The traverse around nThambo Tree Camp and Africa on Foot should be renamed “Lion Central”. This week we experienced lion sightings that would leave the Guiness book of Records in awe. The highlight of the week was our white lion sighting, which happened on both the morning and evening game drive. Both sightings happened close to the Timbavati road and guests witnessed one of the Trilogy males mating with white lioness.
The night before the first white lion sighting, we were privileged enough to see the two breakaway Ross Pride females. This clearly paved the way for an even greater sighting the following morning. Seeing a wild white lion is a rare phenomenon and the Shangaan believe it to be a sign of good fortune. Seems our guests, rangers and media team will have a good year ahead !
We spotted the aging Giraffe Pride white lioness under the tree. She was accompanied by a tawny lioness. A few minutes later both lionesses got up and walked down to where the Trilogy male was sitting…lo and behold, there he was with another white lioness ! The Trilogy male began mating with the younger white lioness and the tawny female. This is a sighting that will be remembered for a long time to come.
The African bush has been buzzing with activity. We’ve seen rhino, hippo, giraffe, warthog, zebra, impala (always!) and a colourful variety of bird species.
At Umkumbe Safari Lodge they appear to be at an all time high with their cheetah and leopard sightings. The Sabi Sand Wildtuin is renown for their leopard sightings and it appears our favourite leopard, Maxabeni was discovered perched in a tree with his reed-buck kill. That fat stomach of his? Well, that is his belly full to the brim, having eaten 90% of his kill. In just two game drives, Cameron actually managed to find four leopards ! Guests also saw the White Dam/Kalabash female with her two cubs. Cubs appeared healthy, despite visbility being low.
Umkumbe rangers also found a male cheetah casually sauntering through the thicket and eventually ending up on a termite mound. The next morning scraps of an unlucky impala were found in the vicinity. No guess as to what went down !
Our photographer Kevin captured a few special moments while on safari in the Okavango Delta with Afrika Ecco. The water monitor is quite a curious and prehistoric looking creature.
Enjoy the week in pictures !
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