A White-bellied Sunbird explores the stems of flowering aloes in the Londolozi camps. Each winter, these flowers and birds bring new life to the camp pathways and are a real joy to photograph.

This young elephant calf runs to keep up with its mother as they move through the long grass in the afternoon light.

Something seemed to startle the giraffe as they came down to the river to drink.

The Ngungwe Female, historically one of our more shy leopards, has started to allow us into her world more recently. After a great track and find from Londolozi’s newest tracker, Evens Mkhansi, we enjoyed a phenomenal afternoon with her and her 8-month-old cub. This image is something slightly different, but I feel like it captures her character fairly well.

A honey badger forages in a dry riverbed. One of the few times I have been lucky enough to capture one of these elusive animals before it runs off.

We have a beautiful wooden platform in the branches of a jackalberry tree that looks over the southern channel of the Sand River. It was the perfect spot to watch this herd of elephants approach for their evening drink.

A lucky find in the deep southern reaches of the reserve one morning, this male cheetah provided us with a great sighting as he patrolled through the long grass, using each fallen tree as a lookout point. He’s sporting quite a nasty wound on his upper left leg, possibly sustained in a high-speed chase. While the cut is deep, I’m sure it will heal quickly.

This young cub from the newest litters of the Kambula Pride stretches in the afternoon light, next to its mother, before finding a new spot to sleep.

Two of the cubs are playing as their mother looks on. Very full-bellied, this pride was lying in the same place we left them the afternoon before.

An elephant bull wanders into a shallow wallow, drawn in by not only the water but the lush green grass growing in the mud – some of the only green vegetation around at this late stage of the dry season.

The Noveni Young Male yawning.

The six young cubs of the Kambula Pride have been stealing our hearts for a few months now. Healthy, cute and very playful, it’s easy to spend a while sitting with them while the mothers sleep nearby.

One of the Ntsevu Subadults fixates on a distance impala while the rest of the pride sleep behind him in a clearing.

One of the other subadults joined its sibling, so we looped around to watch them as the sun set.

The Maxims Male, arguably one of the largest and most dominant male leopards in the region, perches on a boulder in the Sand River. Given the tricky terrain of the riverbed, we weren’t able to get any closer, but fortunately, I happened to have a 500mm lens on the camera.

A young Black-backed Jackal curiously came foraging where we were having coffee.

Those who follow the moon phases will know this wasn’t taken in the last week but rather last month! Nevertheless, we stopped to view this small herd of giraffes crossing the airstrip after sunset when I noticed they were going to walk right in front of the new moon. Unfortunately, I only had a 200-400mm lens with me, which limited the framing to be quite tight. Don’t ask me why I chopped the top of the giraffe off, though… we all make mistakes, but I quite like the end result anyway.

An African Spoonbill attempts to land on the same branch as another one before being chased off but the one that was already there.

A hornbill and two squirrels share a tree at sunset. Winter skies offer us some of the best light of the year right up until after the sun has actually set, holding that orange glow on the horizon.

The Ximungwe Female and her cub are both doing well. This was soon after they reunited, and the young cub would run up to its mother to greet her.

A Saddle-billed Stork stands tall in a shallow watering hole, patiently waiting for prey to approach. The golden morning light and glassy water made for a great reflection.

Two elephant bulls drink at a waterhole one afternoon. The younger bull moved away as the older, bigger one approached.

The Nkoveni Female’s paw hangs from the branches of the African Wattle on which she was resting. Not a great deal was happening in this sighting, which led me to contemplate how many hours trackers had spent following the prints of this exact paw. Now 13 years old, born and raised on Londolozi, the Nkoveni Female has consistently been one of the best viewed leopards, largely thanks to the evidence left behind by these paws.