Mamma Mia, MalaMala!

On the morning of July 10th, we went to check the sage to see if the leopard had brought her cub there. She was there, but not the cub. We waited as she walked around, hoping she’d lead us to her cub but that didn’t happen. 

The leopardess sat on a termite mound as the sun rose to our left.

Another car radioed us that tracks from the six cheetah were spotted on the other side of the airstrip and we had to be in that area for our morning flight anyway so we left the momma and set off in that direction. We drove around and around but didn’t see them and didn’t pick up fresh tracks giving us clues as to where they went. Our flight ended up being changed to an earlier time (9:30a.m. instead of 10:30a.m.) so by the time we had our quick coffee/snack stop, it was time to go to the airstrip and head to MalaMala. Once again, we went into the one building terminal (which I wouldn’t even really call a terminal— it’s an open air building with bathrooms, a small gift shop, a bench, and two windows for immigration). We got our passports stamped and boarded our small charter flight where I sat backwards, knee to knee with my mom who was facing the front of the plane. Because we were flying back into South Africa, we had to make an extra stop to get our passports stamped. We flew from Limpopo to Nelspruit where we took all our bags off the plane, walked to the arrivals hall, went through immigration, walked to the departures hall, went through security, and walked with all our bags back to the same aircraft. We flew another 30 minutes to MalaMala, landing at an airstrip only five minutes away from camp. We had a light lunch (I got another pizza because why not?) and put our belongings in the room. 

Room 26, my lucky number!

MalaMala has been in existence since 1927, making it the oldest (and also largest!) private big five game reserve in South Africa. It was the first commercially operated game reserve in South Africa and is now the model on which all other private game reserves now operate. In fact, it was one of the first private camps to move to photographic safaris from hunting safaris in 1962. It shares a twelve mile unfenced boundary with Kruger and it has thirteen miles of Sand River frontage (technically it's located within the Sabi Sand Game Reserve). The "MalaMala Seven" call this area home: rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, cheetah, and wild dog, though it's never a guarantee you'll see all those species because wildlife comes and goes as the species pleases.

We decided to skip the first afternoon's game drive. That’s unusual for us, but we were tired and still had a long way to go with our adventures in MalaMala and Mana Pools. The plan was to shower, nap, and edit photos but this is Africa… I opened my computer to a black screen, pressed the power button as usual, and still had a black screen. Weird. I held it down for ten seconds and still had a black screen. That’s not good. I quickly googled how to turn on a MacBook Pro that won’t turn on, troubleshooted all of that, and still nothing. I plugged my charger in and let it sit for a few hours. Nothing. I even borrowed someone else’s charger. Still nothing (profanities were going through my head at this point). Here I am, on a photo workshop with a computer that won’t turn on. There are many bad things that can happen to technology when you travel and this has been the worst for me. I’m used to getting back from a drive, immediately importing all my photos, and maybe editing a few for social media if I have time. I also use the photos to help me write this very blog, which I am currently typing on my iPhone while on a plane to Mana Pools, because it helps me remember our sightings in greater detail including the chronology of them. So, not having a working computer is definitely a big deal to me. 

But back to MalaMala… without a computer, I couldn’t do anything. I watched the waterhole that our room (twenty-six– my lucky number!) overlooked and saw some nyala and bushbucks come down for a drink. Nyala is a new species for us. They're gorgeous, spiral-horned antelopes from the same family that include kudus and elands. The nyala is notable for its extreme gender differences (sexual dimorphism), with differences in color, size, and build. At a quick glance, the female nyala might even pass for a kudu. 

Two nyala outside our room.

Kudu in comparison.

After a nap, we met the group again for a boma dinner and called it a night. We headed out in the early morning as usual for our first full day in MalaMala. As soon as we drove out of camp, we heard bone crunching. We stopped to listen, off-roaded into the bush, and saw a spotted hyena. We tried to follow it but then lost it. We cut back over to one of the main roads, where our ranger spotted a drag mark in the road. As he stopped to look at the tracks, I looked to my right and spotted a lioness at the base of the tree. As we turned off-road once again, we could see that the Marthly lioness was chewing part of a male impala… with the Island female leopard up in the tree above her eating from the same kill! 

A leopard with an impala kill.

This was leopard seven of the trip for us, and what a sighting it was. Based on the drag marks, our ranger hypothesized that perhaps the female leopard made the kill, hyenas came and tried to grab a bite, and the lioness chased off the hyenas and ate what was left. This sighting was so close to camp that, as the sun rose, you could literally see the camp directly behind the tree on the other side of the river. 

To the right of the base of the tree, you can see the lioness. To the left, at the tree line, was our camp.

We watched this amazing interaction for quite some time. When we got there, it was just the two cats. Eventually, we looked to the left and saw a hyena trying to cross the river. 

A hyena crosses the Sand River towards the kill.

When it did, it inched closer and closer to the tree. It had a staring contest with the lioness and decided to walk away. The lioness then got brave and decided to climb the tree to try to get more of the impala kill since there was just a leg on the ground. 

Looking for the best way to climb the tree.

Now, there was a lion and a leopard in the same tree!! The leopard was quicker than her, though, and dragged the kill high up in the tree. The lioness went up about halfway before climbing down the tree and aborting the mission altogether. 

Giving up, the lioness jumped down the tree.

As soon as she walked away from the tree, the hyena came in, glanced around, and ran past the left side of the safari car carrying the remainder of the impala leg. 

Coming in to try to steal the kill...

A hyena runs off with an impala leg.

The interaction left us speechless. We pulled out of the sighting, getting back onto the road, where we found this giant kingfisher.

A giant kingfisher sits on a branch.

When we continued, we had a quiet drive for about two hours. We came across giraffes fighting, but they stopped shortly after we pulled up to them.

Two giraffes fighting.

A car radioed saying that lions were spotted so we went to see what they were up to. Of course, the Kambula lionesses and the Ndhzenga males were sleeping… until a big, bull elephant in musth came trumpeting along, sending them running through the bushes.

We remained where we were, and he was on his way!

You have to be extra cautious around elephants in musth because they get aggravated easily. Our car remained parked, but another car repositioned. His attention turned towards them. He didn’t charge, but you could tell he wasn’t happy about it. Instead, he trumpeted again and charged towards the lions once again. After photographing and watching that interaction, we drove around to see what else we could find. We didn’t find anything else, and eventually went back for brunch. 

Up close and personal.

Driving over the Sand River on a bridge.

At 12:30p.m., we headed out for a different adventure: getting mom to a doctor. Her ear had clogged up during our small charter flight from Mashatu to MalaMala and it still wouldn’t pop after trying all the home remedies. Assuming she probably needed medication for a sinus infection, and after an unsuccessful attempt to treat the congestion with an over the counter medication that the camp had, she asked to be transferred to a doctor. The problem, however, was that there was no doctor nearby. Keep in mind, we’re incredibly remote when we travel in Africa. There are sometimes small towns, but the medical care isn’t as established ad you’d want which means you have to travel further. Our quoted drive time was two and a half hours. With no other choice, we said ok, took a packed lunch in the car, and set off with our driver Sam in an enclosed transfer vehicle (not the open air safari cars you take on drives). We drove through MalaMala’s entire reserve on a road that borders Kruger National Park. We exited the park’s official gates, which to this point we hadn’t even seen, and turned right onto a paved road. We passed banana farms where bananas were covered in blue and white plastic bags to stimulate growth in the cold climate and lots of fruit/veggie stands right on the side of the road where locals were selling South African mandarins (almost exactly like oranges but easier to peel), avocados and nuts. We got to White River two and a half hours later only to be told that we didn’t have an appointment (even after the camp called and fit us in for three in the afternoon). The receptionist said she’d fit us in and I filled out all the paperwork. As we waited, we chatted with her about what we had been doing in Africa. Since there was no one else there, I showed her a few photos that I had airdropped onto my phone. She told me that I had to show the doctor because he also loves wildlife photography. When we finally got a room over an hour later, the doctor and I were showing one another photographs. Four medications later, we were back on our way to camp. We got back after dark, six hours after we had left. We were beyond exhausted, so we had dinner brought to our room. The food took awhile, so I ended up snacking on the packed lunch that the lodge had sent with us until dinner of butternut squash soup and lasagna arrived. We fell asleep shortly after— it felt so good to be flat after a long day of sitting! 

The next day, we had a very quiet morning. We drove around and around without even seeing impala at times. We drove by the leopard den site with no luck, though it would’ve been hard to see if a small leopard cub was there with all the nooks and crannies it could hide in. Towards the end of our morning drive, we saw one female and one male lion. The male was unknown—with a short, stubby tail — and perhaps from another area. We photographed the two while the rangers were circulating photos of the unknown male to try to pinpoint where he came from. 

Sleepy lioness.

When you get bored waiting, you experiment with closeups and crops!

My camera for perspective.

One of my favorite lion photos from our trip!

A beautiful male lion. Look at that mane!

We had a very short drive back to camp as these two were in the riverbed right below camp. In the afternoon, we came across a herd of elephants within the first 30 minutes. We observed them, but didn’t photograph them. We tried again at the leopard den site. We stopped to listen at the bottom of the den site and heard a squirrel chittering. We rounded the corner and saw the male leopard cub sitting on a branch in the sun. 

A leopard cub peeks out from behind a tree.

Because we knew where we had left the lions earlier in the day, we headed back to the river in the hopes of photographing them at night with the spotlight. Of course, when we got there they were still sleeping. 

Back to sleep...

Throughout my trips to Africa, I've come to the realization that lions, along with big cats in general, often require a lot of patience. The cats sleep a lot, and when they're up you're usually waiting for their ears to both face forward before taking a photo. Alternatively, or in addition to waiting for ears, you're also always observing their eyes just waiting for them to be open fully. You'll usually have no problem if they're in the shade, but it's an entirely different story in the harsh light of the day. On this particular day, the lions didn't become active until long after the sun had set. Thankfully, there was another vehicle at the sighting so our ranger and our photo guide worked together to have the other ranger position her spotlight, enabling us to get creative photos. Below are some of my favorites! 

Lions yawn... a lot.

Stretching before getting up.

Nose to nose. I loved this tender moment! 

Yet another lion yawn.

A male lion watches us.

On the morning of July 13th, we bundled up for the day as usual. It's winter, and it's cold. I often wore three layers of tops, pants, gloves, a beanie, AND had a blanket on my lap with a hot water bottle underneath... and would still be chilly. 

All bundled up and ready to go!

We saw nothing for a long time. Eventually, our ranger Nic saw unusual drag marks on the ground. We decided to examine the riverbed, and I spotted a leopard in a tree. He jumped down quickly, and I think I was the only one who got a photograph of him. 

This was the only photograph I got of this male leopard before he jumped down from the tree. We thought he was skittish, but we ended up finding him again.

Up ahead, I saw a spotted hyena, a “spottie” as we say, and as our ranger thought it was probably tracking the leopard, we followed it. It went up the riverbed and by the time we drove to an area where we could climb up it, the spottie had disappeared into the bush. We traveled along a road slowly, looking every which way. Nic picked back up on the leopard, spotting it far off the road. We off-roaded to get a closer look. 

The same male leopard from before.

At first, we weren’t sure if it was the same leopard so I pulled up a photo from when it was in the tree and our photo guide took a photo of it in the moment and we sat in the car, cameras side by side, comparing spots and scars. We determined with certainty that it was in fact the same leopard and from there, Nic tried to determine which individual it was. All the rangers carry laminated identification cards, maps, and other goodies to reference in the field and he said it was one of two leopards but wasn’t sure which because it’s a leopard that isn’t seen very often. The leopard sat there, spottie right on the other side of the tree, before something caught his interest and he decided to get up. We followed him into the thickets, mowing down small bushes in the process. We gave him some distance as it looked like he was going to hunt, but he sat down in the shade with his hyena “friend” closely following behind. When we all determined that he’d sleep for the heat of the day, we stopped for a quick bush breakfast (really more of a snack— boiled eggs, muffins, cookies, and fruit skewers complete with French pressed coffee, tea, and hot chocolate) before going back to camp for our official brunch. 

Zebras graze mid-morning.

At camp, I had asked if it was possible for the chef to make the camp’s MalaMala omelette since I had it the day before and it was so good. They happily obliged, and I munched on the omelette filled with feta, sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, and basil pesto. Initially, I was going to skip the afternoon game drive to recharge my mental battery before Mana Pools and reflect on all the amazing sightings we had, but another guest had a Zoom meeting to attend so the three of us went out an hour later to meet our standard safari vehicle. It worked out well— for that first hour, they only saw an elephant and had went to check on the leopard den with no luck. Shortly after we joined the drive, we saw a lion pride: three males and two females.

A gorgeous male lion approaches us.

They were on the move when we first got there but as the sun started going down, they became “flat cats”. 

To the right, you can see what we call a flat cat.

While waiting for them to get up, I did an iPhone timelapse of the sunset since there was nice cloud coverage. When I had finished that, I took some photos of the rising full moon with a sleeping lion in the foreground. 

Sleeping lion with the full moon rising.

At dark, the lions did get up to move a bit and we experimented with backlighting once more. It was much easier in the riverbed, but it’s always fun seeing how these animals behave at night. After they became flat cats once more, we went back to camp for dinner. 

On our last morning in MalaMala, we came across a leopard’s kill shortly after leaving camp at 6a.m. We saw the Three Rivers female nearby with her approximately eight month old male cub. It was still dark when we found them, so we had to use the spotlight.

A mom and her cub in the early morning (maybe 6:30a.m. or so).

The cub came right next to the vehicle, staring at us curiously. He was so close I couldn't even get a picture! My mom had my phone in anticipation of him climbing the tree (she was going to take a video for me so I could photograph) and because we didn't want to startle him with subtle movements, I just watched as he sat right next to me. When I say right next to the vehicle, I’m not exaggerating— I couldn’t even get an angle to take a photo! When he moved towards the back of the vehicle, I took this, but it's not the same as the incredible experience of having a leopard look up right at you!! 

You can see the rear of our car with the leopard right there! Before, he was right at the step in the foreground. Incredible.

Mom with a leopard... A great start to any morning!

One of the two walking right by our car.

We watched as they groomed one another and as the cub tried to play with mom who was just not having it that morning. 

"MOM, stop that!!!"

The cub climbed the tree to nibble on some impala, leaving mom at the base of the tree. He jumped up right in front of us!

The cub jumping into the tree to feast on the kill.

We knew it was unlikely that both leopards would go into the tree at once so we sat and waited. A hyena came and circled the tree, at which point the leopardess stood on a fallen tree nearby and snarled at it.  

Momma snarling at the hyena.

Cubs are often clumsy and drop part, or all, of the kill from the tree so it was likely that the hyena was waiting for something to fall. Mom remained nearby, as leopards will often do, in case she had to quickly pick up the dropped kill and hoist it back up the tree. We left them to enjoy their meal after an incredible start to the morning, setting off to see what else the morning would bring. We picked up on lion tracks and attempted to locate them with no luck. After checking all the nearby areas for a possible female with cubs, we got wind of a secret sighting. We were jokingly told we were going to see a tree squirrel, and when we arrived at the sighting we saw a female cheetah with her cub— our group safari had come full circle with our first sighting of those six cheetah in Mashatu. 

One of the two cheetahs to end our Mashatu/MalaMala portion of the trip.

We had one last brunch before heading to the airstrip. 

I thought this happy face coffee was so cute!

We drove to Skukuza about one hour away from camp, driving through Kruger to get there. When we got there, our plane wasn’t there yet— a “hurry up and wait” scenario that often happens in the bush. 

Taken from the airplane.

When we finally boarded the plane, my smaller than average carry on (my camera bag) would hardly fit under the seat. I didn’t want to sky check it with Airlink even though I’ve been told it’s safe to do so even with camera gear, so I somehow wedged it under the seat. Some Airlink flights are so small that there’s only an overhead compartment on one side of the plane and it’s so narrow that your typical carry ons don’t fit. When we landed in Joburg about forty minutes later, we collected our bags and said goodbye to the two other guests. We went to the hotel to meet an IT pro in the hopes of fixing my computer. He brought a new battery with him because my computer had the “service battery warning” which means you need a new battery. When he opened up my laptop with all the tiny screws, he said “uh oh”. That’s definitely not good. 

Ever wonder what the inside of a computer looks like?? Yikes.

He looked, and the strip that’s supposed to be white was red meaning there was some liquid damage. I hadn’t spilled anything on my computer and I’m always very careful with where I leave it, so that was frustrating. He told me that he’s seen worse damage where computers would still turn on and not to worry yet. He dusted my computer off in the bathtub using a toothbrush, cleaned and replaced the battery, and tried to turn it on. Still nothing. He determined that the liquid damage was most likely condensation that had built up over time, and there was nothing else that could be done on site as the logic board was most likely damaged. Still computerless, we headed to an early dinner after thanking him for coming on such short notice to get ready for our Zimbabwe adventure.

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