“The earth, the air, the land, and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.” – Gandhi
The Sand River has a small stream flowing down its Southern banks and we have finally received some rain on Londolozi. Hearing thunder on a stormy night and sleeping with the sound of rain has never been so good. With rain comes the scenes of green sprouts and small buds of leaves. Fruits and flowers start to take over the landscape and mud wallows are found at every corner.
Dust has been washed out of the air and clear distant views come into bright clarity. The sound of Woodland kingfishers fill the afternoon. There is so much beauty in the Summer, from the wet lands to the freshness in the air after a night’s rain. It’s a different appreciation to the drier Winter months and bring with it pleasurable anticipation for the sudden changes.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
This relaxed Rhino calf – only about 2 months old – was covered in mud from a nearby wallow. With the recent rains, there are lots of places for rhinos and other animals to take some time to cool off.
A very exciting afternoon had us seeing the Tortoise Pan male back in his old stomping grounds after a few weeks spent exploring the far western sector of the Sabi Sand Reserve. Young male leopards often go wondering off during this nomadic period in their lives, and chances are fairly high that he will leave again.
This is a wonderful time of the year; the first impala lambs are starting to be born! Only a few have been seen but shortly there will be thousands running around amongst the green grasses.
The single Tsalala cub watches a passing herd of elephants from the heights of a granite boulder in the Sand River. As you can see, she has a full belly after feeding off the bushbuck her mother had killed that morning.
The defence of the White Rhino. Lying down, this individual gave me a good opportunity to see the different textures on the horns.
A Groundscraper Thrush collects material for its nest. It was clearly trying to fit as much as it could in its beak as possible!
The Mashaba female scans the area from a termite mound. We are still unsure as to where her exact territory lies as she has been seen in so many parts of the reserve of late.
Born in 2016, this male spent his early years in the south-east of Londolozi, but began moving further afield in late 2019.
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The movements of a buffalo herd are determined by individuals in the front known as pathfinders; not necessarily a dominant individual but more of a decision-maker.
A hyena cub suckles from its mother. Hyenas are known to have the richest milk of any terrestrial carnivore.
Being mostly confined to nature reserves across the country, Bateleurs are always a pleasure to see. This one is a male; females have a grey patch on their outer lower wings.
The Ximungwe female looks extremely alert and focused on a passing herd of impala, despite the fact that she already had a kill in this Marula tree.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
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Zebras are notoriously skittish drinkers. This one snatched a quick drink whilst the rest of the herd were on the lookout.
A Water thick-knee displays its wings, in order to look bigger as a defense mechanism. It had just finished chasing some Egyptian geese off, most likely away from its eggs as thick-knees are in the peak of their laying period.
The textures of a dried pan, a small pool of water and the large Nweti Male leopard provided a great photographic opportunity. This male is being seen more often in the Southern parts of the reserve.
A black and white image of a giraffe bull as it slowly moves from one Acacia tree to the next. Notice the lack of hair on the top of the ossicones; this is one of the ways to tell the sex of a giraffe. Males wear away the tufts of hair when fighting by hitting each other with these horn-like structures.
One of the pair of Africa Wild Dogs that has been seen around recently. We are not sure what has happened to the rest of the pack, or if the two of them dispersed from separate packs, but even just the two of them still makes for a great sighting.
The Ximungwe young male licks his lips after enjoying a kill that his mother had made earlier that morning. Being over 13 months, we should start to see him making his own smaller kills soon.
A Leopard Tortoise a enjoying the new green shoots starting to rise. This is the largest tortoise species we find here, with some reaching up to 40 kg! Interestingly, they are the only tortoise that is known to be able to swim.
A Birmingham male looks straight at us as he trails the Nstevu pride. The two brothers are still managing to hold on to their large territory after the loss of the third.
An African green pigeon scans the banks of the Sand River from the top of a small Natal Mahogany tree. Being frugivorous, a healthy population of these birds occurs in the riparian areas of Londolozi, where a plentiful supply of fruiting trees is to be found.
I was lucky enough to get a photograph of this gerbil before it ran into the bush. They are normally too quick for us to get a proper look at them.
We have recently been seeing a lot more of this male cheetah in the south-western parts of the reserve. He has been scent marking and roaming between us and our western boundary, hopefully setting up territory in this area which could mean enjoying cheetah sightings more frequently for the next couple of years.
Love your pics this week Dean. Great capture of the bateleur.
Thank you Marinda
All right, on sheer rareness I would have to hand honours to the gerbil…
First time I have seen a photo of one here, never seen one .
The leopard photos are stunning, that’s cat and tortoise…
Gerbil was so relaxed, very interesting. Thanks for the comment Ian.
Nice photo of the Nweti Male who has interesting coloring on his back. Don’t recall reading about him previously.
Hi Vin, Thank you for the comments. He is a not a male we see often but starting to see him more frequently as he expands his territory from our southern boundary.
Dean wonderful photos this week
Thank you Joan
Such beautiful photos! I especially loved the Mashaba female leopard on the termite mound and the Nweti male leopard drinking from the Pan with the contrasting textures. I also liked the leopard tortoise and the hyena cub suckling. But all of the photos were terrific. Thanks for sharing, Dean.
Think the tortoise is one of my favourites too. Thanks Darlene
Most incredible photos today, Dean.
Thank you Willa
What a wonderful collection of week in pictures. I am glad that some rain is coming and ponds are filling up. The star of the week was the ground scraper dressed with his hat ready for the Easter Parade, followed by the batteleur eagle. Thank you. Victoria
I got so distracted by the thrush that i missed the hippos fighting, worth it though. Thanks Victoria
Interesting facts about the buffalo pathfinders and hyena milk. I loved the photo of the male leopard drinking and the tortoise.
Thank you Chelsea, glad you enjoyed the comments.
Dean, thank you for some really great photos. Impressive picture of the Ximungwe young male and many more.
Thank you
Dean, you’ve gone above and beyond in TWIP!! Your images are stunning from the little groundscraper thrush sporting a mouthful of grasses, to the elegant rhino horn and the cuteness of the Ximungwe cub. 👏👏📷. Thoroughly enjoy this blog as a lead in to the weekend…. enjoy yours v
Wow, thank you Denise. Hope the weekend is going well.
Hi Dean
Thoroughly enjoy the pics this week and have now seen my first Gerbil and taken that pic for a Screensaver! So very glad to hear Londolozi and the surrounding areas have had some rain at last! We watched a VERY sad news clip a few days ago of a totally empty dam in the Northern Cape. The Morning Show were interviewing people from different walks of life while standing IN the dam. As they said, they should have been drowning, but they weren’t. They are going through a shocking time with the drought. The farmers are culling their animals because there is just NO WATER for them – and of course this affects the grazing as well. The wild life are also suffering. Graaff Reinette has had no rain for FIVE YEARS! Water is being trucked in. Even the water from bore holes is coming up looking undrinkable and dirty. These poor people…. My heart went out to them all and to the animals too. Children can’t bath before they go to school and nor can the adults. We are praying HARD for rain. Wendy M
Hi Wendy, yes goes to show how valuable water is to us and the importance of looking after what we have left. Thank you for the comment. Let’s hope those issues are resolved with some rain soon.
Great selection of photos as always Dean!!! Great to see the Tsalala cub doing well, and here’s hoping it continues to go well for her mother and her.
We can only hope so. Thanks Michael
LOVE the Nweti Male leopard drinking at the pan … the textures are so graphic and the colorful leopard against the stark black ground so striking … great job Dean!!!
Nweti male was an unbelievable sighting. Thanks for the comment.
It is SO good to see the week in pictures again! I’ve missed them!! Great to see some newcomers like the rhino calf and the gerbil, as well as old favorites like the Mashaba female. Thanks for coming back!
Glad you enjoyed.
Also, any sightings of the Ndzandzeni Female recently?
Good question Michael.
That’s a negative I’m afraid. We’re starting to get worried…
Michael, you would both be happy to know she was seen yesterday and this morning. Very good news.
Awesome news Dean! Thanks to both of you for your responses! I went from disappointed and worried to glad real quick!
Wonderful pictures!
Thank you
Wonderful pictures, Dean. And I’m so happy to see your update on the Ndzanzeni female. I was getting worried too! – but she has often been very elusive, as was her mother , the Dudley Riverbank.
Absolutely wonderful! I’m hard pressed to find a favourite. Wow, thanks! (Glad to see the Tsalala cub doing well!)
Oh my gosh-such wonderful pictures! Especially love the leopards, 3 of my favorites- mashaba, ximungwe and her cub!
So glad to see Mashaba looking in such good condition. How is her right shoulder/front leg doing?
Incredible images!!! I particularly like that shot of the leopard tortoise!
And that photo of the Mweti Male drinking is very powerful and conceptual!!