It’s been another action packed week here at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve with lots of activity on the predator front and also some of the more rare species starting to rear their heads as the winter months progress. I hope you enjoy the recap.

With winter now upon us, the sunrises are taking on a spectacular hue and are finally taking place at a decent hour so that now everyone can enjoy the experience and there really is nothing like it in the world. It’s great to just stop, look and listen for those few minutes it take for the process to complete and is something I find very rewarding for the soul.

As far as the animals are concerned, there has been a lot on the go and I finally got to see the White Dam female’s cubs for the first time. She is known to not be the most relaxed female in the world and has kept true to her elusive nature with regards to keeping the cubs hidden from sight. At this stage they must be several months old and thankfully are not too skittish.

We have enjoyed some special sightings at the hyena den this last week and again it was my first time to actually see most of the clan members, including some of the youngsters and cubs. It was such a pleasure to be able to quietly sit there gaining insight into their daily lives and interesting greeting ceremonies, especially once the adults had returned from a night’s hunting. Surprisingly as well, the youngsters are most inquisitive and approached the vehicle very closely, even though we parked off a fair distance from the den itself. What a magical way to start the day.

The Toulon Pack of wild dogs has been on and off the reserve this week and the alpha female is heavily pregnant at the moment. We are hoping that they will choose to den here this year as they have been spending a lot of time here, but it may be wishful thinking. The Lower Sabie Pack has also spent a great deal of time with us and we were hoping the same of them, but they have been scarce of late so it is safe to assume they have found a suitable den elsewhere. One thing is for sure though and that is that the impala population of the area will definitely be sighing with relief.

After a short absence from any viewing on our part, the Little Bush female and her cub were found this week and with an impala kill. This gave us ample time to spend with the two gorgeous leopards, offering our guests some fantastic photo opportunities and some mental images that they will never forget as well. Since the passing of Nottins’ cub some months ago, Little Bush has been seen venturing much further away from her usual hunting grounds in an apparent expansion move, possibly in order to secure her daughter a piece of the territory for when she becomes more independent.

The Southern Pride has also been quite active this week and are making themselves comfortable in the southern section of the reserve. There bonds seem to be getting stronger by the day and it is also quite clear that they are distancing themselves from the Sand River males to the point of complete avoidance. I can’t say this bothers me at all and hopefully we will soon see some worthy male lions move into the area to take over and create the stability this area has been needing for so long. Time will tell. The girls have been found several times this week, quite often on the hunt and they have been successful with smaller prey for the most part, most recently managing to kill a young buffalo from the large herd also in the area at the moment. They are looking stronger and stronger by the day.

We had a great encounter this week with a massive herd of elephants, about 50 strong and with loads of youngsters with them, making for some great entertainment. Water is rather scarce at the moment and so we haven’t been seeing the vast herds that we are used to, but rather seeing many different bachelor groups so it was nice to have such a large aggregation moving through the reserve.

A few of the more rare species that call the reserve their home have also been seen on safari this week and a couple of us were lucky enough to document the sightings including a Lesser Bushbaby (a small primate capable of incredible leaps), a small group of Southern Ground Hornbills (the largest of the family and huge wingspans), and the infamous Honey Badger (a creature so tough even lions tend to give them a wide berth). Very special stuff and not a common feature on a safari.

The ‘big man’ Maxabeni was also seen this week after a brief absence after his fight with the young Tortilis male. He has a slight bit of a lazy eyelid from the fight, but otherwise in tremendous shape and as confident as ever. We spent quite a while tracking him down and even more time following him around as he went about marking his territory and even having a brief run-in with some buffalo bulls (he didn’t come out on top, but there was no contact made by either side). It was great to see him again, but he needs to be a little more active in the months to come as there seem to be a few individuals poking their noses in out of curiosity and if he’s not careful, he could find himself having to fight to maintain his boundaries.

The game viewing this week has been outstanding and the weather even more so with this being possibly one of the best periods on which to come to this beautiful country and experience the African Bush. I hope you have all enjoyed this week’s highlights and we look forward to bringing you more of the same in next week’s installment. Have a great week everyone! Until next time...