This week although with still some rainfall, the reserve has had a chance to dry out a bit and the game viewing has been great. With all the moisture around animals don’t have to go too far in search of a drink, the vegetation and in particular the grasses are thriving, blanketing the landscape in a dense lush hue of green. Animals in all shapes and sizes have come out of the woodwork and are humming with activity.
Starting with the larger of this week’s highlights, elephants are in their abundance and a few intimate greeting are always amazing to witness. Giraffes, who have a free choice of which bush, shrub or tree in which to feed, are making the most and likely picking out tall the new shoots bursting through, having their fill in the company of a fling of Oxpeckers. Yes, I believe that a ‘fling’ is the collective noun for a group of Oxpeckers.
An impressive kudu bull stands proud in a clearing with his physique rippling through contours and crevices in musculature, adorned with an impressive set of spiralled horns. Zebra, impala and waterbuck also find their way into a magnificent collection.
Now switching our attention across to the predators, the Ntomi Male is featured in a striking image draped over a marula branch with a fixated gaze towards the camera. The Ntsevu Sub-adult Males weather out the storm together in a close huddle, using each other for warmth and comfort. As well as we get another stunning view of the newest little additions to the Ntsevu Pride.
Let us know your favourites in the comments section below.
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
A gentle greeting between two members of an elephant herd. Body language and displays of affection like this are integral to elephant communication and bonding.
Briefly lifting his head from a guarrie bush that he had been feeding on, this large and very healthy-looking male giraffe had a number of Red-billed Oxpeckers helping ensure his coat was immaculate, combing through it in search of any dead skin or ectoparasites such as fleas and ticks.
The Ntomi Male keeps a beady eye on a small herd of impalas that were passing by. The prominent freckle on his eye can be seen quite clearly here.
A single cub of the Ximungwe Female's second litter. Initially rather skittish but is very relaxed now. Birth mark in his left eye.
Huddling together after an intense downpour of rain, these two young Ntsevu Sub-adult Males showed affection towards each other.
With so many lions cubs around, the hyena den may have taken a back seat! The reflection in the eyes and look of sheer innocence certainly make it difficult not to love every minute spent with these cubs!
A small portion of the Ntsevu Pride’s latest litter takes a moment to rest in an open sandy patch of ground.
Few antelope are quite as impressive as Kudu. This magnificent male stood attentive listening to some unknown sound before continuing his early morning feeding in the open plains of the southwest.
Feeding on the crests in the late afternoon light, this zebra has an abundance of fresh green grass to indulge in. The lower angle shooting through the grass and the posture of the zebra all came together nicely.
The lush greenery of a tamboti grove provided the perfect backdrop to this image as a Ntsevu Female sharpens and cleans her claws, ready for the night ahead.
After spending some time with this herd of elephants the female on the right approached and both adults proceeded to perform this greeting ceremony of placing their trunks in each other’s mouths. All the while the small young elephant was fiddling with a piece of grass with its trunk.
Impala are intensely alert animals and at the slightest sound or movement they perk their ears up to gather as much information as possible about what is going on around them.
A large male Waterbuck rests up on a grassy termite mound. After all the rain we’ve had over the past month, the lush greenery adds such an interesting element to our images.
We are incredibly lucky to be spending hours with the latest additions to the Nsevu pride. The cubs are providing endless entertainment as they explore the world around them. This one, in particular, paused for a second, stopping to stare in our direction.
A lone giraffe bull ambles his way across the Londolozi airstrip.
Stunning pictures! Thanks for sharing,Sean.
Thank you so much, Marc.
Another week and another group of terrific images. My choice is Chris’s Elephants greeting one another, but a close second is Ntomi resting in the tree.
Thank you so much, Denise. Those are some great images.
Great photos. I look forward to seeing this every week!
Thank you so much, Mark.
Great variety this week. I particularly loved the hyena cub – it’s wearing such a sweet expression. The waterbuck and male giraffe were also quite impressive.
Thank you so much, Chelsea. It was quite a cute photo of the little hyena cub,
Very hard to choose. I have two favorties. The greeting between two members of an elephant herd and the lion cubs.
Those are two great choices, thanks for letting us know your favourites.
Fabulous TWIP again, Sean. As usual it’s hard to choose just 1 – but my vote this week goes to Chris for his shot of Ntomi in the tree. It seems all cats have the ability to go straight from sleeping to being 100% focused in less than a second!
By the way, has anyone seen Ndzanzeni? – haven’t heard any mention of her for ages.
Thank you so much, Suzanne. Chris took a great shot of the Ntomi Male. Yes, the Ndzandzeni Female was actually seen a few days ago. Sightings of her are few and far between nowadays.
Sean, Great to see so many elephants showing their emotional side! Our favorite shot is the Ntsevu Sub-adult Males greeting each other!
It is great to see the emotional side of the elephants and the Ntsevu Sub-adults as well.
Love the photo selection this week, the elephant ones were particularly heartwarming! Is the hyena cub pictured at the airstrip den site that was mentioned in a previous blog entry?
Thanks, Michael. Yes, I believe so.
All pictures are superb as usual. The Ntomi male was born to be a top model! And so the Ntsevu cubs! They made me smile. The antelope are stunning. The Kudu, but also the Waterbuck he is gorgeous and has a soft look. I just love the female impala!
Thank you so much, Francesca. There were some great images this week.
As always, tough to pick just one favorite. Three way tie to waterbuck, impala ewe and kudu.
Thank you so much, Willa. I am glad you enjoyed the lesser highlighted antelope.
Beautiful photos as always! Wondering if the new Ntsevu cubbies belonging to one of the lionesses that is missing have been found? She had 5 cubs, evidently…..
Thank you so much, Lisa. We think that those lion cubs have been accounted for but it is so difficult to know for sure. I think we will have to wait a little longer to see what all plays out. There are so many cubs, of all different ages, from different females being kept in different places making it a challenge to keep track.
That Ntomi male!!!!! That is my number one but the hyena cub and the trio of ellies are runners up! Beautiful WIP!
Thank you so much, Anita. Those are some great choices this week.
Loved the two young Ntsevu Sub-adult Males. Great and unusual image!
Thank you so much, Vin. It is a great image of them showing some affection.
EVERY one a prize winner!👍
Thank you so much, Michael.
Hi Sean, so many images to choose from. My favorite for this week will be the Kudu bull with his massive horns. What am impressive antelope. All the other images are so beautiful.
The kudu bull is truly an impressive specimen.
Another great week!
Thank you so much, Barbi.
All photos are delightful and I love seeing the green backgrounds! Favorites: Kudu, Zebra, Leopard and always the elephant embrace. I did get a big chuckle out of the description of the giraffe and oxpeckers–I’m not certain they can emasculate a giraffe altho they can probably make him immaculate!!!! Still laughing…..
Thank you so much, Camille. Yes that was a little typo and certainly hope the Oxpeckers were not there to emasculate the giraffe.
This week’s pictures are again so beautiful. I love all of them. The intensive green of the background is really fabulous.
Thank you so much, Christa. The greenery is striking in all the pictures, which is one amazing aspect of safari at this time of year.
Sean, it is very hard this week to pick a favorite. You have captured so many different animals with great shots. The elephants greeting, the Nsevu cubs and the young male lions greeting each other. Wow, not to mention the hyena cub. I will choose the pictures of the lone males, the waterbuck, the giraffe, the impala, and the Kudu.
Thank you so much, William. There were a number of great images to choose from.
My favourite email of the week , has again lived up to it’s high standards
Thanks so much, Ian.
Great opportunity provided by Ntomi! Right place, Right Time.
Right place at the right time always does it.
Your photos transport me to Londolozi , which is the next best thing to actually being in the bush. Thanks .
Thank you so much, James. It is just something small we get to do in order to still keep everyone connected to this amazing wildlife.