A Week in the Bush Vol. 404
on Mar 16, 2022Ending off last week’s highlights with a sighting of a N’waswishaka male lion feeding on an impala in close proximity to the Southern Pride female and her cubs, we decided to follow up the following day. He was still feeding on his impala kill, quite quickly at that, almost as if something was watching him...



The following evening, we watched the Birmingham and Nkuhuma male lions hunting some buffalo. Knowing that these two are not dominant at Sabi Sabi, it was extremely interesting to see what happened when we heard male lions in the distance vocalising, possibly the N’waswishaka males. These two nomadic males became instantly alert, abandoned their hunt, and moved in the opposite direction.


Two N’waswishaka male lions were walking around the area where the Birmingham and Nkuhuma male lions were seen and vocalised and marked their territory heavily. We are unsure if there was any interaction between the two different coalitions, but the N’waswishaka male lions were without a doubt aware of their presence. They then moved off and joined up with the Southern Pride lioness and her two cubs.


We headed out early one morning to simply watch the sunrise with no expectations, and just after the sun had risen, we continued on our way. A few meters away from where we had just listened to the sounds of the bush awakening, we found the Southern Pride lioness and her two cubs with a wildebeest kill. It is amazing to see these three thriving and seeing their full bellies warmed our hearts.



The absolute spine shattering call of a male lion can bring tears of joy to your eyes. One of the N’waswishaka males was found with a full belly next to a waterhole and to our surprise, he moved closer to the vehicle and gave us a show of pure power. The adrenaline that such a roar can spike up into your body is breathtaking.
We found the Styx Pride one morning, all nursing full stomachs. A clear sign that they had caught something in the evening, but there were no remains, not with so many mouths to feed!


We followed this pack of wild dogs as they were on a hunt and were so lucky to watch as they successfully caught a young impala. The pack then shared the spoils amongst one another, a fantastic sighting!



As the sun poured its last light over Sabi Sabi, a pack of wild dogs were on the move. The bubbly, almost unpredictable energy the pack runs around with can make them tricky to keep up with but an absolute blessing to see.


With the crushing heat of the day building, there's nothing better than stopping for a drink and cooling off in the cold water. That is until a herd of wildebeest chased this small pack of wild dogs away from the watering hole.

After a long morning of tracking, we finally managed to locate this male leopard. After following N’weti for some time we were able to get ahead of him and wait for him to appear over the hill and continue with his motion down the road towards us.

The moment that made our hearts melt. After waiting for nearly an hour with a visual of just an ear here and there, finally, Kigelia appeared out of the thickets where she was resting during the heat of the day and walked down the banks of the Msuthlu river into the open dry riverbed being followed by her two cubs. A memorable sighting!!


The changing of seasons in the bush is a sight to behold. We are currently moving away from the bright greens of summer, to the incredible colours of autumn - a wonderful contrast of browns, oranges and perfectly blue skies. Good for the soul regardless of the season.

While leaving his house for work one morning, Stefan spotted this beautiful Lesser Baboon Spider! This is quite a rare find seeing as they are nocturnal and very seldom seen in daylight. Normally being very skittish, this one posed just long enough for a few pictures. Harmless to humans and sought after in the illegal pet trade contributes to their dwindling numbers.

When Brown-headed Parrots are at rest, there is generally not much yellow seen, but the moment they spread their wings, a stunning yellow colour is flashed contrasting beautifully with their green breast.

As the grass begins to slowly turn to brown with the splash of green from the trees that still hold their green leaves, this kudu bull starts to blend in even more into its surroundings.

Emerging silently from the depths of the drainage line, this massive elephant bull makes his way towards a mud wallow where he will seek to cool himself down for the day.

It isn't too often that we stumbled upon these very prehistoric-looking birds, the ostrich. The sexes are easily distinguishable, the dark black feathers are those of the male, while the female sports the rather dull brown feathers. Among these two were a whole bunch of youngsters!


Until next time