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Oct 2006 saw my participation in the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon as a personal goal, and in addition raising funds for two organisations, the MUN-YA-WANA Leopard Project and the Bethesda Outreach Project. R 22 000.00 raised across both organisations. Unfortunately, didn't complete the race, but my plan is to return in 2007.(http://www.extrememarathons.com/)

Madikwe Game Reserve, one of the two Batia brothers - the resident pride males in our area of the reserve (Madikwe River Lodge). Had some great experiences viewing them with guests. On one occassion, the Dipelo pride females had killed a warthog, and were present with their young cubs. The pride males moved in, and the dominant one seized the carcass and began feeding with the adult females and other brother keeping their distance. One particular cub was not going to shy away and repeatedly moved in to share the food. A couple of times the adult male swatted at the cub, and he rolled away, only to get up and move in again. In disgust, the adult male eventually picked up the carcass, and moved off some distance to feed in peace. That young cub was destined for big things when it grew up !

Sunsets, sunsets, sunsets !!! Another one of the southern African sunsets. This was taken at sundowners during the afternoon/evening drive looking across the Madikwe plains. Every day, we would set out mid to late afternoon with our guests on a drive. We would plan a stop for drinks and snacks as the sun was setting. Returning to the lodge in the dark with spotlights would give us the opportunity to experience the bushveld at night, see the night sky (not influenced by any bright city lights), and possibly see some of the nocturnal animals.

Wild dogs are certainly in my view one of the most fascinating of the African predators. They are critically endangered, and therefore not often seen. A pack of wild dogs requires a huge area to supply the resources they need, 20 000 to 25 000 hectares, and therefore there are not many reserves or protected areas large enough to support wild dogs. Wild dogs have a very efficient hunting method with a high success rate in comparison with the other predators. They literally run their prey to exhaustion. Once the prey is on the run, the wild dogs will chase it at a steady pace until they catch up, and start to tear the prey to pieces. From our perspective it may appear “cruel”, but in effect the kill is extremely effective, and the prey animal is killed and devoured in little time by a pack of wild dogs. This is unlike predators that kill by strangulation e.g. cheetah, and the prey animal may take longer to die. In certain reserves, such as Madikwe Game Reserve, the wild dogs have learnt to chase their prey and corner it up against fences, and the prey animal has no way to escape. A particular lodge in Madikwe had frequent visuals of such kills against the lodge fences from a wild dog pack that was resident in the area. A pack of wild dogs will hunt almost every day, and especially so when there are hungry pups to be fed. Depending on the season, the dogs will set out to hunt at almost the same time every day. During full moon though, we often did not get to see the dogs as they would hunt at night rather than during the day.

Two of the four males belonging to an adult coalition. Cheetah males will stay together for life from cubs, whereas females are strictly solitary as adults, only joing with males to mate, and being seen with their cubs. It was a spectacular site to frequently see the four adult male cheetah together. The animals are built for sprinting, and the high speed chase. The photo shows the long vertically flattened tail used to balance as the predator swerves to follow the antelope it is chasing. On one occasion, my vehicle radio failed used to communicate with other vehicles in the reserve and report sightings. Within a few minutes we located the four males, and had the pleasure of viewing them on our own without interruption for a long time.