The cats gave us a bit of a run around this week, really putting our tracking skills to the test on numerous occasions, but always with great outcomes...

We managed to track and find Golonyi female leopard who had killed a duiker. With her kill safely hoisted in a big Jackalberry tree, she continued to feed and rest between feeding. Her body language suddenly changed, and she began to look very uneasy as she stared into the distance. At first, we thought she was looking at some zebra walking, but boy were we wrong!! What happened next shocked us...

While watching her as she had her eyes locked on something, we saw a flash of a tail and the young Tsutsuma female leopard shot up into the tree like a bullet from a barrel. It all happened so quickly that we didn't know where to look. The kill dropped out of the tree and Tsutsuma hurried to go and grab her share. She then hoisted the kill up a nearby Knobthorn tree and began feasting, keeping a close eye on Golonyi watching in the darkness.

After losing her kill the day before, we wanted to follow up and see what had happened. While on our way, this beautiful Lilac-breasted Roller caught our attention, and what a sight it was! We carried on and did found Golonyi moving through the grass, looking out for her next meal.

Almost immediately after finding tracks for a female leopard, a territorial call from within a thicket gave her presence away. We spotted Ntsumi and her cub moving through the thicket. We then heard a male leopard close by. It was N’weti, the father of the cub.

Leopards being solitary animals usually do not socialise other than for mating and females raising cubs. The interaction we witnessed with the father, mother and cub together was something special. While N’weti did tolerate the cub, he did not let the cub get too close, and would give a low growl to warn the cub. Soon after Ntsumi and the cub moved off into a drainage line and N’weti continued with his territorial patrol.

Later in the week, we got lucky – without any sign, we found Ntsumi and her seven-month-old cub drinking at a waterhole. The two moved swiftly on into a thicket where Ntsumi managed to catch a scrub hare. She allowed the cub to feed while she lay close by.

Leopard cubs will slowly become independent from their mom after about a year. Ntsumi will start to spend less and less time with the cub, as the cub is male he will be pushed out of his current area and will need to find a vacant territory to dominate and make a home.

Ending our leopard sightings for the week – a face we don’t often see, but always a welcome sight... Sleeping in the shade of a large Tamboti tree of the Umlechwaan drainage line lay a beautiful female leopard - Msuthlu.

The best part of being part of the large system that is the Greater Kruger National Park, is that we never know what we may find when heading out into the wilderness.

While sitting with a large herd of buffalo, we got audio of soft contact calls from lions. We immediately followed in the direction of the calls, and we were rewarded with the two younger Southern Pride females and the younger Gijima male. The two females were still looking into the distance and the contact calls continued. Eventually, the older female appeared. The greeting of the females was a special moment; all three rubbed noses.

We have a suspicion that the older Southern Pride female has given birth in the past week or so as she often leaves the pride - we suspect to feed her newly born cub/s and returns. The area in which we think the cubs to be has been closed off to vehicles to give them space to grow with no vehicle pressure.

Tracks for lions moving in the heat of the day led us to trees filled with vultures. The two females, along with two cubs, were feeding on a wildebeest which was taken down at midday.

Although lions have a greater advantage once the sun sets, they are opportunistic and will hunt in the heat of the day should an opportunity present itself, even on hot days exceeding 40 degrees Celsius!

The two Kambula females finished off their wildebeest kill and moved south towards the entrance of Bush Lodge, almost walking straight into the entrance. These two females have been covering large distances recently in order to protect the cubs of the Birmingham males.

When opening the lodge over the weekend, we had a massive surprise waiting for us at the waterhole in front of Selati Camp. A pride of lions was sleeping around the waterhole! We woke up our guests and had a cup of coffee while watching the lions continue to sleep.

We headed out on safari for a closer look. They were extremely content, only moving for better shade. While watching them, a beautiful Green-backed Heron was sitting patiently in the waterhole, waiting for fish to come by.

Once again, the Styx Pride returned to the waterhole in front of Selati Camp with full bellies. The whole pride was well-fed and looked very healthy.

One of the young females was alerted to some Nyala feeding in the riverbed. It was encouraging to watch this young female, alert and making advances on the Nyala. Although she was eventually seen, the young female is definitely starting to hone in on her hunting skills and will soon be a major contributor to this pride.

We went out in the afternoon in search of either cheetah or male lions and one of our wishes came true as we came across one of the Gijima males not too far from Bush Lodge. We made our way towards the lion, and both males were lying in the shade of a small Guarri bush.

After some time, we saw the head of the one male lift and watch as a hyena made his way onto the open area. The males seemed very interested in the hyena and next minute they both went into stalk mode. Out of the blue, an impala ran by with the hyena not too far from it. Both males jumped up with one setting off after the impala and the other after the hyena, but neither were successful in their chase.

A smell filled the early morning air, it was a smell so strong that it could not be confused with anything else. Jason stopped the vehicle and asked Lazarus, “Can you smell the wild dogs?” Lazarus was already off his tracker seat. The road was filled with tracks for wild dogs. This was a massive pack and excitement built quickly. We managed to track the pack down in an open area close to a waterhole.

Many of the adults had left the pack to hunt. The pups were left with a few adults who stood on the perimeter with the pups in the middle for protection. There were a number of hyena laying close by in the hope for an easy meal. A pack this size would need to make multiple kills every day to keep all the members well fed which would present opportunities for the hyenas. The members that hunt will return and regurgitate meat for those that stayed behind.

On his way to Selati Camp, Dieter had an incredible sighting of a pack of wild dogs feeding on an impala. He must have missed the kill by minutes! Soon a hyena decided to join in on the feast but was not welcomed by the dogs. After some fighting, they at least all had something to eat.

After a brief glimpse of a male Cheetah two days ago, he seemed to vanish into the bush without any sign. This morning he again just popped out of nowhere with a full belly, resting on a termite mound.

He eventually got mobile, covering large distances scent marking on prominent trees. Cheetah will scent mark on prominent trees as a means of communication with other cheetahs that may pass through the same area.

After a wonderful safari, we headed back to the lodge and came across this Chameleon crossing the road, slowly. It was interesting to watch one of the smaller species going about its day. After crossing the road safely, it made its way up a tree, and we returned to the lodge for some breakfast.

Until next time