We had an exciting start to the week as we came across the scene of one of the Southern Pride sub-adult males taking refuge from some buffalo on top of a fallen over tree. It seems the lions had tried their luck early that morning but were unsuccessful. As the buffalo moved off, the young male managed to disembark and make his way back to his pride where he was greeted with some loving hugs.

A few days later, they were unsuccessful at hunting some wildebeest that were gathered around a waterhole, so they decided to rest. To our surprise, the pride had 2 additional male lions in their presence.

The following day we located the lions again. The Southern Pride were in a very playful mood and even ran after some wildebeest but with no real intent on catching one. Soon after they were joined by the same 2 sub-adult males who we believe to be the Talamati young males; but the 2 youngsters kept their distance before integrating with the pride as they came to rest in front of Selati Camp. There was no sign of aggression from either side, so maybe things are looking up for the pride and their future should they decide to join up to stay.

One morning, Tyron and his tracker, Jack, heard lions calling in the northern sector of the reserve and went to follow up. Upon reaching the area, they found three sets of tracks, only to be greeted, after about ten minutes, by a big male lion – the Othawa male!

More exciting times on safari – just as we left the lodge one morning, we were greeted by some fresh tracks of African Wild Dogs right outside the entrance to the lodge. We followed them for a short while and came upon a pack of six wild dogs relaxing and socialising in the road ahead.

Later in the week we came across this wild dog who seemed to be so happy about the nearby wildebeest who was happily marking his territory, but both very quickly lost interest in one another. The wildebeest continued to mark and the wild dog rushed off into the treeline.

One evening, Kigelia had managed to hoist her impala kill up a tree to feed in peace. When we returned in the morning, she had eaten a large amount and was resting on a termite mound in close proximity to her meal keeping a watchful eye over it.

A beautiful sight at first light – the Ntsumi female.

The weekend brought with it some rainfall but despite this, it was safari time as usual and we enjoyed a wonderful sighting of N’weti male leopard who was out and about patrolling his territory.

Maxabeni took down an impala and soon hoisted it up a tree for safety whilst eating. When we returned the next day, we were surprised to find N’weti busy feeding on the remains with Maxabeni resting in the drainage line beneath. They were constantly growling at each other, but no serious altercations came of it. Maxabeni returned to his kill and when he was finished and descended the tree, N’weti chased after him and soon returned to pick off any scraps that may have been left behind.

We have enjoyed a wonderful mixed bag of general sightings again this week...

Until next time...