are usually brought down in co-operative hunting. Males are slower than females but their larger size means that they are more likely to tackle large prey. Lions share food to an extent, if prey is small or scarce smaller and weaker animals will miss out, even mothers will not share with their cubs until they have eaten enough. - Killing technique: Small game such as impala is usually brought down by a slap to the rear, tripping, or grasping with both paws. Larger prey is usually brought down by the full weight of the lion to slow down and over-balance the prey. For additional leverage the lion can grip the neck of the prey (shoulders/ back can also be used) to protect themselves from horns and to an extent the hooves of the prey. - Social Structure: Lions are gregarious and they live within in a matriarchal society. This society offers communal care of those within its pride - including communal suckling of cubs. Males form coalitions (usually with littermates) to ensure that they can secure territory when they leave the pride. - Breeding: Gestation 102 days. Lionesses usually produce cubs every 2 years. When a new male takes over the pride one of the first acts is to kill all the cubs below one year of age. Some lionesses may be wounded or even killed for protecting their cubs. After the loss of her cubs a female is able to mate again within a few weeks, however she is unable to become pregnant for around 134 days after losing her cubs due to a takeover. It is thought that this is to protect the female should the new male desert the pride and allows a stronger male / coalition to take over. - Communication: Vocal; Roars, grunts, snarls, growls, meowing, hissing, humming, puffing, woofing, spitting and moaning. Smell: Spraying (urine), clawing, scuffing, urine-testing. Tactile: Licking, head-rubbing, greeting ceremony. - Greeting ceremony: There is a special greeting ceremony that allows lions to show another Lion that they belong in the pride and 'come in peace'. Here is how to do it: on approach moan softly, rub heads together, then sides together with your tail raised high (if you can manage it, drape your tail over the other lions back). Then lean against eachother, as hard as you can, it doesn't matter if you fall over the other one. Greetings occur between females and cubs and between adult females. Females and cubs will sometimes try to rub the pride males who may accept the greeting but save their own greetings for other males in their coalition. Greetings seem to work upon a hierarchy and may be a form of appeasement from a lesser individual. - Did You Know: Female lion cubs never lose their playfulness where as males over 3 years rarely join in the games. Lions are very good swimmers, but HATE water! Lion claws are sheathed like your cat at home. Lions drink water regularly when they can, but they can go without water for long periods of time - some Lions in the Kalahari have been spotted eating samma melons and gemsbok cucumbers when thirsty.

Category: Albizia camp, Did you know? / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We are in the Guardian.co.uk Travel supplement!

Lacey / January 7, 2012 / No comments

Check out this fantastic article in the Guardian by Will Hide!

If you want to see wildlife in a setting normally only visited by South Africans, bypass Kruger and head to KwaZulu-Natal. Umkhumbi Lodge has 12 rooms and a pool and is offering 20% off for summer bookings made this month (mention code WHGUA). Not only do you have the wildlife-packed Hluhluwe-Imfolozi and Mkhuze national parks a short drive away, but there are sandy beaches and fishing at Sodwana and Kosi Bay and Isimangaliso Wetland Park too, which will be more than enough to keep everyone happy. • A week at Umkhumbi Lodge (+27 76 164 1134, umkhumbilodge.co.za) in two interconnecting rooms costs £1,272 half board for two adults and two children under 12. Activities, drinks, flights and transfers are not included. The nearest international airport is Durban, two-and-a-half hours away by car. Emirates (emirates.com) flies from Gatwick to Durban from £620 return in August

 

Category: Bushwire, In the News, Special Offers / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Hippopotamus amphibius

Lacey / January 4, 2012 / No comments

See below for this weeks South African animal factsheet!
Exceptionally large amphibious mammal: average size 1600-3200kg (male). Brown to purple-gray in colour with pink underparts. Large body with short legs.

Category: Bushwire, Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Skink

Lacey / December 14, 2011 / No comments

Check out this weeks factsheet on Typical Skinks – Trachylepis (Mabuya).

-Skink -Genus: Trachylepis -Description: Genus of 23 species of skink that are similar in appearance, i.e. body shape. All lizards within this genus have fairly shiny scales, large eyes with movable eyelids and well developed legs. -Size: The largest species are approximately 120mm and the smallest approximately 55m in length. -Tail length: Usually the same as body length however the grass-top skink has a tail that is over twice its body length. -Behaviour: Active by day. Tend to bask in very open positions and do not run away till you get quite close to them. -Food: active foragers of insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and flies. Skinks will also bask in strategic positions that allow their food to come close to them. Some, e.g. the rainbow skink will even eat the young of smaller lizard species. -Predators: Preyed upon by many, the skink uses a method called tail autotomy to help it escape. This means that their tails shed/fall off to distract the predator from its skink prey. Many skinks have a brightly coloured tail to maximise their chances of escape, e.g. the rainbow skink and Angolan blue-tailed skink have bright blue tails. -Social structure: Skinks tend to be found in high density. This causes interaction with fighting of posturing to intimidate eachother for the best basking sites. -Habitat: Can be arboreal, terrestrial or rock dwelling. Skinks are usually able to live in a variety of habitats, however the wedge-snouted skink is restricted to sand dunes and arid scrublands. -Reproduction: Varies even among the same species- their have been recorded cases of certain populations of variable skink (pictured) giving birth to live young, but another population of the same skink will instead lay eggs. -Distribution: Widespread and common, however most species occur in the northern parts of southern Africa. -Did You Know: After shedding its tail a skink will often return and eat it.

Category: Bushwire, Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course, Our animals / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Kudu

Lacey / December 8, 2011 / No comments

Here it is, another factsheet in our South African Wildlife collection. This week is the Kudu – join in the fun next week with the Monday Wildlife quiz on our Umkhumbi Lodge Facebook page.

 

Kudu - scientific name: Tragelaphus Strepsiceros - Description : Extremly shy of humans this South African even-toed ungulate lives in herds of up to 12. Large, with long legs they have 6 to 10 vertical white stripes. Unlike Nyala their horns are not white tipped. - Food : Browsers= Fruit, seed pods, melons - ocassionally will raid crops and is considered a nuisance in some areas. Eats young grass shoots to that have a high water content. This makes them independent of water. - Male and female : Male Kudu are greyer than the cows and calves who have a copper shen to their coats. Only male Kudu have long spiral horns. - Life expectancy : 12-15 years - it is possible to age males based on the shape of their horns. - Behaviour: Usually occur in small herds of 3-10 but have been known to form larger heards. Outside of rutting season, adult bulls are either solitary or in bachelor herds. Usually active in early morning or late afternoon they have taken to nocturnal activity in areas where thy have been disturbed or hunted. - Habitat : Occur only in Savannah woodland, do not occur in open grassland or forest. Have been known to occur along wooded watercourses. Prefer Acacia woodland and rocky hill country. - Reproduction : Most births take place in the summer months however calves are born thoughout the year. The Kudu cow moves away from the rest of the herd to give birth to one calf weighing about 16kg. Gestation period is is around 210 days. The calves hide for a few days until they are able to keep up with the herd. - Distribution : Occur principally in North and Eastern parts of South Africa with isolated populations in the cape province. Widely occur through central Africa south of the equatorial forests. - Did You Know? : • Kudu can easily jump over fences up to 2 metres high! • The inside of a Kudus ear is pink • The longest recorded horn length is 181.6cm - the average size is 120cm

 

Category: Bushwire, Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Did You Know – Heady Maiden Moth

Lacey / November 30, 2011 / No comments

Find below our latest factsheet on the Heady Maiden moth
-Heady Maiden Moth -Scientific name: amata cerbera -Identification: Blackish blue wings with transparent spots. Body is a blue/green with red or orange bands. Usually 4 bands. -Male and female: Similar markings on male and female -Body length: One of the smaller moths - 30mm body length -Behaviour: Sluggish, slow flying day fliers. -Food: Adult moths do not need to eat as they obtain most of the food they need as caterpillars and breed quickly. They do however drink.Some with working proboscis (mouth-piece like a straw) suck nectar from plant flowers and tree sap. Larvae feeds on various leaves, flowers, and fruit dependant on region. -Larvae: Larvae have been found in various places from grass to Coffee. -Communicate: Communicate with chemical signals -Habitat: Succelent Karoo to Sub-tropical Forest -Distribution: Eastern Coast of South Africa extending up to Mozambique and as far inland as Swaziland. -Predators: Varied predators from Chameleons to birds. Roughly summarised to 'anything that can catch them'. Parasitic wasps kill eggs. -Did You Know: - The genus name amata means loved : Butterflies have straight antenna whilst moths have ones that resemble TV aerials to help them fly at night : Unlike m

Category: Bushwire, Did you know?, Environmental Awareness Course, Our animals / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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