The past week has reminded us just how diverse winter at Londolozi can be. Very cool mornings, clear skies, and golden afternoon light created the perfect backdrop for some memorable sightings, from exciting predator encounters to quieter moments with some of the reserve’s smaller creatures and, of course, some birds!
Leopard sightings continued to steal the show, with excellent views of the Shingi Male and the Ximungwe Female. One of the biggest highlights was spending time with the Nkuwa Female again.
On the lion front, the N’waswitshaka Males have been seen moving confidently through the southern stretches of Londolozi and the Kambula Pride finally revealed the cute 8 cubs they have been raising in the Sand River. While the White Dazzle continued to marvel guests and provide some spectacular photographic opportunities. A young rhino calf offered a gentle reminder that there is always a new generation growing up in the bush and a Large herd of elephants features this week.
Away from the larger mammals, a rare view of a Serval and a Slender Mongoose provided a rewarding sighting, while vultures gathered overhead, playing their vital role in the ecosystem after chasing a Cheetah off its kill. Combined with beautiful winter landscapes throughout the reserve, it was another week that showcased the incredible variety that makes this place so special.
As always, let us know which images stood out to you in the comments below.
Enjoy This Week in Pictures…
Sunset and elephant reflections on the water!
The Ximungwe Female rests on the limb of a stunning jackalberry tree.
A golden sunrise over a misty Sand River
Two beautiful Lilac-breasted Rollers
This is a very young calf estimated to be two months old. Along with her mother, they have been roaming the open grasslands of Londolozi.
Not something you see often, a brief but special sighting of a Serval! I am so grateful that I managed to get a shot of it before it disappeared.
The older N’waswitshaka Male has a lovely black mane.
Some loving Zebras
A Fork-tailed Drongo floats around the head of an elephant bull grazing on an open crest. These opportunistic feeders snap up any insects disturbed in the grass by the elephant.
The Ximungwe Female peers through the canopy of a jackalberry tree into the warm afternoon sunlight.
An unforgettable scene at a waterhole when more than 50 elephants came down to drink at sunset.
A Female Saddle-billed Stork perches on top of a dead leadwood tree.
A curious slender mongoose sat up on its back legs to scan the area. I had never witnessed this behaviour before.
The famous white zebra, is still alive and doing well. Here she was seen in a large dazzle in the southern parts of Londolozi.
The Shingi Male Leopard marches along the roads in search of his next meal. We hope he can find a suitable territory on Londolozi away from his mother, the Nkoveni Female.
A Hamerkop skilfully hovers above the water, waiting to catch some frogs surfacing for air.
My favourite Leopard, the Nkuwa Female, rests with her growing male cub on a termite mound.
A White-backed Vulture drops down to the ground where a male cheetah was feeding on a Kudu carcass.
In the next moment, ten more vultures landed and chased the cheetah off its kill and quickly devoured the remains.
The first glimpse of the new generation of the Kambula Pride. These cute cubs are sired by the territorial Gijima coalition.
To close out this week, I have added a picture of the ever-present Stwise Koppie looking over the remarkable landscape of Londolozi.
I thought all the photographs are very good. This is one of my favourites though ‘A golden sunrise over a misty Sand River’. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Nick, for the great Week in Pictures!
I love the Serval photo especially. Lucky you, that you were able to take such a good shot of this rare animal. And the one of the Slender Mongoose standing up on its hind legs is also so great!
I love all your photos, though.
What about the Ximungwe Female’s cubs? When I was at Londolozi in April, they were always looking for them? Have they disappeared? Because I have never heard of them again.
Morning LGR. Thank you so much for putting up some very good and colourful photos of the fascinating wildlife you’ve seen throughout the last 7 days or so. It was so good to see the Ximungwe female leopard in a couple of them again after a long absence there. I wasn’t able to tell if she did or not, but do you know if she’s still got her 2 small cubs that she gave birth to back in early January at all? They should be about 6 months old now.
It will be nice to think that she’s still got one or both of them, but neither of them have been seen for quite a long while. If she does still have one or both of them, I don’t know where she’s keeping them. As they weren’t in the photos, I expect they were waiting somewhere for their mum to get back to them from what she was doing. She is such a very good mother, and I so do hope they’re alive and well.
All we will have to do now, is just wait to see if she brings her cubs out of their densite with her again very soon one day. When the cubs haven’t been seen for a long time, it’s often left me wondering to myself how and where they are, as well as what has become of them. It will be such a pity if she’s lost them, but at the same time, I’ll be amazed if she’s still got the cubs, but has kept them low well.
Even though she didn’t feature in this week’s TWIP, lome you, I still can’t wait for the day to arrive when the Nkoveni female either reveals the cubs or leads you to them at their densite. Knowing that this is and will be her last and final litter of cubs, I, like everyone else including you, want her to be as successful as possible with them, and I’d like to wish her the very best of hopeful luck with raising her new final litter of cubs there.
Those unseen tiny cubs might not know it, but they’ve got a mum in a million and that their mum is a well seasoned and veteran cub raiser, having birthed 6 litters of cubs in her long lifetime as an adult. I’m sure and hope that she will do well as a great and impressive expert. If the cubs are to survive, then their lives is in the paws and presence of their father, the massive and jumbo sized Maxim’s male patrolling his territory nonstop day in and day out to ensure that all other rival males and predators stay well away. But it also depends on their mother providing loads of kills of meat and possibly loads of gallons of milk for them. She’ll need to seize the opportunity whenever she can and gets the chance. I hope she will be very careful to leave them in a ideally safe place like up a tree, which would be the safest place for them to be whenever alone and vulnerable.
On the other hand, I hope you’ll soon be able to sex the 8 newest cubs of the large Kambula pride and do let us know what they are as soon as you know. They might well have a long way ahead of them, but I hope they all survive. Their lives are in the paws and jaws of their 2 protective and devoted mothers, and 2 powerfully formidable and mighty fathers if they’re to live to very hard independence and adulthood altogether ever so very successfully indeed. Those new 8 cubs must be about 2 months or so old.
Hope to hear from you shortly.
Robert 17.7.26
Great serval pic! Thanks Nick.
Hi Nick, I am breathless! How wonderful and meaningful your pictures are! I must say that the serval is special. Its position, taken by surprise, in perfect balance and wonderful coat that had nothing less than leopards is absolutely stunning. Then all… I can’t resist the lion cub, the Nkuwa female looks exquisite, the mongoose looks funny and entertaining, elephants are majestic as the male lion, what beautiful eyes he has… the rhino calf with its mum and the loving zebra…. the breathless landscapes… colorful birds….all is so vivid. Thank you Nick!
Thanks Nick for a fantastic TWIP. You’ve captured some amazing sunrises and sunsets, and I love the mongoose standing up like a meerkat (are they in the same family?)
Lovely to see the Nkuwa female – how old is her cub now? It also made me think, I haven’t seen anything on the blog about her mother Nhlanguleni?
Hi Nick, my pic would be the servsl. Such an interesting animal & pose, staring at the camera.
Nick, Thanks for another set of fabulous images! We added the one of the Rhino calf to our “favorites” collection. Very cool to see the Mongoose standing and the albino Zebra that is still around! Wishing we were there with our group right now!
All Great photos Nick!! I love the opening sunset w the Elephant.. so beautiful and so Londolozi. 😎
Thank you for the white zebra. Wonderful to get an update and see it is still thriving.
Another amazing TWIP!
All great of course, but OMG! the two lilac breasted rollers! Just had me shrieking with unbelieving joy!
What a fantastic TWIP Nick – so many outstanding ph0tos. Absolute favorites are the sunrise/sunset images, especially taken in the Sand River. Additionally, great captures of the very elusive Serval and the Slender Mongoose posing as a Meerkat. Beautiful b/w portrait of the N’waswitshaka male as well as a lovely image of Nkuwa.
BTW, any news on whether Ximungwe’s second cub has survived? Whilst I was there in April we saw her two cubs one afternoon and then the next morning learned one of them had been killed by a Gijima male….I’m guessing that since she has not been seen with a cub since then, it did not survive but I never assume.
Dear Nick, thanks for that rare serval shot. Love the big ears.
Hi Nick, all your images this week are beautiful. My favorite would be the Shingy male. Also the Ximungwe females two images are stunning. Does she still have cubs, have not heard much about them. Kambula cub is gorgeous. Serval is also a stunning image.
All the ellies at the waterhole is absolutely stunning! So happy to see the white zebra getting bigger!
Lovely shot of Nkuwa, my favorite this week. Her pink nose is so distinctive!
All spectacular photos Nick – loved the light on the Nkuwa Female, the rosy sunset with Ele reflection and the black and white photo ably capturing the powerful expression of the N’waswitshaka Male. Thank you for sharing.
I love the Sand River sunrise. It’s amazing how cheetahs manage to survive at all with what seems to be the majority of their hard earned kills getting stolen by others. They’re my favourite cat and I really feel for them. That Servil pic was also incredible. What a shot in such a short space of time to take it before it fled. I bet you felt right please with yourself when you saw it was in focus. That b&w of the lion doesn’t show up it’s black mane very well. Perhaps, if you took it in colour you could feature it again because it looks like it could be a stunning colour photo too. The problem with Londolozi’s photos is that they’re all so darn good, it’s really difficult to choose a favourite. They’re all faves for different reasons. Thank you