April’s winning image- A young cheetah cub making sure he helps his mother scan their surrounding for any unwanted threats or possibly their next meal.

Expanding his territory north and west, the Senegal Bush Male leaps the Sand River at Taylor’s Crossing.

Photography is an amazing example of a different perspective on things. Kyle and I were in the same sighting here of the Plaque Rock Female. The next few images were all from this sighting as she walks down the road along the Sand River.

Climbing up onto a low branch of a dead knobthorn tree next to the waterhole, the Xinkhova Females rests comfortably.

Interrupting this elephant bull, who happened to be in musth, while he was enjoying a drink at a large waterhole. Musth is a state of elevated testosterone that males periodically enter in order to mate with females. One of the giveaway signs that bulls are in musth is the constant dribbling of urine from between their legs, which has a strong, distinctive odour. This state also drives them to walk vast distances in search of sexually receptive females, and for these two reasons, continuously having to hydrate is essential, which is exactly what we found this bull doing as we drove around the corner to a hidden waterhole.

Stretching just before she descends. This young female had rested up here for ages, but I was secretly hoping that before she descends the tree she would yawn and then stretch allowing for the next photo.

The Xinkhova Female stretching atop a dead knobthorn made for an incredible wide-angle black and white shot.

As Londolozi moved toward dusk the Plaque Rock Female returned to her kill in an elephant scarred Marula tree

After a bit of drizzle one morning the Xinzele Female climbs a marula tree in order to rest for a while.

The Ximungwe Female glances up to check if her kill is still secure in the boughs of the marula above.

A truly remarkable sighting of the Nhlanguleni Female carrying her cub to a new den.

Two of the Ntsevu Sub-adults rear up onto their back legs in a playful wrestling showdown.

The Ntomi Male stares straight toward our vehicle. Before this photograph was taken this young male leopard was robbed of his impala kill by one of the Ndhzenga Male lions. He then found safety on top of a termite mound where we managed to get a few stunning portraits of him.

One of the Nhlanguleni Cubs hiding in amongst the rock crevices of the new den.

The Plaque Rock Female found a perfect vantage point in a dead knobthorn tree to scan her horizons providing us with some amazing photographic opportunities.

Such an incredible setting with this playful young elephant bull occasionally spraying a trunk full of water out against the setting sun’s golden rays that would shine through to illuminate the water as he exhales.

A broadside view as she walked past allowed an amazing view of the cub’s face, complemented by the contrast of the cub’s pink tongue.

The Senegal Bush Male is now our most viewed male leopard and has been providing us with some phenomenal sightings as of late. On this particular afternoon, he strolled up alongside our vehicle and paused just a few feet away from me allowing me.

An early afternoon thunderstorm this last week left behind the most incredible light as it passed. We happened to find ourselves with the Birmingham Male under this golden sky accompanied by a glowing rainbow. I wonder what the future holds for this stalwart male lion?

Once again, the Ntomi Male puts on a show in the early morning light. He is growing in confidence every day and looks set to become a rather large male leopard in years to come.

The African Fish Eagle is a striking bird of prey that has a beautiful call synonymous with the African bush

Torn between video and photo in this sighting, from this day on I learnt that you cant try to do both, pick one and stick with it. Luckily some of the pictures came out quite alright.

As we passed by a dazzle of zebra, this one paid a little closer attention than the rest and allowed for a great portrait shot.

A menacing look from the dominant Ndzhenga Male as he marches down the Londolozi airstrip.

The Three Rivers Female poses perfectly for a drink, leaving a crisp reflection in the water below. She was accompanied by the young male that she is raising at the moment and, while we didn’t know it at this point, they were leading us back to a tree where they had two impala lambs stashed away.

Fully submerged within a waterhole was probably the best place for this adolescent elephant to be. He certainly does make it look inviting.

A young elephant calf seeks shelter from the rain from her mother. Over the past week we had some welcomed but persistent rain, this will help with a last little flush of green before the dry season.

The sun managed to briefly creep out beneath a stormy sky to make for an outrageously stunning scene with the Birmingham Male in the foreground.

The Ntomi Male climbs a fallen tree and glances down at his mother as he chews on the edge of the stump.

Probably my favourite photograph from the afternoon. The way the Three Rivers Female gracefully positioned herself on the fallen branch made me think that she may have used this tree for a rest before…

A giant land snail inches its way across the tyre tracks in the road in the early morning post a large thunderstorm.

Another incredible scene of the Ntomi Male in a dead leadwood. In a recent sighting, we saw this adventurous young male climb up ad rest in the exact same dead tree that he did a few months ago.

While milling about this young cheetah appears to be snarling, I think this was in fact a yawn that could almost be mistaken for a laugh.

One of the many perks of the winter schedule is that we get to watch the sunrise every day. On this particular morning, we stopped in the open plains, in the western reaches of the reserve to appreciate this tranquil time of day. A lone giraffe bull happened to come strolling along making for a quintessential African moment.

One of the Nhlaguleni Female’s cubs glances down towards where her sibling and mother were feeding on a duiker carcass. This must have been one of the first times the Nhlaguleni Female has taken her cubs to a kill as she begins to introduce them to eating meat.

A small journey of giraffes wander around the open grassland near the northern end of the airstrip. We were sitting with the Tsalala Lioness at the bottom of the slope which gave an interesting perspective of the giraffe as they came to investigate.

The sheer power, strength and agility of the Senegal Bush Male as he ascends the vertical trunk of a large tree.

The energy of a breeding herd of elephants near a water hole or mud wallowing is contagious and always entertaining to witness. Here a small calf enjoys submerging face first into soft mud.

Gaining the high ground. This cheetah struck an absolutely stunning pose as he climbed this fallen Marula to scan the open grassland ahead.

Two elephants extend their trunks out towards each other in a greeting ritual whereby they place the trunk into one another’s mouths.

One of the last remaining cubs from the Birmingham reign watches his mother and siblings walk down from Plaque Rock.

After watching a clan of hyenas overpower her for her hard-earned meal, the Tsalala Lioness uses a fallen marula tree to glance back at the scene.

A portrait of the beautiful Three Rivers Young Male. His inquisitive nature urges him to pause and get a better look at us, before continuing onward and upward into the canopy of the tree.

A female giraffe keeps a beady eye on the Tsalala Lioness who was lying about 100m away in an open clearing. The backdrop of the fading colours in the evening sky provided a great photographic opportunity.

As the bees move from one flower to the next their bodies become covered in pollen, she then pushes the gathered pollen down toward her lower legs, where she mixes the pollen with a little nectar and then packs it into her pollen basket from the bottom up. The hairs in the pollen basket hold it in place. When the pollen sac is full, it can hold more than one million grains of pollen.

The Ntomi Male plans his next move on his ascent up a Marula tree where his mother was feeding on an impala kill.

The mother cheetah and her cub have been a relatively regular sighting over the last little while and have provided some unbelievable photographic sightings when they have been found.

The reward of patience and persistence when following the tracks of a leopard is finding it unperturbed in its natural habitat.

Having stopped next to a water hole for our morning coffee break, we were joined by a herd of zebra that came to drink – unperturbed by all of us standing out of the vehicle!

The beautiful Nkuwa Female, well outside of her territory, had been lured further east by her interest in the Senegal Bush Male. After watching this leopard as a little cub in 2018, it was great to be able to spend an afternoon with her again.

After an intense morning of witnessing the Senegal Bush Male and Maxims Male fighting for territory, we found the Senegal Bush Male later that afternoon lying up in long grass. His fierce, indomitable nature was heavily subdued by his discomfort from several battle wounds and irritation from the encircling flies.

While driving along the river we came across this herd of elephants, within which there were a number of tiny young calves that kept us entertained for a while.

With its mother just out of the frame, this little inquisitive elephant calf held its trunk up to the air hoping to work out what we are. However, using its trunk for this advanced form of sensory input is slightly beyond this little guy.

Still a little wobbly on its legs, this young elephant looked up and was perfectly framed by its mother’s trunk and front legs.

The pack, as always, amused us with their playful antics. All this before hurtling off into the thickets to find their quarry for the evening.

The sun sets over a fantastic evening watching several members of the Ntsevu breakaways hunt a herd of wildebeest.

A much calmer moment as a mother giraffe checks in on her resting calf.