Sightings From Last Night & This Morning

28 Feb PM
3 Mapogo Male Lions, sleeping
Buffalo Herd
Elephant Herd
Kudu
Impala
Zebra

29 Feb AM
Xikavi female leopard, hunting impala
2 Othawa lionesses with three little cubs
Hippo
Kudu
Impala
Zebra
Steenbok

Sightings from last night and this morning

27 Feb PM
Hlab'nkunzi female and Dewane male leopard growling at each other, then being chased by elephants
Tlangisa female leopard with a guinea-fowl kill
Ximhungwe pride of lions outside the lodge
Buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Impala
Hippo
Waterbuck
Nyala

28 Feb AM
Dewane male and Metsi female leopard mating
3 Mapogo male lions
Kudu
Waterbuck
Impala
Hippo
Nyala
Baboon
Vervet Monkey

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Sightings for the last four drives!

Seems that yesterdays update is lost in the interwebs so here is everything from the last couple of days:

23 Feb PM
Metsi female leopard roaring next to the vehicle
Ximhungwe pride of lions
3 Mapogo male lions sleeping
Buffalo herd
Hippo
Elephant herd
Giraffe
Kudu
Impala
Waterbuck
Wildebeest
Zebra
Duiker
Scrub-hare

24 Feb AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions looking well fed
3 Mapogo male lions sleeping
Buffalo herd
Elephant herds
Hippo
Giraffe
Zebra
Wildebeest
Impala

24 Feb PM
Metsi female leopard patrolling
Pack of African wild dog on the move
Buffalo bulls
Hippo
Elephant herd
Nyala
Waterbuck
Impala

25 Feb AM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard relaxing in a tree
Ximhungwe pride of lions with an impala kill
3 Mapogo male lions sleeping (still in the same area they have been for the last couple of days)
Buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck
Wildebeest
Nyala
Zebra
Troop of baboons barking at the four southern/selati male lions who were lying just out of sight to the east of our boundary approximately 1km south of the lodge

Sightings from last night and this morning

22 Feb PM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard south of the lodge
4 Southern/Selati male lions walking south towards the Mapogo male lions
Elephant herd
Zebra
Impala
Kudu
Waterbuck
Wildebeest
Impala
Scrub hare

23 Feb AM
3 Mapogo male lions, one (Pretty Boy) looking severely beaten after an encounter with the 4 Southern/Selati males, the other two looked ok.
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Big buffalo herd
Elephant herd
Hippo
Zebra
Wildebeest
Impala

The 4 Southern/Selati males were not seen by our guides as the crossed the boundary to the east early in the morning, they were described as looking very confident and unharmed from the encounter with the Mapogo

Sightings from last night and this morning

21 Feb PM
Tlangisa female leopard relaxing in a tree
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Buffalo bulls
Elephants
Hippo
Giraffe
Impala

22 Feb AM
Buffalo bulls
Elephant herds
Kudu
Zebra
Giraffe herd
Waterbuck
Warthog
Nyala
Impala

Sightings from last night and this morning

20 Feb PM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Buffalo herd
Elephants
Hippo
Giraffe
Wildebeest
Zebra
Impala
Scrub hare
Ground hornbills

21 Feb AM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard outside the lodge
Tlangisa female leopard stalking buffalo
Pack of Wild dog hunting and eating an impala
Elephants
Hippo
Impala
Nyala
Vervet monkey

Sightings from last night and this morning

19 Feb PM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard outside the lodge
3 Mapogo male lions sleeping
Elephant herd
Zebra
Kudu
Impala
Giraffe
Duiker
Chameleon

20 Feb AM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard close to the lodge again
Pack of wild dogs
Elephant herds
Giraffe herd
Kudu
Bushbuck
Warthog
Nyala
Vervet monkey
Impala

Sightings from last night and this morning

18 Feb PM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard
3 Mapogo male lions
Ximhungwe lion pride
Buffalo herd
Zebra
Elephant bull
Impala
Waterbuck
Nyala
Warthog

19 Feb AM
Hlab'nkunzi female leopard outside the lodge
Tlangisa female leopard
3 Mapogo male lions following tracks of the buffalo herd
Elephants
Giraffe
Zebra
Crocodile
Hippo
Impala
Nyala
Kudu
Bushbuck

Sightings from last night and this morning

17 Feb PM
Tlangisa female leopard with a duiker kill
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Buffalo bull
Elephant herd
Impala
Hippo
Duiker
Nyala
Vervet monkey
Leopard tortoise

18 Feb PM
3 Mapogo Male lions
Elephant bulls
Elephant herd
Buffalo herd
Buffalo bull
Zebra
Impala
Duiker
Baboons
Nyala
Waterbuck
Bushbuck

Sightings from last night and this morning

16 Feb PM
Tassleberry female leopard
Giraffe
Zebra
Impala
Warthog
Nyala
Vervet monkey

17 Feb AM
3 Mapogo male lions
Giraffe
Buffalo
Kudu
Baboon
Vervet monkey
Impala
Warthog
Nyala
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Sightings from last night and this morning

15 Feb PM
Ximhungwe pride of lions in front of the lodge
3 Mapogo male lions with a buffalo kill
Zebra
Impala
Nyala
Warthog
Vervet monkey

16 Feb AM
Young male leopard - son of Shangwa
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Elephant bull
Buffalo bull
Hippo
Crocodile
Impala
Kudu
Nyala
Warthog
Vervet monkey
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Sightings from last night and this morning

14 Feb PM
Ximhungwe lions 4+4
Buffalo
Elephant
Impala
Giraffe
Nyala
Warthog
Vervet monkey
Waterbuck

15 Feb AM
Ximhungwe lion pride lying in front of the lodge
Giraffe
Elephant herd
Kudu
Buffalo bulls
Impala
Saddle-billed storks
Nyala
Vervet monkey
Warthog
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Quick roundup of sightings for the last week

As the bush continues to dry out the roads are looking better and many more off-road sightings have become accessible, there is still only one place to cross the river to the North but that is enough! The time spent working on the flood damage has meant that the sightings have not been posted as regularly as usual but here is an overview of what has been happening for the past week:

LIONS

The three male lions of the Mapogo coalition have mostly been together, they tried to catch a buffalo in the Sand river one morning but it got away. They were seen in front of the lodge shortly after that, before moving north of the river.

The four lionesses of the Ximhungwe pride and their four cubs were seen regularly, they also spent some time in front of the lodge yesterday. there were a couple of days that they were not seen and it seems that they had a kill in one of the inaccessible areas of the reserve as they are all looking well fed and healthy. The one lone male cub that had been trying to rejoin the pride has not been seen since before the floods and it seems he may not have made it in his weakened state.

Two of the lionesses of the Othawa pride were seen up in the far north eastern part of our traversing area, the third female is rumoured to have a litter of cubs hidden somewhere and we hope that she will bring them into the west soon.

LEOPARDS

With the saturated ground it has been a little more difficult with leopard sightings, however the sightings that we have had have been fantastic!

Shangwa female and her son (now bigger than her!0 were seen with a kill in the North, the Xikavi female also turned up in the same area.

The Dewane male has been busy pushing his territorial boundaries since the rain and has been regularly seen encroaching on the territory of the Xinzele male. Xinzele himself has not been seen for a while but there are plenty of tracks to suggest he is somewhere on the northern side of the river.

The Kashane male has been moving big distances as well but has not forgotten to come past the lodge on occasion! He also spent a day watching us repairing the wall of one of the dams, sitting no more than 20m away from us whilst we were working!

The Hlab’nkunzi female has been moving through the lodge regularly, we no longer know where her cub is being hidden – we do know that it is not in the lodge grounds anymore though! The cub is now old enough to go to kills so it surely will not be long before we see her again.

The Ravenscourt female has also been around Idube, she also has very new cubs that we have not seen yet – perhaps now that Hlab'nkunzi's little one is out, Ravenscourt may move her cubs into the area?

The Metsi female was seen in the south and the Tlangisa female has been a regular sighting further west. The Mobeni female was seen briefly south of Idube but as usual she stayed away from the vehicles, there was also a skittish young male seen in the same area at the same time. the skittish male is too big to be the cub that Mobeni had last year and there was no way of getting a spot pattern as he was running away so for now he remains unidentified.

ELEPHANTS

With the marula fruit falling there has been plenty of opportunity to see elephants, the breeding herds wander through regularly and there are always quite a few big bulls around. The abundance of water meant that swimming elephants, and those having mud-baths were often spotted. With the ground being soft the marula trees are taking a beating, the elephants shake the trees to get more fruits to drop but the shallow roots of the tree cant stand up to the combination of soft ground and heavy elephant so many trees end up pushed over! A lot of marulas that get pushed down this way do not die and continue to grow on their side resulting in rather awkward looking trunks…

BUFFALO

The big breeding herd of buffalo has been in and out of the traversing area regularly. The old ‘Dagga Boy” bulls have also been very regularly sighted al over the area.

GENERAL GAME

There has been a huge herd of zebra hanging around in the south for a while no. Giraffe have also been seen regularly, sometimes also in front of the lodge. Smaller game like duiker and steenbok are around but are often hidden in the long grass. Impala are everywhere and the wildebeest numbers seem to have improved. Waterbuck are abundant and have been seen on most drives. Nyala bushbuck and kudu have also been seen regularly along with warthogs, monkeys and baboons. The hippos now have lots of very full dams to choose from and have been seen all over the place, some times out of the water feeding too.

Wessel showed his guests a nice big python yesterday, other reptile seen include monitor lizards, crocodiles and the odd tortoise (both leopard and hinged tortoises).

The smaller nocturnal animals have also been well hidden in the long grass but scrub-hare, porcupine and genet have all been spotted recently.

Sightings from last night and this morning

6 Feb PM
Dewane male leopard
3 Mapogo male lions
Giraffe
Impala
Waterbuck
Duiker
Hippo

7 Feb AM
Elephant herd
Buffalo herd
Giraffe
Hippo
Impala
Waterbuck
Nyala
Warthog
Baboon

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Sightings from last night and this morning

5 Feb PM
Dewane male leopard
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Elephant bull
Huge Python
Impala
Scrub-hare
Warthog

6 Feb AM
Buffalo herd
Giraffe
Zebra
Waterbuck
Impala
Hippo
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Sightings from last night and this morning

1 Feb PM
Kashane male leopard with impala kill
Bull elephant
4 buffalo outside the lodge
Kudu
Impala
Zebra

2 Feb AM
Ximhungwe pride of lions
Elephant herd
Lone bull buffalo
Big herd of giraffe
Hippo
Impala
Waterbuck
Duiker
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Sightings from last night and this morning

31 Jan PM
3 Mapogo male lions
Elephant herd
Giraffe
Hippo
Impala
Nyala
Waterbuck

1 Feb AM
Kashane male leopard
Buffalo herd
Elephant bull
Impala
Wildebeest
Waterbuck
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