Accompanied by the refreshing rains, we have been well rewarded in terms of fantastic sightings this week at Sabi Sabi with leopards dominating the scene and giving us many glimpses into their private worlds. The Southern Pride also continue to hold our hearts and lenses with their little cubs and there have been many more fantastic sightings that we shall go through.

Maxabeni male leopard was found a few times around the Selati Camp area and on one occasion in particular, he took it upon himself to go after a herd of wildebeest, which if he was successful, would have been an impressive feat indeed! Upon realising the futility of such a task he turned to easier pursuits and continued to mark his territory after the rains had washed his scent away during the past few days.

Hlarulini has been seen pushing ever harder to maintain her claim on Warthog Wallow’s territory and was seen scent marking deeper into the area. She is definitely not phased by our presence and has allowed us many close up views of her. She is turning out to be a beautiful addition to our oasis and looks to become a frequent resident.

Kigelia allowed us a view into the slightly more relaxed aspect of life in the bush and was found to be draped over a large boulder with not a care in the world. She looked very comfortable in her spot and remained there even well after dark with no intention of moving even once we had left her.

White Dam’s cub appears to be well on the mend after his recent altercation and was seen to be feeding on a kill his mother had made a few days prior to us finding him. He was found again a few days later with his mother in a drainage line where they had been feeding on an impala kill together.

Warthog Wallow has been seen further and further away from her usual territorial range and looked to be nursing relatively new wounds, probably from an altercation with another leopard. The wounds themselves are not overly major but serve as a reminder to her that there are others on her borders.

As far as sunsets go, Mike Palmer and Pravir caught two fantastic scenes. Mike had an amazing panoramic vista of the day coming to a close over the expansive African bush and Pravir captured the elegance of not only Lisbon up a tree, but the golden tones of the setting sun to encompass her in amber light.

The Southern Pride and Charleston males have been gracing us with their magnificent presence and it began with a very sodden Charleston male who we found in the northern reaches of their territory and the next day Terry was able to (after considerable effort) track down three females and the two cubs who were all spending a bit of family time together.

There is no rest for the adults as the Southern Pride females and cubs were again found a few days later with the two little ones keeping their care givers very busy and not allowing a moment’s reprieve with their joyous and playful antics.

Little Bush and her little one are also doing well and were spotted passing through an open area before we lost track of them in some very dense bush. Mom was actively sharpening her claws, hopefully in preparation for the little one’s dinner.

On the same morning we were greeted by the sight of a massive feast being held by two of the Southern Pride females and the two Charleston males who had brought down a big buffalo. This lasted them a good few days and afforded us many minutes of time with these beautiful animals.

In many of the images you can see how the recent rain have transformed the bush from a dust bowl to a garden of eden. We hope it continues to fall and thus provide the bush with much needed growth in order to support the coming winter. The transformation truly is magical as can be seen in a comparison of the following two images.