The past week has brought with it some very welcome rain before we head into the dry winter season. Once the rains stopped, it was as if the animals appeared again from their shelter... along with this beautiful rainbow.

As we came into an open area, we heard the Crowned Lapwings alarm calling from all over. We drove a little closer and found one of the smaller scavengers found at Sabi Sabi, a Black-backed Jackal.

We were greeted by a single elephant bull grazing peacefully beside the road. After watching him for a short while, we heard the sound of branches cracking and leaves rustling in the thicket, and within minutes the rest of the herd emerged. First one female followed by a few youngsters, then more and more, they just kept appearing, each following the path of the one ahead of them, into the road ahead of us.

The golden hour of the day must be one of the most beautiful times of the day, just as that sun sets everything around turns golden, no matter what you take a photograph of it always turns out perfect.

Giraffe have been scarce the last few days, but once the rain stopped for a short while, the giraffe came out in their numbers.

We found this Tawny eagle eating some scraps which eventually led us to a pack of wild dog finishing off an impala.

We don’t often see ostrich from Selati Camp but were fortunate to have this group quench their thirst at the waterhole in front of the lodge as guests were coming through for lunch. An exciting moment for all and lunch with a spectacular view.

Spiders are not appreciated by all but one of Ronald’s guests has a love for spiders and enjoyed this up-close viewing of a Golden Orb.

A hippo cow and calf bonding through play.

Monkeys alarm calling, squirrels alarm calling, fresh tracks and birds going absolutely crazy, all the signs leading to one animal, the leopard. This morning we were able to track down and find this male leopard thanks to the other animals who spotted him before we did.

After finding tracks of a male leopard the evening before, we decided to follow up the next morning. We came across N’weti moving quickly, marking his territory. He took a quick nap before turning his attention to hunting but the hunt was over before it really started as the herd of impala spotted him and alarm called loudly, giving away his location.

We followed up on an earlier sighting of Kigelia and her two cubs on a young kudu kill. We spent some quality time with them before they moved off in search of some water to quench their thirst.

With Kigelia’s cubs now nearing 9 months old, she is becoming less and less tolerant of them. It should not be long before we start seeing them hunting smaller things on their own and building towards independence.

The Southern Pride were at it again – chasing impalas! They came close on several occasions but in the end, they were not successful. They moved to a waterhole where we watched as they used their tongue to scoop the water into their mouth. It’s incredible how the smallest things always seem to capture your attention the most.

In the distance, the barks of impala alarm calls sounded very close to Bush Lodge. When the calls did not stop and were persistent, the thought that a kill may have been made emerged. Upon investigation, we found the Southern Pride female and her 2 daughters enjoying the spoils of a successful hunt a mere 200 meters from the lodge. An audience of hyena had soon developed, waiting for their opportunity to reap the hard labour of this working mom.

We tracked this young pride of two males and a female for a long distance. We eventually found them in a thicket so had to wait some time before they moved, and we could get a good view of them. It was worth the wait to see them bonding with full bellies.

Perfect portrait - the silhouette of a Mhangeni lioness as she stands on the top of a termite mound with the sun setting behind her. Once darkness set in, they made their way to a nearby waterhole for a quick drink and then continued to look for dinner.

Early one morning we found tracks of wild dogs and after tracking for over an hour we lost the tracks and decided to move on. Not long after, we stopped for leopard tracks, while investigating the leopard tracks, we heard the call of a kudu nearby. We rushed straight to where we thought the calls came from. We weren't far off and found two wild dogs had just brought down a young kudu. The two dogs retired to the riverbed for a rest with very full bellies.

Until next time