The past couple of weeks has produced excellent sightings.
We were greeted to a marvellous sunrise with a breeding herd of elephants overlooking Savanna Big clearing. The herds of elephants are plentiful at present.
The large herd of buffalo has been ever present. We followed the herd towards Schotia dam. The resident hippo bull did not take too kindly to the herd entering the water. With aggression he forced the buffalo from the water.
The leopard viewing has been spectacular. Hlangisa has been seen often. She enjoys using large marula trees for an elevated advantage.
She has been moving around a lot. We tracked and found her on the southern firebreak.
Metsi and one of her cubs were seen on two grey duiker carcasses.
Hlabankunzi and Kishan were feeding on an impala carcass close to Dam 5. The following morning Kishan had moved off and the female was left behind on the remainder of the carcass.
She descended the tree and moved off into the shade.
The Kishan male and Hlabankunzi were chased up a two separate trees by the three lionesses and a male lion.
The Kishan male has been seen often over the past few days. He was resting close to Dam 5.
The lion sightings have been equally good. The lioness with the short tail from the Ximungwe pride killed a young impala. The cubs were finishing off the carcass when we found them on Droll drive, close to the Sand River.
Three of the lionesses have cubs. They range in ages from 10, 7, and 2 months old respectively. Five male and one female.
The Mapogo Males have been covering large distances and have been seen feeding on various carcasses.
We were treated to a display of continuous roaring by one of the brothers on Shona-Lee Clearing.
The Ottawa pride was located at Marula Grove. It was strange to see this pride so far south. Normally they are seen close to the Sand River. We followed the pride as they moved east towards Thulamanzi. Two of the lionesses tried to stalk a very young rhino calf. The calf stuck close to mom and she protected it. Soon the pride lost interest and moved off.
As usual we have had good rhino sightings. A large bull was seen close to Nkombe Dam and a group of nine was seen off Lumal Bridge.
The general game has been good.
Crocodiles have been seen regularly basking in the sun as we cross the causeway over the Sand River.
The bird sightings have been great. Goliath herons, Giant eagle, Green-backed heron and Little bee-eaters.
At this time of the year the sunsets are truly spectacular.
We had a strange sighting for this time of the year. Hairy caterpillars all hatching in winter.
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