Hello Monday, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.
It’s that time of the week, when “Week in Pictures” makes a grand and startling entrance. This week we’ve witnessed bone-crunching, foot stomping, and flesh-ripping madness from our predators and thieving scavengers. The noise and absolute racket from the excitement of meal time in the bushveld is a far cry from the “Sound of Silence”. Once again, there’s a similar thread weaving its way through the camps’ sightings. This week, the showdowns and comical kills were the star of the show.
Photographer Em Gatland missioned through to the Sabi Sand to capture a bit of wildlife action on camera. Umkumbe have enjoyed prolific leopard sightings on their traverse, and the African wild dogs decided to intrude on the leopard sightings to offer up a few sightings of their own species. The giant herbivores were an ever present force while our team were trundling through the bushveld. We’re talking elephants in musth, and high concentrations of breeding herds about. The small creatures provided ample adorable photographic moments, ensuring the trip to Umkumbe was a successful one in terms of mixed sightings.
We’ll release more photos and stories from the Umkumbe guides during the course of the week.
Located in the heartland of the Great Karoo is the undulating rocky terrain of the 5000 hectare Roam Private Game Reserve. This cradle of civilisation provides sweeping scenes of mind-blowing sunsets, and a unique topography dotted with plains game. We thought we’d mesmerise your senses with a few more nature photographs from the Great Karoo for this week’s Week in Pictures. The cheetah coalition have settled in without issue, the buffalo herd are enjoying the bounty of digestible greens, and the resident large land tortoises continue to provide reliable wildlife sightings.
We’ve waxed lyrical about the heavy presence of lions within the Maseke Game Reserve, but there’s a new kid in town that tops the lion sightings. Over the weekend guide Calvin Shelly spotted a shy pangolin! In some cultures it is believed to be good luck to spot a pangolin. These endangered creatures fall victim to illegal wildlife crime, and spotting one thriving in the wild is always cause for celebration. We have now have confirmation that pangolin are found on the Chacma traverse!
Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp
There are a few new developments in terms of lion sightings at the Klaserie camps. 9 lions were spotted in the vicinity of a giraffe kill, and 4/5 lions were seen feasting on the kill. There’s plenty of speculation about who the pride are, but this still needs to be determined. All guides and photographers headed to the scene at various intervals to observe the feast. As predicted, the scavenging hyenas and wakes of vultures descended upon the area with clear intentions of grabbing a small meal for themselves. Coupled with the exceptional lion sightings, there have been numerous sightings of the African wild dog conducting hunts and guarding their den area. It has certainly been an eventful week in the Klaserie!
The team at Ezulwini are enjoying a bounty of leopard sightings at the moment, with the highlight being the sighting of the Thuli leopardess. Both the leopards and lions were spotted on kills, which was another incredible sighting for guests to the big 5 Balule Nature Reserve.
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