The page turns, the chapter ends, and we are just about to begin the next one. This past week has been one filled with many interesting delights ranging from lions, elephants, hippos and much much more. This week it is without a doubt that the younger generations have stolen our hearts and lenses.

The Southern Pride continued to dominate the field with their newest additions to the pride for the first part of the week but have since moved on into unknown territory with some deleting glimpses here and there.

The larger Charleston male and Mandleve female were last seen mating mid-way into the week and Mandleve was found towards the end of the week on her own, presumably looking for the rest of her brood who have moved off into the far southern reaches of the reserve.

It’s nearing the time that most animals intensify their mating cycles and as a result, we are seeing many more aggressive encounters between males of the same species. Two nyala males “dance” with hackles raised so as to impress the females before locking horns in a display of dominance where only one victor may emerge glorious and win the right to continue his lineage.

Leopards continue to grace us with their presence and Warthog Wallow female, Maxabeni male, Lisbon female and Little Bush female with her cubs have all been seen numerous times throughout the week.

Little Bush and her cubs remain as strong as ever and are looking great! The little ones are growing steadily day by day and are very adventurous even going so far as to try scare us off with a bit of playful growling while mom rests and takes little notice of their antics.

Lisbon female and her young cub were treed by the Toulon Pack of wild dogs and provided us with a fantastic display of agility and speed as they evaded the dogs who were more preoccupied with the impala kill they had just stolen. This reinforced the principal that the only constant in the bush is indeed sudden change!

Elephants are still wandering thickly through the reserve with almost every single drive graced by their presence. They are very accommodating of our presence and allow us some fantastic viewings. The young ones affording us great insights into their development of their trunks, by showing off for us a little bit every now and then.

Hippos also seem to be a more common occurrence than in the past, mainly due to the Sabie and Sand Rivers being so low. We see them out and about on a more regular basis than normal and at any point in time, at least one of our watering holes is populated by one who got caught out in his long trek for food.

The Toulon Pack of wild dogs have also been keeping us in stitches with their not so little, little ones, who seem to be thriving as ever under the great success of their parents. This allows them ample time for play and my do they play. Seen having a blast in a watering hole and leaping all over the place including all over each other, they keep us enthralled with their acrobatic feats.

They are also testing their boundaries a little as seen in a confrontation with some rhinos in a different setting from before. They quickly realised that they were out matched and beat a hasty retreat with tails tucked between their legs.

As this chapter comes to a fantastic end, we hope the next one will be as spectacular, if not more. The bush has many promising things to offer so keep coming back to share them with us.