The winding down of a year always causes reflection.
As the sun set on 2015 I had a quiet moment. I stood staring at the sun slowly approaching the horizon and the memories started to run through my mind. The speed at which they flashed through increased as the sun started to disappear.
It suddenly vanished and all that was left was a beautiful glow, the lingering light a gentle reminder of the incredible year experienced and enjoy by all at Londolozi.
2016 has now dawned and the possibilities are inspiring. New life abounds and the lion saga continues to intrigue. The Leopards of Londolozi have a fresh new look with new individuals having established themselves towards the end of 2015. We look forward to recording the growth of the Mashaba female’s cub and hope to see new leopard cubs around shortly.
As I mention the end of one year and the beginning of the next, life has continued. The animals are oblivious to the above mentioned and continue the fight for survival on a slightly drier than normal Londolozi. On the other hand we are well of the new calendar year and long to know what is in store; all we can do though is take a day at a time, enjoying every second.
The Week in Pictures is traditionally a Friday post, but we deviated slightly yesterday to make way for the New Year’s blog. Better late than never, though. Enjoy…
The Mashba female’s cub is all of a sudden gaining confidence, becoming more playful by the day, an absolute treat to be able to watch.
Time for inspection. Hanging from his near perfect creation, a male village weaver tries to convince a potential mate THIS is the nest and partner to choose this breeding season.
Textures of summer, the often present clouds of summer time have promised much and delivered very little so far this wet season.
A hearty meal just about renders a male lion useless, completely gorged with sleep being priority number one. The dark mane Matimba a second before he flopped over and drifted off.
The often-overlooked hadeda ibis sifts through the Sand River in search of a meal.
A chameleon makes sure we aren’t going to eat it as it crosses the road. The disgruntled reptile felt a little too exposed, and it made a hasty retreat to a nearby tree to once again melt into its surroundings.
As the day settles into dusk, the Piva male leopard slowly starts his evening off, taking in his surroundings from atop a termite mound.
Giving thanks. A vervet monkey mother looks skyward a one of many newborns scans its unfamiliar surroundings.
Something that immediately stretches a large smile across my face. Birds in flight have always fascinated me. This white backed vulture powers off to catch a thermal in search of a meal.
Once fresh wounds, each scar has an untold story, if only there was a way of hearing them…
As this giraffe floated effortlessly across the ridge we were left with very few words.
Pure gold. The colour, sounds and feel out here are priceless, come see for yourself!
Two of my favourite animals of the bush. the smaller of the two, a red billed oxpecker, is one of the most interesting characters out here. Always searching for a morsel to eat the help reduce the tick load on most of the large mammals out here.
Beautiful images Simon. Love the hadeda ibis and the wildebeest.
I love seeing your images Simon, they are always stunning and these ones are no exception…so beautiful! I especially love textures of summer, the Hadeda Ibis and the Wildebeest shot – the colours are fantastic…I agree, pure gold. Thank you for sharing your wonderful blogs and stunning images with us and I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings!
How are the Matimba Males doing? Have they been very vocal or silent? And what about the Male with injured paw?
Very difficult to see these images in Florida. Coming back next year to renew our love of Londolozi.
Stunning photos from a top guide
Wonderful pictures as ever, thanks Simon.
As always, the Londolozi post enhances my day. Thank you! I look forward to hearing about the happenings at Londolozi throughout the new year.
Simon thanks for your lovely photos, I would love to know how Campan the most handsome leopard of all, is doing at Londolozi, we fell in love with him in 2013 when we stayed there. The image of him has pride of place on our dining room wall – along with other memorable images of our Londolozi visit.
Happy New Year to you! Thank you Simon, your pictures are all stunning, but I had a chuckle at your caption below the Weaver picture as I have one poor male that has been at it now for 2 summers & he just doesn’t seem to see that the bottom is totally “see thru” and within hours the old girl has him tearing it apart! I really want another one to show him how its done 🙂 🙂 Have a stunning week
I hope this isn’t your final Week in Pictures. If so, all the best for 2016.
Your blog or pics and videos never disappoint, so high quality! I’m thankful having possibility to follow them already some years!
there is no better way to start the day than to find a Londolozi blog and pictures. Thankyou to all for your fabulous photos and stories,we do hope to return soon.
Best wishes to everyone for an amazing 2016 and thanks again for your Blogs.
All the animals look so healthy