The cycle was amazing, another incredible 6 weeks in the bush gone, almost in the blink of an eye. One of my favorite things is to be able to be a part of the changing seasons of the bush. Most visitors, me included before working out here, come to the bush and only ever get to see a small window of summer or winter or a patch in between, but to be able to witness the change happen is an amazing process. The mornings starting to cool is the first sign and then watching the animal paths go from barely noticeable into mini bush highways is an indication of the water drying up as the mission to find permanent water becomes a daily march. These are some of the moments I was able to freeze throughout the cycle but there were so many things that were as good, if not better, out there from big to small. There was a good mix out there but the lions definitely stole the show.

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I have only been lucky enough to see the rare act of lions mating on a handful of occasions that is until this cycle, we just about had a different mating pair every week...

The impala rut is always entertaining with males chasing tail, keeping the females on their toes and in turn being kept on their toes by all the bachelors trying to get in on some of the action. This was by far the most intense fight I got to witness this season and what a battle it was! Have a look at the muscles of the male on the right.

This female form the Southern Pride must have been extremely hungry, just before this photo she tried to take down a young buffalo right of the middle of the herd. The herd spotted her just before she made contact with the youngster and as a unit charged and scared her off.

All too happy to have the Southern Pride back! They sure made up for lost time too! Some of the most awesome lion sightings I have ever had. The next two photos aren’t the greatest but it was the closest to the Lion King I have ever seen! Perched up on the rocks in the southern reaches of the property, this sighting literally took my breath away.

I think Richard mentioned this in his blog, but what a highlight this was, Warthog Wallow female and her cubs, what a treat!

Some relaxed elephant bulls to end off a cycle and look forward to getting back into the African bush and the special piece of land that is Sabi Sabi...