The New Year is in full swing, and 2024 promises to be a bright one. The season rainfall is sitting at 328.2mm, and there is lots of water around. With all this water, the bush continues to flourish, and the dense greenery still dominates the landscape. This Week in Pictures has allowed us to play around with gloomy skies and work with some incredible sunsets.
The sunsets have been out of this world over the past week, and the arrangement of clouds seems to take a different feel on a daily basis. When the sun has managed to fight its way through the clouds, it has created incredible photographic opportunities.
Leopards have been ever present, with sightings of the Nkuwa Female, Xinkhova Female and Thumbela Female taking the limelight. Watching the newly independent Thumbela Female all afternoon moving in and around boulders in the Manylethi was this week’s highlight for me.
Bird life has been incredible since we have had all this rain. The birds displaying courtship behaviour will always catch my eye, especially in the case of the pin-tailed whydah. Being breeding season, they have been making their presence known, along with the weavers who are tirelessly creating their wondrously woven nests.
The Ntsevu Males and Female are back! The buffalo hunting machines have come back into the southern parts of Londolozi after spending some time north of our northern boundary. The Ntsevu Pride and cubs continue to entertain us with their mischievous ways.
We have been blessed with 3 different packs of wild dogs creating chaos around Londolozi for the past week. The pack of three has been hanging around the central parts of Londolozi, making the wild dog to be at a premium.
The crocodiles, elephants and warthogs are all absolutely loving all the water and making the most of these wetter moments.
This week has been rainy and very wet but still allowing for some incredible sightings to take place. All the water around has certainly allowed for a different approach to photography.
Let me know your favourites in the comments below.
Enjoy This Week in Pictures…
Sunsets after all this rain are extremely dramatic and allow for breathtaking scenes like this.
While resting in a marula, the Xinkhova Female notices some impala in the background. She is quickly becoming one of the most frequently seen leopards around the Londolozi camps.
A stunning young female with a very similar spot pattern to her mother, the Nkoveni Female. Litter still completely intact March 2022.
Warthogs don’t often hang around long enough to allow the photo. This boar didn’t mind our presence whatsoever and allowed us to view him with no problem.
A male Pin-tailed Whydah trying to get the attention of the female perched in the brach in front of him.
Having the Ntsevu Males and Females back on Londolozi always creates excitement around camp. Their incredible hunting techniques is always something to admire.
One of the males gave us a stare. Time stands still when a big male lion stares you down (I like that you can see our vehicle in the reflection of his eye in this photo!)
The horns of a male kudu are one of the most iconic things in Africa. This male took a brief moment to look at us before heading off into the drainage.
This wild dog from the pack of three takes a moment to cool down after an unsuccessful hunt.
The Mbali Pack. Over the past couple of months, we have been getting to know this pack. They seem to be moving around the north a lot more nowadays.
This juvenile African hawk eagle watches its parents fly off into the distance. When viewing birds, it’s usually the juveniles that are more relaxed.
During my 4 years here, I still believe that the Nkuwa Female is the most beautiful leopard I have had the privilege of viewing.
The Nkuwa Female on an evening territorial patrol. it was a cloudy afternoon for the majority of the time until the sun decided to fight back, catching the grass around this termite mound for a brief second.
One of two sisters born to the Nhlanguleni Female, both of whom made it to independence, the first intact litter to do so in 7 years.
A large elephant bull resting after giving himself a mud bath like no other. The contrast of white and black on the tusk is what really draws me to this photograph.
After reuniting with their mothers, this cub had a yawn not being able to contain its excitement. The dental structure of the cub in this photo is very interesting.
This cub keeps an eye on its siblings while they are playing with a tortoise as Matt’s vehicle moves around to get a better look.
Weavers are master architects spending most of their day during breeding season creating incredible nests like this to impress the females. This weaver takes a moment from franticly building to have a look at us.
With all the water in the Sand River, crocodiles will sit on the causeway waiting for any fish to flow through the water hoping for a quick and easy meal.
The recently independent Thumbela Female resting on some boulders in the Manyalethi River. Seeing her for the first time since her independence in such an incredible setting was truly breathtaking.
Shortly after watching her rest, she starched and moved off towards the deadwood forest where we let her be.
Born into a litter of two, male cub did not survive. She is seen more and more in central Marthly and rapidly approaching full independence.
I very much enjoyed the photos this morning, very well done
Patrick, stunning pictures this week. Very hard to pick a favorite so I will name a few. The sunset with the rolling clouds is beautiful , the crocodile laying wait with its jaws open, and the majestic kudu. Great week in pictures thank you for sharing.
Great collection, Patrick! I agree the contrast between shadows and highlights on the image black and white shot of the elephant was really stunning. It was also nice to see some of the less featured animals such as the warthog and crocodile. Beautiful birds and cats as usual. 😊
Thanks for sharing these great photos, Patrick!
I love them all, especially the one of the warthog. It’s so rare that they stay put for a portrait.
The picture with the cubs leg on the tree is so adorable.
Love the image of the lion cub with missing milk teeth.
Thanks Patrick for a wonderful assortment of pictures today. Nkuwa is also my favorite female leopard and your portrait shows off her beauty. Not far behind is Thumbela and Xinkhova, also stunning young leopards. It’s good to learn there have been three separate packs of wild dogs, possibly indicating their numbers are holding steady. Always love seeing a weaver bird at its nest and yours is great. Also, you’ve captured a terrific image of the crocodile lying in wait for its next meal.
Gorgeous photos this week and the leopards came out to regale us of their beauty! Nkuwa continues to be one of my favorites, as was her sister Finfoot, whom we saw in 2019.
Xinkhova Female pic is the best for Friday mood 🙂 She’s gorgeous! The elephant bull is as impressive as the shot too. Happy Friday!
Hi Patrick, I also love the Nkuwa female and she is my favorite for this week. She has grown up so quickly and there is just something about her that makes you look twice at her. All the images were beautiful and the image of the Ntsevu male and female lying in front of one another is a stunning foto. Beautiful kudu bull with those amazing horns.
Great TWIP Patrick. I always enjoy photos of weavers.
Hi Patrick, all pictures are equally beautiful, meaningful and unique. While leopards are always my favourite animals, in this series, in spite of the difficult if not impossible choice, I’d pick up the pin-tailed Whydah, as I barely heard of such creatures and the picture is exquisite and rare; the Eye of the Lion is an obliged choice; the elephant bull, as there were recent news of two big tuskers killed by trophy hunters; and the warthog, rarely photographed, it is a funny nice animal. The kudu bull is majestic, the lion cubs too sweet and funny, the weaver is an amazing little architect.
The cub leaning on the tree does it for me!