Our week started off with a wonderful sighting of two young male lions who were trying their luck with a small herd of buffalo. After searching for quite a while, we found them resting in a thickly vegetated area. It was not long before they started moving around and smelling the air, possibly smelling in which direction the buffalo walked before them.

We had a brief sighting of one of the Styx female lion. With suckle marks clearly visible, this lioness was hunting for more than one... Great news!!

After hearing the calls of lions in the distance, we decided to head to where they were coming from. Not long after our search began, we turned around a corner, and right in the road were the four N'waswishaka male lions. We watched them walk with purpose, marking their territory along their way, and then stopped after some time to groom each other.

After hearing that a male leopard was seen earlier that afternoon, we were hoping it would be the Hanyile male as we don’t see him too often, and it was! We enjoyed a wonderful sighting of him as he made his way down a road.

After a failed hunt, sending all the impala in the area snorting and sprinting off into the distance, the White Dam male leopard makes his way to a new area in search of prey that was none the wiser... Although, like a typical cat would do, he couldn’t resist having a nap in a beautiful spot of sunlight before waking up and marking his territory.

One morning, we found tracks of a female leopard near Earth Lodge. We followed up and were extremely lucky to see the beautiful Finfoot female on the move. She then lay down to rest, posing perfectly for us.

We were lucky to find Ntsumi and her cub in a thick clump of bushes. Shortly after we arrived, they got up, walked out and lay near us as they groomed and stretched before moving off.

The power that a male leopard has walking down the road towards you is unexplainable! N’weti was on a morning patrol, not too far behind a female leopard and her cub before he moved off to scent mark.

We were on our way back to the lodge one evening when we found the River Rocks female leopard walking in the same direction we were driving in. We followed as she walked along the road before she suddenly darted off the road and started chasing a scrub hare. It was all over within seconds as she held the scrub hare in her jaws. She then started walking toward us with her kill before seeking cover in the nearby thickets just off of the road.

We found a small pack of wild dogs moving through the bush. They flushed out a small herd of impala but were not successful in the hunt, so they carried on hunting before we eventually lost sight of them.

In a separate sighting, a big pack of wild dogs made a kill nearby but were suddenly interrupted by a group of hyena who muscled their way in to steal the kill.

After hearing jackals alarm call in the distance, we made our way into the area where we found a herd of wildebeest staring into the open area. As we made our way closer, we spotted a female cheetah and her two sub-adult cubs. After a failed hunting attempt, mom rested while the brothers burnt off some energy by playing with one another.

A few days later, they were seen again, relaxing on a termite mound after making a kill. We watched as the golden light of the sun lit up their slender bodies and large chestnut eyes.

Plenty of general sightings were enjoyed too...

While the morning was still cool, these Blue Wildebeest were frolicking in the open grassland.

In the company of another large male, this elephant bull was feeding calmly.

In the thickets surrounding a marshy area, this Burchell's Coucal flitted amongst the branches of the trees in search of food.

This male giraffe was very aware of the movements of a small impala herd nearby. Although he would have a good vantage point to see potential predators, it is still safer to pay attention to other animals, especially when alone.

This young zebra took a while to gain the courage but eventually it peeked its head out from behind its mother, but only for a split second, to see who we were.

We managed to find a herd of elephants feeding in the late afternoon. The herd kept the calf protected as we approached but soon the calf went on its own adventure as it was playing with a variety of different branches before it came to investigate our presence.

In the warmth of the morning sun, this warthog was making its way from an open area to the thickets where it might find some shade.

Until next time...