Well another week has flown by and the heat has certainly intensified with the temperatures regularly hitting the early to mid-40 degrees centigrade. With these temperatures, game viewing has still been really good, especially at the waterholes. Animals which are dependent on water will congregate around these water sources and also is an opportunity for predators to lie in wait. This proves beneficial to them as they spend less time actively searching for prey.

We will start this week with the Southern Pride and the Fourways males. The Southern Pride had been trailing a herd of buffalo and managed to pull one down during the night. This provided the pride with a large meal and was a great addition to the buffalo they managed to pull down last week. The pride seems to be thriving together again and if they continue their effective hunting, Floppy Ear and the rest of the females can rebuild the pride to its former glory.

With the above being said, there needs to be a strong coalition to make this happen and the Fourways males seem to be providing stability for the females, but still have a long way to go to prove themselves. This will be tested if and when they give birth to a new litter. The Fourways males have been enjoying their new found territory and with the heat, stopping by at a favourite waterhole for a quiet drink and to admire the sunset.

And a lazy day sleeping, doing what male lions do so well.

As previously mentioned, we have had a few large herds of buffalo around seeking out the larger bodies of water to quench their thirst. However, some of the bulls have been getting a little hot under the collar with the extreme heats and turned on each other - much to the delight of our guests who have been able to get some great pictures.

On the leopard front, guests have been treated with a large variety of leopards being spotted.

The Lisbon female has been seen often around Earth Lodge and on two separate kills. This leopardess was up to her usual posing self as she lay quite contented on the supportive branches of a Marula tree - Photographic Bliss for our Ranger Franscois and his guests.

Mike was able to get some great shots of a sighting with both Maxabeni and the White Dam female near a large water source. Maxabeni, showing his lack of energy after a kill he made the day before.

On the subject of White Dam, Pravir got some pics of her cubs who are doing so well and getting bigger by the day. This particular cub was showing off its hunting techniques learnt while watching mum.

We were fortunate enough at Selati Camp to have witnessed Warthog Wallow come striding across the open area in front of the lodge while some of our guests finished off their lunch.

She stopped and had a drink at the pan before leading us to the riverbed where she had recently killed a Grey Duiker. After being harassed by some hyenas, she moved the kill to a nearby tree to eat and sleep in peace. Fortunately Courtney got some pics of her enjoying her safe haven.

As the week comes to a close, it is quite easy to see how everything revolves around water, a basic necessity that most of us have the privilege of. As the sun sets over the African plains, it allows us time to reflect on our time here and appreciate the world and all of its surroundings.