The nights are already becoming longer and the days shorter, signifying that a change in the season is on the way. The heat however, has not yet ceased and we are still in need of more rain if the animals are to make it through he winter comfortably. There is still hope and while we await the final cloudbursts of summer to quench our thirsty land, we will enjoy the spectacular sunrises and abundance of life that the summer has to offer. On that note welcome, to another edition of A Week in the Bush...

Apart from the sunrises themselves, the early morning safaris at Sabi Sabi provide great opportunities to photograph animals in the golden light of dawn while it is still cool enough for them to be active. Like us, during the intense heat of a summer’s day, they all tend to congregate in the shade of large trees to escape the harshness of the African sun. The mornings lately have been very productive and these are but a few of the moments captured.

The Southern Pride split females were found several times this last week on various sections of the reserve. After their contact with Floppy Ear and the other two lionesses, there seems to have been very little progression there, but from what we’ve heard, the Floppy Ear trio and cubs are not doing so well. The split females on the other hand seem to be fairing a little better and were even found on a kill in the beginning of the week, a meal that they really needed. Since then we have spotted them a few times and there is not all that much to mention other than the fact that they seem to be adamant in sticking around.

Little Bush and her year-old cub have also been seen several times this week, firstly on a kill in the heart of their territory and then on separate occasions as well. Both seem to be thriving at the moment and it really looks as though this youngster is going to make it to adulthood, a first in a long time for Little Bush. The fact that her cub is a female also bodes well for the area as she may be tolerated for a longer period within Maxabeni’s territory than will Nottins’ young male cub. This is good news for us as most of the Guides here have become attached already.

One of the reserve’s female cheetahs was found as well this week to the delight of Guides and guests alike. Usually this female has frequent hunting success making viewing her all that much more exciting, but on this encounter she was not so lucky with a near miss of an impala.

A surprise for us this week was the sighting of the young Kelenge female. She was seen moving towards Earth Lodge and the area that she was attempting to settle in before the Lisbon female started to put pressure on her. Hopefully she tries again with a little more success. I hope to spend some time with her again in the near future. She is such an amazing looking leopard.

The Marulas are dropping off their branches by the hundreds now to ripen further on the floor below and many animal species are gorging themselves on the nutritious fruits, but none more so than the hordes of elephants. In fact, if they haven’t quite ripened enough to fall off the branches by themselves, the elephants have been kind enough to give them a helping ‘hand’.

Nottins has been quite active in the last few days and after a week or so of concerns from our side as to whether or not she was going to make a substantial kill for her and the cub, she managed to bring down a young kudu for the both of them to feast on. Hopefully this gives them both the strength they need to continue in a good health and with any luck the old girl can use this energy to keep some momentum going.

A bird seldom seen on our reserve other than in the summer months, this Marabou Stork has been spotted almost everyday in one of our open areas for the last few weeks. Granted, these birds are not much to look at, but it is nonetheless quite an impressive animal with a phenomenal wingspan of about 2,5 meters!

It has been another wonderful week at Sabi Sabi filled with amazing sightings as always. I hope the trend continues and that we will be able to share many more extraordinary images from moments shared with our guests. Have a great week everyone. Until next time...