This week has been packed with adventure and new surprises! We have been enjoying every minute of it and have been waking up in anticipation of what the new dawn will bring us! There has been a bit of unrest with the lions in the area with the Charleston Pride, comprising of one female and two young males, as well as one of the Hilda’s Rock young males coming in from the Sabie River.

The Southern Pride and the Charleston males have been doing very well up in the northern section of the reserve, killing regularly and often seen with full bellies. Just recently though food and females have caused a bit of tension and the two males have been a little bit agitated with each other.

There have been numerous other rare sightings such as a few brief glimpses of the Toulon Pack of wild dogs as well as the occasional cheetah that comes for a day or two. There have been many jackals hanging around the carcases left by the lions as well as hyenas.

The leopards have been busy despite the presence of the lions and are also making very regular kills. Little Bush foremost against them all is becoming more and more relaxed allowing us fantastic sightings of her and her little one. Kigelia has also been seen wandering in and out of her mother’s territory making the most of the large population of duiker in the area.

Maxabeni has been seen a few times after his altercation with Mahlathini and is looking well, a little more scared than before but nonetheless he makes a formidable image in the African bush when walking towards you.

White Dam and her cub have been seen sporadically in the eastern section of the reserve and are also doing very well hunting wise. The young male is developing into a very eager and adventurous leopard.

The general game in the area has also been quite abundant and have been giving us a few glimpses into the amazing resourcefulness that they have when they are faced with the daily challenges of the bush.

The landscape of the reserve is always a captivating sight and made more so by the recent addition of the growing grass. There are so many other attractions such as the massive Euphorbia Candelabrum with tracker Doctor Themba next to it for scale on the right. The Impala Lilies have all flowered and have added an unexpected burst of colour to the bush.

Elephant have been all over the reserve and have given us many a fantastic sighting such as the one below as we hosted a family out on safari. There are so many youngsters and they are always a pleasure to watch as they tumble, roll and play with each other.

As always the week must come to an end and like we do here in the bush at the end of the day, we want to raise a toast to all involved in the fantastic time that we have experienced this week including all the guests and staff.