Londolozi Blog

Meet the kitchen – Eric Ubisi

by Anna Ridgewell April 24, 2013

The Wise Man of the Kitchen. The Silent Wonder. The Teacher. The Supporter. There are many words for Eric Ubisi, but for me, he is my right hand man, a man of great integrity, wisdom and knowledge. Each and every day, Eric guides the Chefs in the kitchen to work in harmony with good communication [...]

The North

by James Tyrrell April 23, 2013

Variety is the spice of life, so they say, and nowhere on Londolozi will you find a greater variety of habitats than in the area north of the Sand River known as Marthly. Few roads traverse this wild area and sightings of unknown leopards are not infrequent. Aardvark tracks and the fresh diggings of the [...]

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Earth Day 2013

by Dave Varty April 22, 2013

Londolozi means “the protector of all living things” and consequently conservation has always been deep in our DNA. Upon the return of the family to Londolozi in 2007, we renewed our intentions, as part of our daily operations, to contribute to wise earth stewardship. The following commitments were made at the time: To continue to [...]

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Meet the trackers – Bennet on the Bonnet

by Helen Young April 21, 2013

Bennet Mthonsi, more affectionately known as Stikenyawo, or Bennet on the bonnet! After growing up in the Timbavati area in the Kruger National Park, Bennet trained as a ranger at Phinda Game reserve in 2001 and was a valuble member of the guiding team for many years. However, his love and true talent for tracking soon had [...]

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The Month in Pictures #1

by Mike Sutherland April 19, 2013

Mike Sutherland recently joined the Londolozi guiding team. With two years guiding experience already behind him – a year at Kwandwe in the Eastern Cape and another year at Phinda in Kwazulu Natal – it was not long before he was up and running as a fully fledged Londolozi ranger. New to the Lowveld, Mike [...]

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The Iron Lady

by Tom Imrie April 18, 2013

In a place where the contest between life and death is so keen, it seems ironic that the passing of a Londolozi lioness should draw much attention in the greater scheme of living and dying. For all of the reasons that make the wildlife of Londolozi so special it is with great sadness that we [...]

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Mashaba Female and her Cub

by James Tyrrell April 17, 2013

The Sparta pride was somewhere deep in the far end of Londolozi. The hideously thick section to the south of the Tugwaan drainage, where scarcely a game trail is to be found winding through the chest-high grass, sickle-bush and acacia thickets for which the block is known. A tracker’s kryptonite, we knew it was going [...]

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Meet the kitchen – Connie Mthabini

by Anna Ridgewell April 16, 2013

To have the title of ‘Matriarch of the kitchen’ provides extremely big shoes to fill although, in meeting Connie, one can understand why she fulfills this role so well. She is a larger than life woman who has an incredibly warm smile and welcoming demeanor. Connie started at Londolozi in 1994 as a Pastry Chef [...]

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Tutlwa Fights with Mashaba Female

by Mike Sutherland April 15, 2013

It was in the heart of the Mashaba female leopard’s territory that the Marthly male leopard and the Tutlwa female leopard were mating. As dusk set in the mating pair of leopards disappeared into the darkness whilst a short distance away the Mashaba female and her cub fed on an impala. Early the next morning, [...]

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Roar Africa Experiences

by Rich Laburn April 14, 2013

Take a look at this stunning video featuring Londolozi as one of the destinations in Roar Africa’s uniquely crafted tours. Other destinations in this video include Kensington Place in Cape Town and Victoria Falls on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. We hope that you will find inspiration for your own journey to Africa in this [...]

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The Week in Pictures #74

by James Tyrrell April 12, 2013

The South Pride is back! Conflict between the Kruger Male and the Sparta Males in the Sabi Sands’ southern reaches has resulted in the older South Pride females bringing the young members of the pride to unfamiliar territory. Unfamiliar territory for them means unfamiliar lions as well, and the potential for further trouble. Will they [...]

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Hyenas Steal from Gowrie Male Leopard

by Mike Sutherland April 11, 2013

There is nothing more appealing to me personally than waking up early on a cold Winter’s morning with the mist still hovering above the Sand River and the golden and pink sun breaking the morning chill. The morning chorus has begun and a feeling of excitement and adventure is oozing out of each guest on [...]

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Sher Bagh Tented Camp

by Shan Varty April 10, 2013

What a way to start the year 2013! To journey to India to experience a kaleidoscope of colours, culture, cuisine and contrast. It was my great pleasure to experience this and of so much more as a fellow Relais family member on a recent visit to India where I had the privilege to journey to [...]

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New Tsalala Lion Cub

by James Tyrrell April 9, 2013

The middle of 2011 was a wonderful period for the Tsalala Pride. With the two daughters of the older tailless lioness each giving birth to a litter of 4 early on in the year, a total of 8 cubs were regularly seen prowling around Marthly. Spending a lot of their time around Ximpalapala koppie and [...]

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Tutlwa Young Male Leopard vs Tsalala Young Lioness

by James Tyrrell April 8, 2013

A remarkable scene unfolded here at Londolozi on the 22nd of March. It was during morning game drive in the North, that the young Tutlwa male leopard was located while bringing down a full grown impala ram. The impala had only just taken it’s last breath when all of a sudden two females of the [...]

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Embracing Conservation

by Rich Laburn April 7, 2013

An article featured in the March edition of Sawubona magazine written by Dave Varty and Alex Van Den Heever…

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The Week in Pictures # 73

by James Tyrrell April 5, 2013

The rain returned for a day or two, giving the Lowveld a late gift as the dry season bears down upon it. Apart from the rain, the real concern this week was three of the Majingilane mating with the three adult Tsalala lionesses. If the lionesses are thus involved, where is the little cub that [...]

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Mashaba and Cub Evade Hyena

by James Tyrrell April 4, 2013

We left camp early to see if there would be any feeding activity of either the Mashaba female or her cub. Talley Smith and Freddy Ngobeni had tracked the female the previous evening to where she had the remains of an impala kill stashed, but the cub was relatively unrelaxed whilst they were there, and [...]

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Female cheetah kill

by Kate Neill April 3, 2013

The life of a cheetah is not an easy one. This is why when one is seen on Londolozi, the rangers, staff and guests alike all get extremely excited. After a morning game drive last week, it was reported that a female cheetah and her two cubs of between five to six months old were [...]

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The Best Tiger Viewing in India

by Rich Laburn April 2, 2013

India is a remarkable country and home to arguably the most iconic Big Cat in the world. Amidst almost daily reports of declining Tiger populations and reductions of national parks, it was with much interest that I visited the country to witness for myself just what a Tiger Safari in India is actually like. Previous [...]

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The Scrub Hare of Easter

by Kate Neill April 1, 2013

The Scrub hare gets its name from the fairly obvious fact that their preferred habitat is in scrubs, grasslands and savannah. They are usually nocturnal animals but are also seen from time to time on an overcast day. Yesterday morning was a particularly cool and overcast morning. Back at the lodge I got a radio call saying that [...]

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True Facts about the Dung Beetle

by Rich Laburn March 31, 2013

Ze Frank features footage of Dung Beetles at Londolozi in one of his latest and very amusing ‘True Facts about the Dung Beetle”…

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Life’s Photographic Moments

by Londolozi Guest March 30, 2013

Wildlife and photography go together like peas and carrots. It just works. This is the reason that a vast majority of guides either have a serious interest in photography or at the very least develop a keen interest the more time they spend in the field. But have you ever thought about the trackers? Have [...]

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The Week in Pictures #72

by James Tyrrell March 29, 2013

The game viewing at Londolozi has been nothing short of spectacular these last few weeks. We have been visited by at least two different wild dog packs and the leopards have been doing their usual thing, but the really huge news was the discovery of a female cheetah with two cubs. Reports have been filtering [...]

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Give it Horns

by Rich Laburn March 28, 2013

The current rhino poaching crisis is akin to a counter-insurgency war and history has shown that these wars are won only by addressing three key requirements. These include: 1. Intelligence 2. Skilled and motivated manpower 3. Winning the hearts and minds of local communities To address these requirements, The Sabi Sand Wildtuin is pursuing [...]

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Anthony Goldman at Londolozi

by Londolozi Guest March 27, 2013

Anthony Goldman recently returned to Londolozi and is coming back again in August this year. Once the bug bites, it bites hard! Driving with ranger Alfie Mathebula and tracker Bennet Mathonsi on his most recent visit, Anthony was placed in some wonderful positions to capture what he saw on camera. Leopards with cubs, lions and [...]

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Have You Bean There?

by Kate Neill March 26, 2013

One of the most interesting experiences we had on our educational trip to Cape Town was at the Bean There Coffee Shop. This incredible coffee company is where all of our ground and whole coffee beans that we use at the lodge come from. During our time there we watched exactly how the art of making [...]

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Close Encounters of the Spotted Variety

by Londolozi Guest March 25, 2013

Sunday morning’s game drive was so spectacular, we couldn’t expect it could be topped. Boy were we wrong! We mustered at the truck at 4:30 following afternoon tea. Michael and I were seated on the top seats of the vehicle, with what I think are the best panoramic views. Our first sighting was the [...]

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The Week in Pictures # 71

by James Tyrrell March 22, 2013

The Dry season is steadily approaching. We have not had any significant rainfall for some weeks now, and with the sun still delivering some summer heat, the bushveld has been drying up. Browning grasses and marula trees with fewer leaves are providing a slightly more monotone backdrop, whereas one month ago the verdant landscape was [...]

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It’s not just about the Leopards

by Londolozi Guest March 21, 2013

We recently had the great pleasure of hosting 4 members of the Wild Eye Team at Londolozi to experience a little bit of what we do here. Gerry, Jono, Andrew and Penny headed to the lowveld for a few days of photographic fun, having a love for photography myself i was most excited about their [...]

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It’s Dark at 5:00 am

by Londolozi Guest March 20, 2013

When you turn out the lights in the African bush it is very dark! We couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces. And it’s still dark at 5:00 a.m. when you get the knock on the door accompanied by juice, coffee, fruit and yoghurt. Bleary-eyed, we stumbled to the bathroom, pulled ourselves [...]

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A Trip to Waterford Wines

by Trisha Siegel March 19, 2013

On Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early to depart for Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch. We drove up the stunning entrance to Waterford through the clementine trees just before sunrise. There we were met by Kevin Arnold, the Waterford winemaker, who spent the day with us, telling us “The story outside of the bottle”. [...]

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The Dudley Riverbank Cub

by James Tyrrell March 18, 2013

Leopard cubs are fragile little animals. We hesitate to publicise the birth of a new litter as, sadly, the chances of them surviving to even a month old are slim. Such a high level of parental care is required in the first weeks of these cat’s lives that more often than not they are simply [...]

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In and Out of Africa

by Londolozi Guest March 16, 2013

A one hour drive from Franschhoek, a two hour wait at the Cape Town airport, a two and a half hour flight to Nelspruit (Kruger National Park), a one hour drive on hard top and a one hour drive on a dirt road, but we finally arrived at Londolozi, our first safari stop, located in the [...]

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The Week in Pictures # 70

by James Tyrrell March 15, 2013

The highlight of the week was a visit from an unfamiliar pack of 17 Wild Dogs. Within 12 hours they were gone from the property again but some amazing viewing was had whilst they were here. My personal highlight was coming across the Nottens female one morning in the South of Londolozi. Tracker Mike Sithole [...]

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The Lobster Trip to Cape Town

by Trisha Siegel March 14, 2013

Last week we sent eleven of our staff members on a once in a lifetime trip to Cape Town. The purpose of the trip was to congratulate these staff members on there achievements on the Lobster Ink programme that was started at Londolozi about two years ago. Lobster Ink is the hospitality education system that [...]

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The Ximpalapala Leopard Cubs

by James Tyrrell March 13, 2013

Marula trees, open clearings, impala lambs and year-old leopard cubs are just about as perfect a combination of things as you can get in the bush. Impala lambs to provide the prey, the leopard cubs to do the hunting, the trees to hoist the kills into or just survey the ground from and the nice [...]

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Lion Update: The Main Players

by James Tyrrell March 12, 2013

We haven’t done a proper summary of the lion dynamics of Londolozi for a while, so we decided it was time to get everyone up to speed with which lions are doing what and where and how they are all faring. So here, pride by pride and coalition by coalition is the first in a [...]

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Electric Landrover

by Kate Neill March 11, 2013

Just Auto wrote an article on the Landrover trials all-electric Defender which we were incredibly excited about given our interest over the last three years in the zero emissions safari vehicle. Londolozi has been at the forefront of pioneering the first ever Zero Emissions Safari Vehicle. The vision for this vehicle is to run purely on [...]

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The Week in Pictures #69

by James Tyrrell March 8, 2013

The North has been the place to go recently. I love crossing the Sand River to the highly variable terrain of the part of the property known as Marthly, as I never fail to get that excited sense of anticipation, not knowing what it is we may see. Large blocks and few roads make the [...]

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The Rose’s on Safari

by Kate Neill March 7, 2013

Stuart and Michelle Rose recently stayed in Tree Camp and I was fortunate enough to bump into them while they were on their village walk with Linah. We got chatting and I was able to view some of Stuart’s photographs that he had taken that morning on game drive with Dean Smithyman and Elmon Mhlongo. [...]

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South America’s Best Big Cat Safari Ever!

by Rich Laburn March 6, 2013

Last week we had the best safari of our lives. We could never have imagined that we would see and learn so many things in just one night. We left for a drive at 10:30 pm in search of Esperança and along the way we found a puma with an 4 months old cub … [...]

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Southern Vine Snake Kills Skink

by Kate Neill March 5, 2013

It is not often that camp staff can outshine the rangers with regards to the wildlife and sightings. Every now and then, however, we are able to trump them with the what we see in and around camp. Two days ago Jess Watt and Nadia de Kock were fortunate enough to see a kill; this [...]

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The Mashaba Female’s Cub

by James Tyrrell March 4, 2013

Seeing any leopard at Londolozi is special, but every now and again these secretive cats open a window into the most private part of their lives and allow us to view them with their cubs. Currently, it is the Mashaba female that is hogging the limelight, as her single young cub has begun to relax [...]

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The Week in Pictures #68

by James Tyrrell March 1, 2013

A hungry Sparta pride defined this week for me. We tracked them for three mornings in a row, each time finding them with empty bellies. On the third morning, three of the Majingilane were also in attendance, but were looking pretty full. Tracks of a large herd of buffalo that had been running headed south [...]

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The Londolozi Cookbook Volume # 1

by Rich Laburn February 28, 2013

The Londolozi Cookbook is the final title in our first series of iBooks we have released on the Apple iBookstore. For those of you who have visited Londolozi, you may be familiar with the ever enthusiastic and very experience Executive Chef, Anna Ridgewell as well as her two Sous Chefs, Eric and Connie. These three [...]

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Meet the Blog Team: James Tyrrell

by Kate Neill February 27, 2013

Some of you may have noticed a new name on the Londolozi blog in recent months. James Tyrrell has been contributing a lot of material recently, and with Adam Bannister having left for adventures overseas, James has stepped up to fill a more permanent role. With that in mind, we felt it was time to [...]

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Nyelethi Young Female Mates for the First time

by Rich Laburn February 26, 2013

We don’t often encounter the Nyelethi young female anymore. After the death of her mother (not witnessed, but believed to be in early 2011), she shifted her territory northwards, away from the Manyelethi Riverbed. As the only female in a litter of three, the pressure placed upon her at kills by her two brothers forced [...]

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The Londolozi Learning Centre

by Kate Neill February 25, 2013

Training at Londolozi has really taken off in the last five years. Everything from computer skills, tracking, sewing to knowing how to set a table are amongst the many things that make up the Londolozi Learning Centre. The Londolozi Learning Centre’s focus has been to endeavor to translate the Londolozi philosophy and ethic into practical, achievable and relevant [...]

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The Week in Pictures #67

by James Tyrrell February 22, 2013

A few clouds this week have kept activity in the bush going a little longer into the morning. In the Lowveld Summer, it can start getting uncomfortably hot quite early on, so the lack of sun, although not quite as good for photography, can often be a welcome relief. The Sparta pride gave us a [...]

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