And just like that, another special year has come and gone. At the end of each year, my only regret is how quickly the time seems to fly by out here. Living life in the slow-lane alongside Mother Nature can be deceiving!
It’s been a wonderful week in the Londolozi wilderness, with the first decent rains of the season making an appearance. The reserve is teeming with all sorts of life, and the rich hum of birdsong fills the air in the early mornings no matter where you are.
On the leopard front, the Nkoveni Female and the Three Rivers female feature most, with many great sightings of both these female leopards and their cubs. Both of the cubs are doing incredibly well and we hope that they continue to thrive.
On the odd occasion I will dabble with Black and White photos, and I have included a few images that lent themselves nicely to that particular style.
We are still very fortunate to be able to be viewing the Makhatini Female Cheetah and her three cubs, with a few magical sightings this week. The four of them have been covering a lot of ground recently. Therefore we are not seeing them as much as we used to when the cubs were still very small, but it is crucial for their mother to expand their horizons and let them learn the lay of the enormous grasslands of the Sabi Sand Wildtuin.
As always, there has also been a bit of variety in between the sightings of the big predators.
Below are a few snippets from another magical week in the bush. Let me know which ones you like most!
Enjoy this week in pictures…
Still very much new to the world and its surroundings, a young zebra foal stays close to its mother while keeping an inquisitive eye on us.
The elegant Xinkhova Female leopard, doing what she does best – posing up in the boughs of a large Marula tree. She climbed up to gain a height advantage in order to get a better view of the herds of impala in the valley below.
Whilst we were in the middle of a herd of over 700 buffalo, our attention was focused on this very relaxed young male Ostrich who walked almost right up to our vehicle and then began preening his feathers.
The Makhatini Female Cheetah and one of her male cubs rest together after a short bout of play.
The Nkoveni Female leopard walks across a section of dry, sunbaked clay towards the outskirts of a large waterhole.
These three warthog piglets, roughly only 6 weeks old, enjoying all the fresh shoots and greenery emerging from the ground after the first decent summer rains.
A classic scene from one of the open crests within the south eastern parts of the reserve. A territorial Wildebeest bull stands proudly over his territory with the Sun beginning to set over the Drakensberg mountain range on the horizon.
After spotting some vultures descending from a distance, we headed straight to the area to discover a buffalo bull who had passed away during the night. Here one of over 100 white-backed vultures pauses for a brief moment during all the commotion.
The Three Rivers Female leopard rests on a fallen Knob-thorn tree. She listens to the sound of a few wildebeest who were alarm-calling in the distance.
We have been very fortunate over the past few months with some regular sightings of this male cheetah who has been traversing a huge portion of the grasslands in the south western reaches of the reserve. We have seen him actively scent marking and showing strong signs of being territorial.
The Three Rivers Young Female climbs down from a dead Knob-thorn tree. She had initially ascended the tree to evade two marauding hyenas, who she currently has her eyes on here, as they wander off into the thickets.
The young female cub of the Makhatini Female jumped up onto a boulder during a long morning of scampering around and playing with her two brothers.
This was an incredible sighting as we witnessed the Three Rivers Female successfully stalk and catch an impala. All of the commotion caught the attention of a couple hyenas, who came charging in at high speed to see if they could steal her meal. The Three Rivers Female wasted no time and hauled her quarry up to the safety of the nearest tree within seconds.
A herd of Zebra came down to drink at Weaver’s Nest Pan during our morning coffee break. With the daytime temperatures starting to rise a lot, many animals will flock down to the waterholes before the heat sets in.
The Nkoveni Female rests on the branch of a large Marula tree. Although she will be 13 years old this year, she is a beautiful leopard who has always looked younger than her age.
The Nkoveni Young Male thinks about attempting to stalk something that was rustling around in the plants along the water’s edge of a large waterhole.
We enjoyed a special scene as the larger of the two Ndzenga males walked right toward our vehicle and then past us as he continued his early morning territorial patrol.
Not having grown up with a sibling to play with, the Three Rivers Young Female spends a lot of her time playing with her mother when the two of them are together. The Three Rivers Female has learned to be very patient and is an incredibly good mother.
A Marabou Stork, not known for their beauty, was very pleased to have his picture taken as he posed a top a dead Knob-thorn tree in the morning light.
The Three Rivers female descends a Weeping Boerbean tree after hoisting an impala lamb carcass into it. After a successful hunt like this one, she will go and fetch her cub and take her to the kill.
A Kambula lioness and one of the young females quench their thirst at one of the large waterholes close to our camps.
The Xinzele Female leopard has a late morning drink at Ximpalapala pan after finishing an impala kill. We followed her for a short while before she disappeared high up into the shaded boulders on the southern side of Ximpalapala Koppie.
An talented portfolio Matt! While I’m not usually a fan of black and white photos for animals I agree that the ones you chose are quite appropriate. Let’s hope 2025 allows you to continue to capture more incredible sitings for us! Happy New Year.
A gorgeous set of photos Matt, thank you. How spoilt you are, as you say, to be able to experience this magnificence on a daily basis. As always, I find it impossible to choose a favourite, they are all incredibly special. That fluffy wide-eyed Zebra , is just so cute and I love the etched details of your black and white photos.
Such wonderful photos, Matt! I really envy you that you can watch all these amazing animals all year round.
And it is so great to see them at least on photos when one cannot be there.
I like all your photos. Very special the vulture and the ostrich so close to the car.
And of course, I love seeing all my favorite leopards. Thanks
Hi Matt, happy new year! It’s always so difficult to make a choice… better to say that all are so well done and chosen. If I think of them without watching, the little cheetah female cub stands out for the perfection of the image and her look that’s fantastic. Also her mum with her sibling, the zebra foal with mum, the Ndzenga male in Black and white… all the pictures with water reflex are great too. I was struck by the Wildebeest bull standing, all leopards are superb as usual, the male cheetah, the little Three Rivers female manages to keep that sweet expression in every situation… the young male ostrich is another peculiar image!
Well done, Becks! And Happy New Year
Matt, I chuckled at your clever, tongue in cheek caption under the marabou stork. But my favorite photo is the white-backed vulture in its raw state. Close second is Makhatini snuggling with her cub
🎉What a great way to start the New Year🎉
Leopards are always my favorite, but who can resist a Baby Zebra… so precious!
Wow, Matt! I can’t choose a single favorite-can I name eight?! A wonderful collection of Londolozi residents!!
Hi Matt, my favorite would be the Xinkhova female lying in the tree. She is such a beauty. I also loved the photos of the Three Rivers female playing with her cub. The Nkoveni young male cub is such stunning young male. All your photos are beautiful Matt.
I have 2 favourites this week, the gorgeous shot of Makhatini resting her head on a cub, and Three Rivers playing with her cub. Didn’t she do well to hoist that impala so quickly, well done to her!
Say hi to Terrence and happy New Year to you both.
Matt thanks for the wonderful photos this week. My favorite is the mother cheetah and her cub resting on one another.
Thank you!
Lovely photos Matt, when I stopped at Londolozi the idea of cheetahs and ostrich would have been fanciful. Who knows maybe a serval or caracal next?
PS We haven;t had any trail cams for a while ….
You’ve assembled a wonderful collection of your photos for this week Matt. Converting color photos to b/w can be tricky but you did a great job. I especially like your little female cheetah cub and Nkoveni stretched out on the Marula branch. Other favorites include Three Rivers and her daughter playing – terrific action shot – in addition to the lineup of zebras drinking and the female cub of Three Rivers clinging to the tree trunk, exposing her large paws. Wishing you many more great photography memories and adventures during 2025!
Dear Matt, what a great sample of Leopards on a tree. Like it.