As we approach the festive season, we’d like to wish all our readers a magical time ahead, with special warmth extended to those celebrating Christmas. May your holidays be filled with the same wonder and joy that we experience daily in the African wilderness.
This week at Londolozi has been marked by fascinating predator interactions and memorable moments across our diverse landscape. The Tsalala Female has been commanding attention, spotted in the company of one of the Plains Camp Males along the scenic Ximpalapala crest as they observed a distant wildebeest herd. Meanwhile, the young and ambitious Styx Male has been making his presence felt, though his tenure may be limited in these territories. He’s been frequently seen with the Ntsevu Breakaway Female, the pair recently successfully brought down a buffalo cow and its calf.
Our leopard sightings have been equally captivating, with the Nkoveni Female and her young male demonstrating their arboreal mastery in the jackalberry trees. While the Nhlanguleni Female continues her recovery from a recent leg injury, her resilient spirit and regal presence remain undimmed. In a particularly special moment, we were treated to a rare sight of three legendary leopards together – the Ndzanzeni Female, the Mashaba Female, and the Nweti Male.
Beyond the big cats, the wilderness has offered up countless other treasures. From a Yellow-billed Oxpecker tending to a solitary old buffalo bull, to the Pearl-spotted Owlet actively hunting in broad daylight, and peaceful scenes of elephants crossing the Sand River. With summer in full swing, we’ve witnessed dramatic storm clouds rolling across our skies at sunset, creating perfect backdrops for photography at iconic locations like Plaque Rock.
Let me know your favourites in the comments section below.
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
While crossing the Sand River late in the morning, a large giraffe had come down to quench it’s thirst.
While in the company of two legendary female leopards, the Ndzanzeni Female and Mashaba Female, the Nweti Male takes a moment to groom himself.
He is a large, tall, and long male that has an incredible coat and a tuft of hair on his neck
The Tsalala Female and the Larger of the two Plains Camp Males have been hanging around together for quite some time since she returned to Londolozi. Here they spot a herd of wildebeest in the distance while upon the scenic Ximpalapala crest.
Both the Nkoveni Young Male and his mother were comatose on the boughs of a large jackalberry tree, presenting a few different photographic opportunities highlighting just how comfortable and at home they are in trees.
The Nkoveni Female makes sleeping on a tree branch look easy and awfully comfortable, however, I can’t imagine I would be able to do the same.
Londolozi's most viewed leopard and prolific mother. This gorgeous female has raised multiple cubs to independence.
Dan and his guests enjoy a fantastic sighting of a herd of elephants crossing through the Sand River.
I found this image rather captivating as the Ntsevu Breakaway Female curled her lip up with a snout covered in blood.
Engaged in a gentle bout of necking these two male giraffe were probably just practicing their skills at fighting. The one behind facing to the right was slightly smaller and so it would be unlikely that the fight would escalate into anything serious.
The Nkoveni Young Male glances up in frustration as a squirrel alarm calls at him from the tree above.
Voracious little predators, Pearl-spotted Owlets will target anything they can overpower. Probably one of the more active owls during the day, this particular owlet was on the hunt which we could tell by the excitable twitching of the tail as it perched on this branch looking around for food.
The Nhlanguleni Female has been a fairly difficult leopard to find of late. She sustained an injury to one of her back legs a couple months ago and since then she has found life rather challenging. However, the injury appears to be recovering and so hopefully we see her thriving once again.
Initially skittish female who transformed into a regular presence. Made history by raising first intact litter since her own generation.
She does, however, have Ssuch a regal and attention grabbing presence.
Fish Eagles are pretty much always associated with water, understandably with the majority of their diet consisting of fish. However, they only spend about 1% of their time actually fishing. So this one had most likely come down for a drink.
After a thrilling morning with the Ngungwe Female (stay tuned for more on this next weekend), she settles down on a boulder close to Marthly Pools.
Young inquisitive beautiful female, bordering on independence as of November 2021
The Kambula Pride find solace in the shade of a dense combretum thicket and settle down for the day.
Finfoot Crossing, definitely feels like the place to be in the middle of the day. A small group of waterbuck feed on the lush vegetation growing on the bank in the middle of the river.
The first sighting I had of the Ximungwe Female’s adorable little cub.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
The perfect sunset spot, Plaque Rock. While here one evening moody clouds rolling in on the horizon, we were hoping that they might bring us some rain.
Peering over Ranger Shaun D’Araujo’s shoulder at a cheetah resting on a mound.
Just by chance, while I had stopped to have a look at the baby wildebeest, I glanced down at the ground and there out in the open was this nightjar. Often quite difficult to identify by just looking at them (we tend to rely on their calls at night for accurate identification) this one looks to be a Square-tailed Nightjar. Correct me if I am wrong, please?
Licking her lips, with the Nweti Male just beyond the Ndzanzeni Female, she is still looking incredible.
Royal descendant of Mother Leopard lineage. Remarkable single cub success story who overcame injury to continue the royal bloodline.
My first impression when looking at this newborn wildebeest calf was that something was wrong with its eyes, only upon reviewing the image on the larger screen did I realise it was just the little guy’s extensive eyebrows.
Stumbling across this old buffalo bull, we were happy to find this Yellow-billed Oxpecker hopping around on his back. Yellow-billed Oxpeckers are less common than their Red-billed cousins and are normally found on buffalo in larger herds. So this was great.
A handsome male lion. The Styx Male has been throwing his weight around for a young gun. Although it is unlikely that he will be tolerated around here for much longer, he is an incredible lion to look at, and photograph.
A wild dog moves across to a better, shadier spot to rest with Reece and his guests watching from a distance.
Sitting tall and resting in the shade on a warm morning, the Tsalala Female truly is a stunning lioness.
With a storm rolling around at sunset, we chose to stop and watch it’s development and eventually dissipation. It was quite a sight watching the clouds build and then the rainfall in the distance and the clouds just disappear.
Moving through the territory of the Ndzhenga Males and the Kambula Pride, this Ntsevu Breakaway Female was treading on treacherous ground.
A herd of buffalo take their time to cool off and have a drink late one afternoon.
The Styx male is often found in the company of the Ntsevu Breakaway Female, the two of them had brought down a buffalo cow and its tiny newborn calf on this particular morning and were resting after a period of feeding.
Is that a growth or an injury on the wild dog?
No I think it is just his genitalia. Looking at other photos from this sighting there was nothing obvious there in terms of an injury or growth.