This week saw the return of the Southern Pride after spending some time just south of our reserve in the Kruger Park. They we trailing a herd of buffalo for some time before resting in some shade.

The two Matimba males finished off their buffalo kill earlier this week and the hyenas never waited long to move in. We witnessed an epic battle between two massive clans of hyenas who made their way in to finish off any scraps.

One morning, en-route back to Bush Lodge, we came across a female lioness hiding behind a fallen down tree. She was accompanied by another three females. They were relaxing in a big open area getting some morning sun. It looked like they had eaten something recently, but there was no sign of a kill.

Some distance away, another three male lions were feeding on a Cape Buffalo and tensions mounted as the carcass diminished late into the night.

Kevan managed to capture this adorable video as a warthog led her piglets towards the safety of their burrow as the late afternoon drew to a close.

A magnificent sight as this herd of elephants made their way across an open area.

A Three-banded Plover carefully moves around the water’s edge potentially looking a meal without giving away too much movement.

A Lilac-breasted Roller sand baths on one of the roads in the dying afternoon sun before returning to rest for the evening.

A beautiful male Chin-spot Batis perches itself on a branch during as windy overcast morning.

A Grey-headed Kingfisher perched beautifully on a dead tree allows for an excellent visual of a species that are relatively quite difficult to spend some time with.

A variety of leopard were seen throughout the week. Two that are regularly viewed are our dominant territorial males from the northern and southern sections of our reserve. Male leopard territories generally do not overlap, however they do encompass many female leopard territories. A male leopard’s average territorial size is 48km² and a female leopard approximately 14km².

We had a lovely sighting of the young Ntsumi female as she was on the move hunting anything and everything in sight! She first leapt onto a Giant Plated Lizard and played with it for some time before losing interest as her focus shifted to something bigger! We sat patiently and waited. Eventually we caught a quick glimpse of her she before she took down a young bushbuck! After catching her breath, she pulled it up the nearest tree.

Until next time...