It has been a busy week on safari this week, so without further ado, herewith the highlights from the past 7 days...

After a rather lengthy tracking exercise in the morning rain, we finally located the Southern Pride and who we believe to be the young Talamati male. Two of the males were trying desperately to dig a warthog out of its burrow as the females kept a close eye on the scene. A few days later we came across tracks of the pride through Earth Lodge and were seen not too far from the entrance. We were lucky enough to witness two beautiful sights, the lion pride along with a beautiful sunrise to kick-start the day.

Whilst driving around in the southern section of our reserve, we came across the beautiful Scotia female leopard resting in a dry riverbed. It didn't take her long to get active and started strolling along the riverbed before coming to rest in a well shaded area and proceeded to groom herself.

On our way back to Bush Lodge one morning, we came across Maxabeni who was very full and seemed very content in the cool sand just off the road. The next day he was seen patrolling his territory and scent marking along the way.

Also successful in securing a meal, the White Dam male eagerly made his way up a big Marula tree to enjoy his impala kill.

Whilst enjoying the sight of the White Dam male resting after having fed on the remains of his kill, we were joined by a pack of African Wild Dogs who had come to investigate. Upon their arrival the two loitering Spotted Hyenas below moved into a bush to avoid harassment by the dogs. Later, as the sun was setting, a golden light was cast upon the leopard and he couldn’t have chosen a better time to get up and head down to a lower branch. He paused for a second to ensure the coast was clear after all the activity around his kill. What an action-packed sighting it was.

As the sun popped over the horizon, the Kigelia female was found moving toward a fallen over tree. Looking a little less than pleased by the wet grass she had to walk through, she finally came to rest in the perfect morning light.

We have been fortunate enough to have spent some good time with 2 cheetahs this week. The first sighting saw them spend most of their morning resting atop a termite mound in the middle of a rather large open area.

The weekend wasn’t a good one for the cheetah as the one had an altercation with, who we believe to be Maxabeni, and was left with numerous lacerations to his body and walking with a slight limp. He seems to be on the mend with the support of the other individual and has travelled a fair distance since the incident.

To end this week’s blog with some of the amazing general sightings we have witnessed...

Until next time...