Interesting times lie ahead on the male leopard front, with Maxabeni’s territory being threatened by the presence of Xovonekela, Kashane, Mandleve and Mahlathini this week!

Xovonekela has been pushing far north into Maxabeni’s territory; Mahlathini was moving around the eastern side; Mandleve was marking territory far south in the reserve; and Kashane was hunting kudu on the western side of our reserve.

Maxabeni looked to have had a good meal and was seen looking very docile with his full belly. He later went off scent marking and roaring.

White Dam’s cub was resting off a warm day experienced on the reserve until sunset, when he started to become active as the evening progressed.

All is a lot calmer on the female leopard side of things - Kigelia female has been seen resting in a Marula tree.

We had a very special sighting of these two elephant calves as they stood on a termite mound dust bathing.

A large troop of Chacma Baboon start to make their way to a large Sycamore Tree to turn in for the night and begin roosting.

A small flock of Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills glide through the air and posed perfectly for a good shot or two.

A Pied Kingfisher hovers over the water in search of some fish.

It’s full on fighting time for the impala rams as they try and establish their own harem.

Franscois’ Tracker shines his light on the lions next to us a few moths were attracted to the light.

A massive herd of buffalo, close to 200 strong, made their way to a waterhole before grazing off for the day.

The Toulon pack graciously played with one another after a long afternoon nap within a lovely shaded area in one of our large open areas.

We were lucky enough to see some of the Southern Pride lionesses and cubs soaking up some afternoon sun whilst relaxing on top of the granite boulders in the south of the reserve.

A clan of approximately 30 Spotted Hyenas provided a great sighting as they interacted around a large giraffe carcass. The male was quite old and we suspect he died from old age. Within less than 48 hours, the hyenas were fighting over the last scraps!

As one of the evening safaris came to a close, Conrad and his guests were treated to an awesome sighting of a Serval! They watched as it tried to hunt some gerbils in the tall grass close to Earth Lodge. They even had a Spotted Eagle Owl coming to inspect what was going on, maybe also hoping to catch one of these rodents.

Until next time...