Another week has come and gone at Londolozi and it’s safe to say, that summer is in full swing. Although late, the rains have come and with it brings a vibrate landscape, where everything seems to be upbeat. Once the deluge passed, the photographic opportunities escalated massively making it an exciting week to capture the ongoings around Londolozi.
With Nkoveni Female moving further west, into The Ximungwe Females territory we have found her more frequently on territorial patrols making her presence known. The Three Rivers Female and her cub continue to entertain in the southeastern parts of Londolozi. They both have this exciting youthfulness about them that always captivates. The Ngungwe Female allowed us to spend the afternoon with her before she decided to take a break and rest in a beautiful marula tree.
The Ndzhenga Males continue to have a strong hold on the southeastern parts of Londolozi, protecting their cubs from any intruders. In the North, The Tsalala Female is still spending time with both the Plains Camp Males, lets hope we have some new cubs at some point this year. Also making a name for themselves is the Styx Young Male and the Ntsevu Breakaway Lioness who managed to kill a buffalo calf in the open areas of Londolozi.
With all the Impala Lambs around, the Ottowa Pack are loving life, often seen roaming through all the beautiful clearings in the north. We spent the whole afternoon watching them cause havoc with the impala herds, to no avail, unfortunately, for them. Elephants and rhinos are making the most of all the grazing around and loving the access to mud baths and freshwater around every corner. Crocodiles are also relishing the amount of water in the Sand River fishing at the Causeway most of the day and night.
Life at Londolozi is good at the moment.
Let us know your favourites in the comments below!
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
Territorial Leopards will salivate when they pick up on another leopard in their territory as demonstrated here in this photo of the Ximungwe Female.
Having been viewed by vehicles from an early age, this leopard is supremely relaxed around Land Rovers.
A massive elephant bull crosses the airstrip.
The larger Ndzhenga Male stared at us while he scent marks. Time stands still in moments like this.
A hyena enjoying a plunge in one of the many pans that are around at the moment after all the rain.
The Three Rivers Young Female looking up at the yellow-billed kites flying overhead. The greenery and dappled light we get this time of year allows for interesting photography opportunities.
Two young warthogs share a tender moment before sprinting back towards their mother.
Two Elephant Bulls feeling each other out before heading down the slope for a drink.
The young female takes a moment to figure out where her mother is before getting back to playing in the fallen marula.
After a lovely morning with these two females, they decided to rest in a tamboti thicket, crossing tails for a brief moment.
Forced into early independence at 11 months. Despite her small size, she's proven resilient, currently raising a cub in SE Londolozi.
The Tsalala Female intently staring at a heard of wildebeest on the crest behind us.
The Plains Camp Male also staring on as the Tsalala Female makes her move towards the herd.
With the amount of water in the Sand River at the moment, the crocodiles are taking full advantage by sitting at the causeway waiting for fish.
The Ottawa Pack on the hunt on the crest in front of Varty Camp.
The Wild Dogs decided to rest at a quarry after an unsuccessful afternoon hunt.
One of the pups quenching its thirst after a long afternoon hunt.
The Ximungwe Female quenches her thirst after a lengthy territorial patrol.
The Breakaway Ntsevu Lioness suffocating a buffalo calf.
Moments after killing the buffalo, the Styx Young male come in to make sure the calf was dead. His eyes are extremely intense in this photo.
A rhino bull enjoys a mud bath in the mid-afternoon heat.
The Ngungwe Female rests in a marula. Sightings of her have certainly got better over the past couple of months.
Born 2020 during lockdown to Piccadilly Female. Once skittish, now confident mother denning her first litter in Marthly's rocky terrain.
I enjoyed your post and images Patrick. Best wishes!
Superb, 10/10 for the warthog photo – I would be very pleased if that was mine. It highlights the benefits of getting as close to eye level as possible
Tails love knot is my favourite picture… how close these two absolutely special leopards are. The Three Rivers young female sweet attachment to her mum and viceversa is tangible in all pictures, I love them. The affectionate warthog piglets and the elephant touching each other also are very emotional pictures. All big cats are superb. The intense look of the Styx young male is impressive, hooking. Poor buffalo calf. Water reflection of the lovely Ximungwe female is a stunning picture. The rhino seems to enjoy greatly its mud bath! Beautiful life-thriving collection.
Patrick, great pictures this week. My favorite is the bull rhino taking a mud bath. He looks very serene and pleased with himself.
Seeing the warthogs and the elephants, I wonder why people feel the phrase “tete a tete” is some kind of human thing?
So great! All the tender moments so wonderful (piglets, ellies, leopard tails). But think the hyena in the water with the reflection in his eyes is so cool and my fave this week!
I love the symmetry of the warthogs, elephants and leopard tails–all interesting compositions. The hyena in the water was quite eerie, and the intense stares of the lions with the buffalo calf gave me pause. A great WIP for sure!
Hi Patrick, I love the photo of the Three Rivers female leopard and her female cub, especially where the two tails overlap each other. Very excited to see the Tsalala female and I hope she is pregnant. The Ngungwe female is a beautiful young leopard. I hope the Ximungwe female and the Three Rivers female do not fight over territory. We don’t want either leopard getting hurt.
Hi Patrick, I love all your photos! A really great selection again.
Very funny the two warthogs face to face and the same in the following photo of two elephants.
Great to see that the Tsalala lioness is fine.
Lovely mother and daughter Three rivers, tail to tail resting next to each other.
As usual, amazing pictures. My favorite is the rhino bull enjoying a mud bath. Thank you for sharing.
Great photos Pat! Favorites include the warthog piglets nose to nose as well as the bull elephants checking each other out. I always love seeing the Tsalala female and the angle of the Styx on the young buffalo, capturing his eye is stunning. The Three Rivers female cub is enchanting as well as Ngungwe. Probably my favorite is the entanglement of the tails of Three Rivers and her daughter – love detail shots.
Dear Patrick, what an amazing choice of pics, impressive eyes of the leopards, but the elephants and warhogs are great.