Sun Destinations

Welcome to this week’s collection of “week in pics”. We’ve highlighted a few incredible moments that have happened while out on game drive. Enjoy!

Umkumbe Safari Lodge – Leopards:

We are acutely aware that one of the female leopards, White Dam, has cubs stashed away close to the property. She has been seen hovering around the area close to camp.

Little Bush’s cub has finally been named. Her name is Kigelia and she is seen on a regular basis. Our favourite male, Mxabene has been scarce but male leopards to have a propensity for exploring large territories.

Plains game is in abundance, galloping and hoofing it down to any available water sources on our traverse. It is Winter here, which means the rains have ceased and water is in demand.

Bird sightings are bountiful and this keeps our avid ornithologists happy.

nThambo Tree Camp and Africa on Foot – Wild Dogs & Lion Cubs:

The wild dog pups finally emerged from their burrow – a sighting which delighted guests and rangers. Guests even saw how the pack rally together to feed the youngsters. The adults feast on a kill and regurgitate chunks of meat in order to feed the pups.

The Africa on Foot team spotted the Trilogy males and the Hercules pride of lions devouring a buffalo calf. The two Ross pride breakaway females were also seen in the vicinity and they were heard calling for each other.

Huge breeding herds of buffalo have been making their way down to Twala dam. There are so many of these large and powerful bovines that they are literally littering the banks of the dam.

The Klaserie is a bird lover’s paradise and keen twitchers will be elated to know that we’ve had spotted incredible flocks of birds over the past couple of days. Just yesterday we saw a martial eagle, saddle-billed stork and a yellow-billed stork.

nDzuti Safari Camp – Pangolin:

A definite highlight this week at camp is the sighting of a rare pangolin. Its protective armour and the ability to roll into a ball when under threat, makes it quite the curious creature to obseve.

We stumbled across yet another rare moment in mother nature. In the dead of night, we saw the pale male leopard sitting on the banks of the main dam. As we approached we heard the leopard barking at a hippo, who decided to bark back. Listening to the two of them “have words” with each other was yet another remarkable experience!

The birding and presence of plains game in our neck of the Klaserie Reserve is always remarkable. The main dam attracts a plethora of birdlife and sees plenty of kingfisher activity.

This week plenty of buffalo herds on the move and grumpy dagga boys have also been spotted.

Here are our choice selection of images from the week.