Buffalos are maybe the most unpredictable of the Big Five, especially the old males that can’t keep up with the herd anymore and wander around on their own, or in a small bachelor herd. Because of their habit to roll in the mud they are also called “dagga-boys”. Dagga is the local name for cement and the dried up mud on the buffalos sometimes looks like cement. The first years that we lived here we saw mainly these dagga-boys, alone or in a small group, at our waterhole and in the dry riverbed next to our lodge . About two years ago we had a herd of about 40 buffalos at our waterhole a few times and last year we even had a herd of over a 100 animals!
Once I had an exciting (and little bit scary) encounter
with a lone buffalo. When our dog Dusty was a bit younger I regularly used take him for a small walk outside our camp. One time I saw fresh buffalo dung on the path and immediately I heard something in the bushes a little further. I saw something big and dark moving and knew immediately that it had to be a buffalo. Since these lone buffalos are very unpredictable I walked straight back to our camp. Luckily I was not very far from our gate yet.
Yesterday our guests came back from the game drive just at the moment a big herd of buffalos came to our waterhole. More than a hundred buffalos walked on the path to our gate and around the waterhole. We heard them grazing and snorting until long after dinner. Again a wonderful experience.
Regards from the bush
Miriam
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