Along with the beautiful, vibrant colours of summer, and the blooming wildflowers, the animals seem as though they don't want to be left out. Making sure that Ally didn't miss him on her way past, this beautiful Blue-headed Tree agama/Southern Tree agama scurried along the side of the tree toward a sunny spot. As though it were on cue, his head bobbed up and down in an attempt to attract a female nearby – he certainly did a good job at getting Ally’s attention!

A strange but precious interaction as we came across a termite mound and saw these Dwarf Mongoose sunning... but it was the one popping his head out the hole right next to a Giant plated lizard who was also sunning himself, they didn’t seem to care one bit about one another.

While driving close to a watering hole, and on closer inspection, we spotted an African Fish Eagle in a tree. These majestic raptors are typically known for feeding on fish, however, this Fish Eagle had caught an unidentified terrestrial animal.

A bachelor group of 4 elephant bulls made their way across the open plains to a nearby waterhole to spray themselves with a cool layer of mud.

This messy collection of twigs are crafted into a basket nest by the Red-headed Weaver, but there is no point to a nest without eggs, so building is just the start of the process. Now he needs to flit around his creation and show off to try and attract a mate.

A pride of lions had recently made a kill, and soon enough the surrounding trees were dotted with Vultures, including the smallest of them all, the Hooded Vulture.

Two kudu bulls were sparing with one another until they heard a noise coming from nearby. Both immediately stopped and looked to investigate the cause of the sound.

A zebra and foal stand close together on what was a cool start to the morning.

Waterbuck generally blend into the bush with perfectly camouflaged fur but stand out beautifully when surrounded by greenery.

In the beautiful colours of the afternoon light, the Styx male lion, together with the Nkuhuma male and two Styx Pride females, were sleeping soundly in the middle of the road. With one eye open, he was keeping an eye on a herd of elephant approaching from the nearby thicket. When they got too close for comfort, the small pride got up and moved, but only mustered the energy to walk slightly up the road before flopping down to continue their cat nap.

The N’waswishaka male lions have given us some wonderful sightings this week!! One of the males has been mating with a female from the Styx Pride for quite a while now... and towards the end of the week, we came across the other 3 males mating with the other 2 Styx Pride females!

Out of the darkness... one of the N’waswishaka male lions moves steadily about on a territorial patrol. What an incredible moment in time.

As dusk turned to dark, the call of lions echoed across Sabi Sabi. In an open area we found a male lion, who normally roams with three other members of a coalition. He appeared to be searching for something - calling, marking, and checking for scents on the wind. When he ventured into the dense vegetation of a drainage line, we left him, but along our path, we found one of his companions sprawled across the warm sand of the road. He too began to call, in response to the other male, and soon got up to reunite with him, drawn by the distant call.

The N'weti male leopard was successful in his evening hunt and the following morning, we managed to find him resting in the shade of a Marula tree with his hard-won prize, a female impala, slung in the crook of the branches. Notice how he began eating and licked the hair off the belly. With the kill safely stashed in the tree, he can take time removing as much hair as possible to get to the best parts with ease. He often glanced into the tree keeping his kill in view, giving us a look or two as well. This allowed us to appreciate his uniquely beautiful pale eyes before he closed them and continued his well-earned rest.

What a way to end an evening safari with a male leopard (Nchila) walking up the road, straight towards Graeme and his guests...

The clouds had covered the entire sky making it extremely cool and pleasant for all animals on the reserve. We had a good feeling about driving to Little Bush Camp in search of the Kigelia female leopard and her cub. As we got close to the entrance of the lodge, low and behold, both of them were right next to the road! Kigelia was keeping a watchful eye on her cub as she played in an open area. It was a truly wonderful sighting.

The White Dam male leopard was patrolling and marking his territory over the weekend. He stopped to have a rest on a termite mound and caught a little snooze before carrying on with his endeavours.

On a cool, overcast morning, Xovonekela male leopard was sitting all hunched up to keep himself warm. Folding his legs under his body reduces the surface area exposed to lose heat to his environment, making this big male look much smaller than normal.

One morning safari we found tracks of wild dogs which seemed to paint the picture that there was a chase happening between wild dogs and some impala. Shortly after following the tracks an impala darted across the road in front of us, and trailing right behind was a wild dog. We followed and found the rest of the pack who took a break before continuing on their way. The following morning, we relocated them near a water source, and spent some time with them watching the interactions between the individuals in the pack.

After spending most of the day near a body of water along with some hyenas, this pack of wild dogs started to move around and then began chasing a hyena around, into some water. Soon after, the wild dogs lost interest and moved on.

Until next time...