The Styx Pride have been scarce since their run in with the Talamati Pride a couple weeks ago and we have all been eagerly awaiting their return. There was great excitement among all, as tracks for a large pride of lions were seen. The pride was tracked into the centre of our reserve where they were found all together before moving into the shade of a large Marula tree. All nine members of the pride were present and in good spirits, stalking one another and climbing over fallen trees on their way to the shade.

The last remains of a young giraffe were being finished off by vultures, nearby two of the N’waswishaka males lay with full bellies. After sunset they made their way to a nearby waterhole for a drink and then called out into the darkness for the rest of the coalition.

During the night a pride of lions had moved through Little Bush Camp. We followed up and managed to track down four sub adult males accompanied by a sub adult female in the open plains between Selati Camp and Little Bush Camp. We have been seeing a lot more of these young nomadic lions. Will they settle down in a territory adjacent to their natal pride?!

We headed out early one morning with the aim of finding lions before our guests departed for the next leg of their journey. We came across a hyena feeding on a young zebra and thought that maybe the hyena made the kill, but we soon realised there was a leopard lying across the road. With blood on its face, it was clear to us that the leopard had made the kill and the hyena had stolen it. The leopard had to settle for the scraps that were left.

A while later, we drove past the same area, but the leopard and hyena were no longer there. To our surprise, a pride of lion was.

Leopards normally hoist up their kills up trees but sometime if the kill is too big, they will feed on the ground and once they have reduced the weight of the kill, hoist the carcass. Hyenas often follow leopards with the intention of stealing their kills and often they win. This young leopard could not hoist her kill as it was too big, and the hyena capitalised on that. Lions often follow vultures when they see them gathering in an area, as was the case today so we suspect this pride finished off the remains of the zebra foal.

The Golonyi female surprised us this weekend by successfully bringing down a zebra foal. She was walking down the road, taking us straight towards the kill, almost as if she wanted to show us her prize! Hiding the kill away from other predators underneath a shrub, she made herself comfortable in a tree just above the kill. Little did she know there was a hyena lurking around, searching for something to scavenge on.

We watched in anticipation, seeing if the hyena would steal the kill from Golonyi. The hyena hesitated for too long to come closer, losing its opportunity as a herd of elephants came through the area, chasing the hyena off. Golonyi saw this as an opportunity to quickly jump down from the tree and hoist her prize up into safety. This was incredible to watch! At first, she scaled the tree, planning her move, and then effortlessly hoisted the zebra foal up into the tree! Secured in the tree now, she can now feed on the zebra without worrying about any other predators.

We went back to the area where we last saw her with the zebra kill, but we only found a small piece of the zebra skin still in the tree. Knowing that she can't be too far away, and most likely went to drink water somewhere, we searched the area carefully. It was not long before we found her resting in a big Marula tree. She looked content with her belly full, panting to digest her big meal.

Beautiful Marula trees are scattered along the open areas of Sabi Sabi. The sheer size of some of these trees are incredible, the only thing that can make these trees even more special is finding a magnificent leopard lounging away in its branches.

We were lucky enough to find the majestic Kigelia female in a big Marula tree in the early hours of the afternoon game drive. She was catching up on a bit of rest before the long night of hunting begins, moving every now and then for a more comfortable spot to relax.

An open grassland filled with impala as the sun was setting, set the scene. The Tsutsuma female was on the hunt unbeknown to the large herd of impala. Unfortunately, on this occasion there was just not sufficient cover for her to get close enough. She then lay low in wait for darkness to set in where she would have more of an advantage.

A carcass had been dragged across a sandy road leaving a very distinct trail leading to a nearby thicket, where we found an impala carcass, partially eaten. Jacana female leopard was close by resting. We returned a little later to find the carcass had been stolen by hyena and Jacana was sniffing around in search of any scraps that may have been left behind.

We found Ntsumi’s male cub near a dam where she left him to go off hunting. It’s very interesting to watch them during this time because they get bored and then find the strangest things to keep them busy.

Our sighting was interrupted by a single hyena coming in to see if the mother had perhaps left a carcass nearby as they are very intelligent to notice that wherever a leopard cub will be, a carcass can’t be far away. The cub was standing his ground as he was showing the hyena that he is now coming to age and is not afraid of them anymore. Disappointed, the hyena soon left, and we heard a whisper of a call from mom. The cub responded to the call and immediately dashed off with excitement. We rush to see them meeting up and saw a very special moment as they we so happy to see each other. Rubbing their cheeks together and calling, they walked together into the sunset as we followed behind them before they disappeared off into the thickets.

These moments are very special as this relationship will soon come to an end and the cub will leave his mother and might never see each other again.

We ventured down to the dam in front of Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge to watch the hippos. The sun was starting to set, and the air was beginning to cool. The rumble of buffalo feet made the earth tremble as a massive herd approached the waterhole. They settled in to have their evening drink, when chaos erupted from the depths of the dam... Thank you to guest, Marc DeBerardinis for sharing this incredible video with us.

A pair of Blacksmith Lapwings appeared to be extremely distressed. On closer inspection we found that a Common egg-eater was after their eggs which are laid on the ground. The pair of birds mobbed the snake and were joined by a Burchell’s Starling. The snake eventually moved off empty handed to a thicket.

Common egg-eaters, also known as Rhombic egg-eaters, are snakes which feed on birds’ eggs. Eggs are taken into a virtually toothless mouth and passed onto the neck region. There the egg is cracked by a series of bony projections that are part of the vertebrae. Muscular contractions then crush the egg, and the contents are swallowed. The crushed shell is then regurgitated.

As we watched four rhinos grazing, this Western Cattle Egret caught Daniel’s eye. In its beautiful breeding colours, against the lush green grass, it made the perfect photo opportunity!

Western Cattle Egrets can be found amongst herd animals such as rhinos, buffalos, and elephants. As the animals walk through the grass, they disturb insects that will then fly up, and the egrets will catch the insects.

With large numbers of elephants around at the moment there is lots of cleaning up for the dung beetles, this has provided opportunities for other species. Here a European Roller caught a large dung beetle and broke it into pieces small enough to swallow by hitting it on the ground.

Until next time...