There is something about winter at Londolozi that encourages you to look a little longer, practice a little more patience… Perhaps it is the soft morning mist over the river, the warmth of the afternoon sun, or the dramatic skies that seem to stretch endlessly across the reserve.
This week’s selection embraces that feeling, capturing both the grandeur and the finer details of life in the bush. Familiar faces, including the ever-charismatic Nkoveni Female, feature alongside lions, wild dogs, elephants and giraffe, while smaller discoveries remind us that remarkable sightings are not always measured by size. From first light to the last colours of sunset, these images are a celebration of a season that rewards patience, observation and simply being present.
Enjoy This Week In Pictures…
A journey of giraffe crossing the clearings at the end of the airstrip at dusk. Magic.
One of my favourite views from the northern parts of the reserve. Land dedicated to wildlife for as far as the eye can see with morning rays breaking through the textured clouds.
The Nkoveni Female continuing to remind us why she continues to claim herself as one of the most popular leopards at the moment, by reasserting her scent and dominance in the area.
Londolozi's most viewed leopard and prolific mother. This gorgeous female has raised multiple cubs to independence.
A smaller find. When we usually see tree squirrels scurrying across the road ahead, these two didn’t run off and sat in a leadwood watching us curiously.
An afternoon with wild dogs. I loved this moment, when a number of them sat down on the edge of the road, and their shadows cast over the road in afternoon golden light.
The Msuthlu Subadult lions watch as their mothers head off across the clearing after hearing a grazing warthog in the thickets. They watch from the vantage point of the termite mound with impatience, synchronicity and on high alert.
A black-headed oriole – a bird you often hear and seldom see perched on a dead tree.
I recently wrote a blog about witnessing the tiniest hippo calf I had seen to date. We were at the same water hole not so long ago and I cannot know for sure, but when this little calf popped its head up, I was sure it was the same one!
Winter sunrises on the river create dramatic scenes with mist rising from the Causeway river crossing.
A buffalo cow in the distance framed behind the rest of the herd.
Lions killed a buffalo cow. White-backed Vultures waited patiently for their turn to capitalize on a feast of a meal. Nature’s cycle of life in practice.
Baby elephant catching up to its mother and the rest of the herd after sunset.
First light on a perfect winter’s day.
The Ntsevu Young Male lion lays atop a termite mound with confidence and prowess. It won’t be long before his mother’s kick him out into the next chapter of his life.
An elephant herd approach our vehicle on the Causeway, giving a dramatic low angle of their approach on the raised sandy bank.
A late find in the season. While we usually do not spot many flap-necked chameleon’s during the winter months, Equalizer pulled off an incredible spot of this particular individual hiding deep in a branches of a buffalo-thorn tree.
A Tower Trio.
A high key edit of three male giraffes.
The Ntsevu Pride stalk a herd of zebra up ahead crossing the road. We watched them patiently freeze on the road and take small, quiet movements forward only when the zebra drops his guard.
An afternoon of remarkable sunset skies.
Glassy water surrounding a just submerged head of a crocodile.
A Ntsevu adult lioness drinks from a mud wallow.
The Nkoveni Female leopard showing off her finesse and dominance in the central parts of Londolozi.
Hi Kate, what a wonder you had in your pocket for us! All super, the sunrise at the Causeway left me speechless, all calves and the always regal Nkoveni Female…. but my personal choice is the oriole, I once heard it singing, I followed the sound in a long-distance terrace and saw it…. a male oriole, yellow and black…. it’s voice it one of the most divine, melodic sound you can hear… after a time it seemed eternal he flew away. It’s something that stay deep within….
I’m not fond of sighting crocodiles but that shot of one in the water is magnificent. Have you named the baby hippo? How I miss everyone and everything at Londolozi. Be well and car for my heart that lives with you all the time.
Thanks Kate, I thought the 2 giraffe pics’ were brilliant.
Thanks for this wonderful collection of photos, Kate. I love all of them.
Hi LGR. Thank you so very much for putting up some very interesting and colourful photos indeed. It wasn’t quite as much of a lion and leopard filled week like it will be normally, but it was still interesting to see the photos, too.
Although the Nkoveni female will be turning 14 years old next month, I find it a bit hard to believe that she, quite unusually, was the only leopard seen during the course of the last 7 days this week. It’s normally a lot more productive and busier than that over there. It will, nonetheless, be very exciting to know and find out where her densite is and whereabouts she’s hiding her brand new cubs somewhere as well. After only raising just a couple of very well and successfully raised cubs all the way to independence there, I hope she can and will add her new cubs to the list. The number of cubs her mother, the old Mashaba female, is a lot more than what the Nkoveni female has produced, but the number of cubs the Nkoveni female has raised is almost pretty much double that of what her mother raised.
At the moment, what we know is she has got two litter mate independent daughters and just only one independent male offspring fending for themselves in the bush so far, so it’ll be nice if she’s got at another male cub or two in her brand new unseen litter. But as she was seen to be ever so very heavily pregnant a couple of weeks ago, it’ll be interesting to see if she’s got another set of triplets in her new litter to increase the leopard population, even if we don’t know yet.
With just three independent offspring compromising of two daughters and one son all just doing their own things themselves in the bush, it will be nice if she has got another set of triplets again, but hopefully with at least another male cub or two in it this time. It’ll be good if she can get at least another boy or two to hard independence to get the leopard population slightly bigger and increased a fraction more. She’s a very good mum, so I hope she’s just as successful there.
I hope the number of cubs she’ll have in the bush fending for themselves will be well in excess and more than double of what her aging mum got and raised. I’m just still feeling very excited, as I can’t wait to see the very first photos of her new and last ever litter of cubs there. I bet you can’t either. In fact, I reckon all of her fans can’t wait to see them as soon as they’re old enough very soon one day.
Do you think it’s possible that the old Mashaba female leopard is still alive and well there to this very day? I know she will be a good 18 years old in September, but she does delight everyone who knows her so well whenever she turns or shows up on her own accord. It has been such a long time now since she was last seen there, but I know it has got to be at least or just over a year now, as no more blogs on her have been put up. I’m in no doubt that she’s the oldest leopard in the whole of the Sabi Sands area. I also think she ought to be admired for how well she has done to get to that age. Although I don’t know how and where she is right now, but I’d be interested to hear from you on what your opinion and thoughts are on her still been alive today. She is one very special leopard, who holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of people who have known her from scratch at her birth in September 2008. I expect she could turn up at any time, but her welfare is totally unknown to me. Is there going to be a blog put up on her again very soon at all?
As for the Tsalala lioness, who very sadly seems to have lost her 4 little cubs, who from what the Internet told me, were 3 boys and 1 girl, to the Plains Camp boys a couple of weeks ago, well I hope she’ll very soon be back on your land looking for the Gajima males who sired her very recently lost litter or any other male lions that she comes across and finds in her wondering about looking and searching for any mates that will be ideal and suitable for her liking. I don’t know what you think, but even though the Gajima males and the Plains Camp males aren’t related to each other, but if she mated with all 4 of those males, then would it stop and prevent her next litter of cubs from been killed by the males who didn’t sire them by any chance? I’d so like to see her rebuild her own birth pride with her at it’s head, but as she’s now lost a total of 10 cubs in just 3 different litters so far and all to other lions, it has also left me wondering to myself if and when she will ever raise a litter or more very successfully there at all. The same goes for the Nkuhuma breakaway lioness as well, even though she hasn’t fallen heavily pregnant with her own very first litter of cubs yet either at all.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 3.7.26
Hi Kate, loved all your images this week. My favorite for this week would be the Nkoveni female marking her territory. She is a formidable hunter and mother. Loved the buffalo framed by the other two buffalo’s.
I love your photos Kate! Amazing shots. 🙂
The Ellies always seem to steal the show…especially the babies 🙂
Hard to pick a favorite Kate. Those were all stunning, well crafted shots. Thank you!
Fantastic TWIP Kate! I can’t choose a favorite but found your sunrise and sunset photos stunning.
Wow, Kate! You sure have the eye! The world of economic consulting does not need you. Londolozi does. The journey of giraffe that you describe as “magic” is EXACTLY that! Rhe colorations of the sky are subtle and beyond belief. The B&W that immediately follows with its textured clouds is likewise magical. I love the squirrels in the leadwood. Are you sure the hippo calf is not a sock puppet? So cute! Yes, the winter sunrise over the river is ethereal. They are ALL winners, but I’ll close with the perfectly framed just submerged crocodile!
Dear Kate, what a colourful TWIP. Love the hippocalf and the squirrls.
Stunning photos – quite breathtaking – capturing the moment and atmosphere beautifully