Tillietudlem

Today there was a frost in the morning (as usual we were out for a walk by 6:30), yet by lunchtime the temperature was 30C. Anyway, Tillietudlem looked beautiful and more like a little slice of Scotland than ever. We’ve stayed an extra two days, going for a two hour dawn walk and a two hour dusk walk in search of otters and any other interesting wildlife. As on previous days, our otter sighting was actually at about 11 in the morning.

So we need to make an amendment. It’s actually the spotted-necked otter we’ve been watching, not the cape clawless. We managed to stalk close enough for a really good view, and the claws on the paws were definitive proof.

It’s been good to stay in one place for a bit, especially as the place is stunning beautiful for anyone who finds wild hills and chattering streams appealing. Interesting too. Yesterday we administered medicine to a poorly waterbuck, performed an autopsy on a dead eland and bottle fed a prize Nguni cattle calf. Okay, so the first two we only watched while Mike’s local vet did the work, but Maureen definitely fed the calf. We also found a leopard kill (you can tell by the bite in the back of the neck, oh yes) although no sign of the cat.

Mike and Carol our hosts are very keen to return what was just a cattle farm to a truly wild state, and they’re succeeding amazingly given that they only started three years ago. In many ways Tillietudlem is more pleasant to stay than a typical “big game reserve” – sure, there are no lions, but instead you can just wander at will over the hills and down the valleys in search of wildlife or just peace and beauty.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 7:54 am and is filed under South Africa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.