Here at Londolozi and within the broader Sabi Sand Reserve, we are fortunate to have an abundance of animals that traverse this area, including the notorious Big Five. As part of a guest’s stay, we always hope to encounter sightings of these animals namely: lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino, and elephant.
“The Big Five attracts travellers from all over the world, in my opinion, for a few different reasons: the scarcity of actually finding and viewing these animals at close proximity, the outright beauty and uniqueness of each of animal, and lastly and most importantly, the accomplishment of capturing the “shot” of these animals up close from your camera lens.” – Dan Hirschowitz
Ntomi Male stares into the sunset as the sky behind him turns pink.
On a recent afternoon game drive, we headed into the open grassland area in the hopes of finding a herd of buffalo. After some time of following the tracks of a herd of buffalo without actually finding them, Equalizer somehow managed to spot three white rhinos through his binoculars in the very far distance. After navigating off-road to get a closer view and while sitting with these animals, the afternoon’s energy peaked at a new high. To our amazement, we spotted the Ntomi Male’s paw dangling from the branch of a lone marula tree further in the distance.
While the Ntomi Male rested in a marula tree, a breeding herd of elephants slowly ambled past our vehicle and underneath the young leopard as he rested on a prominent branch.
As Jess Shillaw recently spoke about in a previous blog, there are some game drives where you get this overwhelming feeling of “being in the right place at the right time.” And this particular afternoon was exactly that.
It is on very rare occasions that we get the privilege of witnessing more than one of the Big Five animals in the same sighting or scene.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with the Ntomi Male resting up in the marula tree. While sitting with this young male leopard surrounded by the open grasslands, we watched a dazzle of zebra and a breeding herd of elephants move through the area, completely unaware of the Ntomi Male up in the tree and just going about their business. The afternoon ended up being more than we bargained for, and although we did not end up seeing any buffalo, we ended up seeing three of the other Big Five in one scene. Something that does not happen every day!
After this recent sighting, it got me reminiscing about previous sightings at Londolozi, where we have been incredibly fortunate to encounter more than one of the Big Five animals in the same sighting.
I’ll let the images below highlight some of these previous encounters, which certainly encompass the magic of this part of heaven.
I hope you enjoy…
Chris Taylor came across the Senegal Bush Male amongst a herd of buffalo. Buffalo being a species that would usually not be found on a leopard’s menu, they watched as he began stalking the herd. Using the long grass to his advantage, he singled out a small calf and tried for over an hour to get himself into a position that would give him the opportunity to pounce. However, the watchful eye of the calf’s mother kept him at bay.
Equaliser and I were also fortunate to be surrounded by a huge herd of buffalo and a few elephants.
The Ntsevu Pride from a few years back stare intently in the direction of a breeding herd of elephants moving towards them.
A beautifully composed image capturing two of the Big Five.
The two largest land mammals that exist in Southern Africa in one photograph. I love the textures of both species’ skin and often find that this can be enhanced by making the photograph monochrome.
Love the photos The last shot with the B&W with the rhino and elephants is special!!!
Just want to hug that Ntomi male he’s so cute! Assuming he didn’t really go after the zebra, he was just practicing?! 🙂 Great shots with the multiple of Big 5’s. We were lucky enough to see all Big 5 in Kenya but none together!
Kate, Londolozi is truly blessed with their animals and plants. The variety is simply magnificent .
What a thrilling experience! Especially you among the buffalo herd. If you watched BBC Earth “Bad Natured” the only beautiful episode is about an old, tough male buffalo, who reached out to the water among all other herbivores. Even elephants left him alone. An old, wounded, suffering creature at the peak of his will and endurance. A buffalo, after all, is that. Very touching. I love all the photos and tales, the Ntomi male was born to be a top model!
I think for everyone’s first trip to Africa, seeing the big five is a goal and a thrill. After that, just being in a safe space for all creatures, opens up the mindset to just wait and see what you can find. If I’m being honest though, to see the big 5 in the course of one drive, is amazing and exciting…..
Lovely photos of the Talamati lioness. The Talamatis you have on Londolozi however, to clarify so there is no confusion, are the Main Talamati Pride. The Matriarch, Queen T is very much alive and has remained with this main portion of the pride. The breakaway’s consist of two females (the third died two weeks ago) with the s8 male.
Kate such stunning foto’s you showed us today, with the big five sporting at least two of them on each foto. Ntomi male is such a gorgeous leopard, seeing him grow up so quickly. Wish I could see him in real life.
What a wonderful post and so true. I have witnessed on several occasions two of the big five in one sighting. Now I am trying to think of all the moments. The one that stands out is one with lions and elephants. I do love the photo of the lion and linens and the elephants.