This week, leopards and elephants have stolen the limelight, with numerous different individuals being seen over the course of the week.
Lions however have been slightly more scarce and actually do not feature at all this week. The Ntsevu Sub-adults have been seen along with the healthier Birmingham Male, as well as the Plains Camp Males have made a few appearances, however, none of these sightings provided anything photographic and of the quality to make it into TWIP this week.
The cool winter mornings provide few amazing opportunities down at the causeway while a number of hippos wallow in the Sand River. Birds feature again however not as abundantly as last week.
Enjoy this Week in Pictures…
A playful young elephant trots through the dry river sand of the Manyeleti River.
Finding himself in a precarious position, not knowing which of his four limbs to move to try steady himself as they spread further and further apart under the Nweti Male’s weight.
The late afternoon golden light shining underneath an unusual dense layer of cloud cover, giving the scene a dramatic yet vibrant appeal.
Walking down the sandy banks of the Sand River this female elephant slipped and basically rode down on its rear end.
The Ximungwe Young Male draped over a branch of a large marula tree. He has spent a bit of time away from Londolozi, but as of last week he has been seen a number of times.
A cool, winter’s morning is realised when the breath of a hippo creates such extensive clouds of steam.
The Hosana Male on a territorial patrol as the evening light breaks through the trees.
This female was born in the Sabi Sabi camps and became territorial in central Shaws, after inheriting a piece of her mother's territory.
Two Collared Sunbirds making the most of the last few flowering aloes.
A pod of hippos readying themselves to leave the sanctuary of the Sand River ahead of an evening out and about feeding.
This was my second attempt at a monochrome, low-key edit on an image of a leopard – my first being featured in a TWIP a few weeks ago. Here, the Xinzele female was positioned under a tree in which she had a hoisted kill. As is often the case, she eyed the dangling impala carcass out before effortlessly ascending the tree.
A Juvenile African Hawk-Eagle soars overhead in search of its next meal.
One of the Nkoveni Female’s cubs rests atop a mound patiently waiting for the mother to return hopefully with some good news of a fresh kill to take them across to.
An Ostrich in breeding plumage, evident in its pink shins, struts past our vehicle in the open grasslands of the reserve. Donning this he is in search of any receptive females in the hopes of mating with them.
Peaking out of the den, the wild dog pups are clearly now miniature versions of the adults, just a lot cuter.
Crossing the Sand River as the sun rises is undeniably a favourite amongst the rangers, especially in the wintertime as the colours are just that much more dramatic, I am sure you can understand why.
Jammed pack of TWIP and how stunning they all are. Loved all the leopard foto’s especially the Nkoveni’s cub, so gorgeous. The male leopard in the tree looks as if he doing the splits. Hippos are still enjoying their water. Xinzele female monochrome foto absolutely stunning. The foto of the hippo breathing on the cool morning is just magical. Loved the foto of the elephant coming to drink and then sliding down on her behind, looks as if she is sitting. Little elephant so cute and just wants to play.
Thank you, Valmai. They are all great images this week.
Another portfolio of absolutely beautiful photos. That sunrise! TWIP is the best! Hosana male on territorial patrol? I last heard of him when he was a transient young male. What territory has he managed to claim?
Thank you, Darryl. TWIP is an amazing opportunity to share some of the most amazing sightings had on Londolozi, I am glad you enjoy them. Yes, the Hosana Male is now one of the dominant males in Singita’s northern regions, crossing onto Londolozi every now and then.
Wow! This week the main theme could be “posing”… what a top model the cub is! Love the effect of the hippo and the clouds of steam!
I guess we could have had that as our theme. I didn’t even think about that until you have mentioned it now.
Wow, the shot of the Nkoveni females little cub is absolutely stunning. Leopard cubs are so incredibly cute. Interesting reading and lovely pics. Thank you.
Thank you, Annie. Leopard cubs are amazing to see and they always seem so inquisitive.
Great job with the latest TWIP. Loved the Juvenile African Hawk-Eagle .
Wild dog pups have certainly matured in the past 2 weeks.
(Could not believe how cold it was in the morning, particularly the day that started -2.8 C [27 F] ).
Thank you, Vin. The pups are growing rapidly and before we know it they will be moving around with the adults. Some of the winter mornings have been so chilly.
best regards to James Souchon !
I will pass this on to James for sure.
Sean, we love the creativity in this weeks awesome images! The creative touches with the backgrounds really make the images more dramatic and then we will experiment with that in LightRoom with some of our past images. We love the close-up image of Nkoveni’s cub!
Thank you so much, Michael and Terri. It is great that the rangers are being creative and trying a few things that are actually working out well so we can share them with everyone.
Dramatic photo of the African hawk-eagle! Thanks.
Thanks Doug
Wow, fantastic assortment of pics again this week – I particularly love the underview of the African Hawk eagle, but impossible to pick a favourite. Good to see Hosana again; I saw him 2 years ago but have heard very little of him since. How old are Nkoveni’s cubs now? – it would be wonderful to get a general cub update.
Hi Suzanne, thank you. We have not really seen the Hosana Male on Londolozi too much of late so it was great that James was able to get a few photos of him. I believe the Nkoveni Female’s cubs are about ten months old.
I will try organise an update on all the cubs around and what ages they are to put out soon.
Great blog Sean! Where about on Londolozi was Hosana sighted? He was seen today (July 30) mating with the Nkuwa Female on Singita so would be interested for where on Londolozi he was seen this week?
Thank you, Michael. He was seen very near to the boundary with Singita. He no longer ventures too far into Londolozi. That is great news that he is mating with the Nkuwa Female.
i hope the leopard was able to extricate himself from that very precarious position! Love the hippo smoking! you gave us a great variety of what is going on in winter! Thank you! Victoria
Yes, the leopard did manage to get himself out of that precarious situation without too much hassle.
Lovely, great and wonderful photos this week. I love all of them; my favorites are the birds and the elephant sliding down the riverbank and, of course , the cute leopard cub and the wild dog pup. And the rising sun is so beautiful!
Thank you, Christa. Those are some good choices. The photos this week were great.
Bravo everyone for the contributions this week. Sean, I think you and Chris stole my heart with your leopard photos! Sweltering in the summer heat here, how I long for your cool mornings and evenings.
Thank you so much, Denise. Some mornings we wish for the warmer weather.
What for a wonderful special shot of the Nweti male-wondering how that was ending.
Hi Jutta, it was an entertaining sighting and he managed to get himself out of it with relative ease.
All are beautiful. The hippo breath, monochrome leopard, and African hawk-eagle are real standouts for me.
Thank you so much, Marcia. Tose are some good choices.
Any word or sightings of the Flat Rock male leopard?
Hi Chris, Yes he was seen a few days ago. He has been fairly scarce of late but was perfectly healthy when he was seen.
Great shot of the Nweti male’s acrobatics! And it seems that there are more than a couple of males around these days- Senegal, Nweti, Ximungwe, Flat Rock, Hosana and others I’m sure. Are they all territorial on Londolozi?
Thanks for the great pictures this week. Especially great to see our boy Hosana doing well and on patrol
I was laughing when I saw Nweti in that position, wonderful pics and stories.
The leopards are stunning, my fav being the female cub with her beautiful eyes. Still it’s really hard to pick a winner as the hippo with the early moist breath, the Eli’s and the birds are equally superb. Thanks Sean and all who contributed 🙏❤️
Souch: you made my day with the Hosana sighting? I thought he was now firmly ensconced in Singita. Has he been spending a lot of time on Londolozi?
Awesome photo of the Nkoveni cub Sean.
Wow, absolutely awesome pics this week, I’m struggling to find my favourite!! Loved the hippo with the vapor coming out his nose, loved the hawk (what an amazing shot!), and the sunbirds against the beautiful yellow aloes. I think my fav might be the black and white elephant pic – with the little baby – just so magical! Absolutely love the sunrise too! Thank you for sharing with us.
Loved this week photos especially James’ B&W shot of the baby elephant, just gorgeous.
Thanks Sean! Super images this week.
Thank you, William. I am so glad you enjoyed them this week.
super photos
Thank you, Ian.
Lovely TWIP thank you Sean. Nice to see Ximungwe young male is back – we feel somewhat proprietorial about him, having been blessed to spot him on three successive visits to Londolozi. When will get his own new identifier name?
Great shots today! I especially love when the leopard and elephant get themselves in a tough spot – it shows how much like us they are, and we like them.
HI Sean, Was Hosana seen on the Londolozi property itself? So his territory contains part of the northwestern boundary of Londolozi from the Othawa side? Love hearing that he was mating with Nkuwa….they would have some gorgeous cubbies!!
Loved all the photos.. again..
BUT.. the Juvenile Eagle is breathtaking to me!!