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4 months ago | [YT] | 1

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Africa showed off… wait until you see how it ends! 🐘🌅

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Africa’s Ninja Cat Revealed

Caracal

The caracal is a medium-sized, slender member of the cat family found across Africa. These strongly built felines have tan to brick red coats, distinctive tufted ears and long legs, especially their hindquarters. They have relatively short, flat faces with dark markings above their eyes and cheeks. Their large, dark tipped and tufted ears give caracals a rather regal appearance.

Caracals are tremendously agile and strong hunters and similarly to most cats, are purely carnivorous, feeding on mammals, birds and reptiles. They have well developed hindquarters which gives them excellent acceleration when chasing prey as well as being able to jump large distances either vertically or horizontally. Caracals are also excellent bird hunters and due to their powerful legs, are able to jump up to 3m in the air to pull birds out of the air.


Caracal ears are particularly well-muscled, 20 separate muscles and they are able to move in many directions to sense prey as well as communicate to other caracals. This allows them to move and tilt their ears independently to adjust them to listen to sound waves from their prey. Humans in comparison have just 6 muscles in their ears.


Though far more abundant across their range, caracals are often found in similar habitats to cheetah. A similar cat to the caracal is the serval. This spotted feline also has long legs and is an excellent hunter. However servals specialise in hunting rodents and prefer wetter areas where rats and mice are more common. Therefore these two cats share similar habitats but do not compete with one another for prey, having their own niches.

These hunters have a softer side too. Mom caracals, which usually have three babies in each litter, cuddle with their young. And the babies cuddle each other too. See, even ninjas need to snuggle sometimes.

4 months ago | [YT] | 1

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts With C.A.T.S

The Warthog

Warthog

It’s easy to overlook the smaller creatures when it comes to going on safari. Often, you’ll see warthogs running with their tails in the air while zooming past on a game drive.Their name comes from their ‘warts’ or protrusions on the sides of their face, these protrusions are a combination of bone and cartilage.  It protects their face when they fight.

They sleep underground at night in burrows that they steal from other animals such as aardvark. They don’t dig their own.Warthogs mainly eat grass or will dig for roots and bulbs when it’s dry. If they have the opportunity, they will scavenge on meat as they are omnivorous.

Warthogs have litters of two to four piglets however, their mortality rate is quite high due to predators.Two or three female warthogs form small sounders with their young as they look after the piglets.Female warthogs let their babies go into their burrows first, then they back into the burrow so that if anything comes into the burrow as a threat she can run out and protect them.

They have tusks like an elephant, on their upper and lower jaws that they use to fight and defend themselves against predators. If the ground is hard, they use their snouts and tusks to lift the soil. They go down onto their wrists when they eat.

Surprisingly, they can live for up to 17 years of age.

These lovely animals frequent the lawns of lodges, to get to the fresh green grass. Make sure to look out for them on your next safari!

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts With C.A.T.S- The LION

Go check out the video now!

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts With C.A.T.S The Cape Cobra

Cape Cobra

The Cape cobra is also known as the "geelslang" (yellow snake) and "bruinkapel" (brown cobra) in South Africa. Afrikaans speaking South Africans also refer to the Cape cobra as "koperkapel" ("copper cobra"), mainly because of a rich yellow colour variation. The Cape Cobra has a lifespan of 12 to 20 years and has a average length of 1 to 1.5 meters, 2 meter snakes have been seen however.

Cape cobras are regarded as one of the most dangerous species of cobra in all of Africa, by virtue of their potent venom and frequent occurrence around houses. The venom of these snakes tends to be thick and syrupy in consistency and dries into shiny pale flakes.

Cape cobras play an important role in the ecosystem they live in. These snakes favor to prey on various rodents and thus help to control their populations. Since they often occur near farms and human settlements Cape cobras are also helpful in controlling rodent pests.Cape cobras are shy snakes. They eat live prey, such as mice, lizards, and small mammals. They look for prey during the day. Cape cobras enter houses when they pursue their prey. Sometimes they lie in paths where people can step on them. The venom, or poison, of a Cape cobra attacks the nervous system. If a victim is not treated quickly, a Cape cobra’s bite can be deadly.

Beautiful but deadly!

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts With C.A.T.S
The African Wild Dog

Wild dog

Also known as the Cape Hunting Dog, Spotted Dog, Painted Dog or Painted Wolf, the African Wild Dog is one of Africa’s most misunderstood carnivores. It is recognised as Africa’s most endangered predator with only between 3000 and 5000 left in the wild. Numbers have radically declined across Southern Africa due to habitat loss, poaching, diseases and threats from other predators.In terms of the African wild dog’s physical appearance , each dog has its own unique coat pattern, with long legs, big, rounded ears, and a white-tipped tail, which also helps members of the pack find each other during a hunt. It is not only their coats that make them special. They each have individual characters, distinct skills, and their own idiosyncrasies. All wild dogs share a sense of fun, a gentleness of the soul and a co-operative spirit, which makes them one of Africa’s most enigmatic creatures.

Wild dogs ‘sneeze’ to make decisions on when to hunt, if a dominant individual within the pack sneezes it is likely that the ‘sneeze’ vote will result in a hunt.Once the hunt is decided, the alpha male typically will walk up to its prey without ambush to initiate the hunt.Wild dogs have one of the most successful hunting rates of any carnivore with an average of 80% of hunts resulting in a kill; this is due to their ability to give chase as a team for up to an hour. Whereas, the big cats of southern African; lions, leopards, and cheetah success rates are only about 20-30%.As the whole pack shares the kill through learned begging behaviour it is not uncommon for there to be a hunt every day in larger packs. If there is a lack of prey available, this leads to increased begging behaviour, which acts to suppress reproductive urges as it inhibits hormone production.

Wild dogs have the same social structures as North American wolves and are sometimes called the ‘painted wolf’.


Fascinating!

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Kruger national park

The 2 000 000 hectares Kruger National Park in South Africa can only be described as huge! It’s about the same size as the whole of Israel, a little smaller than Belgium and about a third of the size of Ireland.The Kruger Park is approximately 360 kilometers long, has an average width of 65 kilometers and, at its widest point, it is 90 kilometers from east to west. There is a network of some 1800 kilometers of well maintained roads and the Reserve has 21 rest camps, 2 private lodge concessions, and 15 private safari lodges!

"Huge” extends beyond land area: It is home to 336 tree, 49 fish, 34 amphibian, 114 reptile, 507 bird and 147 mammal species. The park was proclaimed in 1898 initially as the Sabie Game Reserve by Paul Kruger, the then president of the Transvaal Republic. He first proposed the need to protect the animals of the Lowveld in 1884, but it took another 12 years to be proclaimed when the area between the Sabie and Crocodile Rivers was set aside. The first motorists entered the park in 1927. The cost? One pound.

A lot folks know about the Big Five game animals at Kruger Park (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo). However, not many people are aware of the ‘Little Five’. They are the ant lion, the leopard tortoise, the rhino beetle, the elephant shrew and the buffalo weaver, all Residents of the park. The Kruger even has a Big 6, a bird group that consists of the lappet-faced vulture, the ground hornbill, the kori bustard, the martial eagle, Pel’s fishing owl and the saddle-billed stork.

A visit worthy of a entry on your bucketlist!

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts With C.A.T.S

Spotted Hyenas

Living in social groups called clans that can contain as many as 130 individuals, spotted hyenas are quite sociable. However, unlike a lion pride, hyenas are rarely all together at once and are often found by themselves or in small groups, only meeting up sometimes. This is called a “fusion-fission” society.

The spotted hyena has a vocal repertoire unlike any other carnivore, largely due to their complex social nature. Best known for their laugh or giggle, the spotted hyena has often been called the “laughing hyena”, but the laugh isn’t funny: in general it’s an expression of social anxiety and uncertainty.

The hyena's whoop is the next most common call and is heard throughout the night in places where they roam. There are several different whoops that all mean different things. It’s similar to a wolf’s howl as the hyena uses its whoop as a method of long-range communication. A whoop can travel more than 3 miles and also codes for the specific animal's identity.

Indeed a complex and intelligent animal. 

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Constant Africa Travel Solutions

Today on Fun Facts with C.A.T.S
THE LEOPARD
Leopard

The leopard is a strong and agile climber who is often found resting on a tree branch during the day. After a kill, leopards will often stash their prey in a tree to prevent other animals such as hyenas and lions from stealing it, and they enjoy the meal for several days. It is not uncommon for a leopard to drag their kill 50 feet high into a tree. Their muscles make them excellent climbers along with their retractable claws. Leopards are nocturnal hunters who can see seven times better in the dark than humans. They will stalk their prey quietly and carefully. A leopard’s spots allow them to blend in with leaves and grass. When the prey is within range, the leopard will pounce and kill with a bite to the throat.

Leopards do not roar like a lion. They communicate with each other through distinctive calls that sound more like a raspy bark. Their rasp can be heard up to two miles away. Leopards also make a chuffing or huffing sound as a friendly greeting. Like cats, leopards purr when they’re happy and growl when angry. Leopards like to spend time alone and they mark their territory by leaving behind feces, scenting the space with urine, and scratching trees. Male and female leopards will only come together to mate, which can last two to five days. Male leopards are not involved in raising their babies and yet they become one of the most majestic animals.

4 months ago | [YT] | 0