Our lodges and camps all have one thing in common this week in the wild – a flair for the unusual. It could be the tiresome threat of the ominous weather approaching pockets of the Kruger or the madness surrounding Valentine’s day causing this erratic and strange wildlife behaviour. Whatever the reason, this week in pictures we’re celebrating wildlife engaging in eccentric and offbeat scenarios. Wide-mouthed beasts, friendly ostriches and jackals hugged by vultures are just a few of the sightings we’ve enjoyed over the past week.
There’s a female ostrich in the Sabi Sand that often comes right up to the vehicle when guests are out on game drive. It’s an unusual experience for Umkumbe, but always a delightful one. The Sabi Sand is renown for its big cat sightings, but it’s nice to see something off-the-wall! The very friendly female ostrich is quite famous on the traverse and she now has a family in tow.
And our standard predator sightings? This week saw the rise of lion pride sightings – the Mhangeni lionesses being the main cats that were seen.
Our Botswana camp has enjoyed a spate of African wild dog sightings recently, which has taken our team by surprise! It’s good to know that there are parts of the Kwatale Concession that the endangered dogs call home.
The lions have been contact calling in the early hours of the morning – there appeared to be three of them, but Dan could only get visual of two cats.
Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp
The Klaserie camps have had a few exciting new developments. The camps have had a soft refurb, which has meant a new look and feel. Decor is simple, but tasteful and has bursts of colour which seem like an extension of the natural colours of the wilderness.
In sticking with modern sundowner trends, the camps decided to treat guests to a surprise gin tasting in the bushveld. Craft gin tasting while on safari? Don’t mind if we do!
The looming storms and presence of rain haven’t thwarted the predator sightings in the Klaserie. The Ross Pride Breakaway lionesses and a lone leopard were spotted on Wednesday night’s game drive. There was even hyena, vulture and jackal feasting on a rather fresh zebra carcass. Apart from those highlights, guests enjoyed plenty of buffalo, elephants and plains game sightings.
Ezulwini River Lodge and Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge
Over the past week, wildlife enthusiast Lance Van de Vyver visited the Ezulwini Game Lodges. Lance was lucky enough to spot the River Pride of lions, their cubs and one of the Mohlabetsi males.
The skywalk at Billy’s always offers the perfect vantage point to observe the breeding herds of elephant that flock to the waterhole.
During Lance’s visit he photographed the pachyderms making themselves comfortable in thickets underneath the skywalk. Of course, there were numerous sightings of birds, raptors, primates and other mammals throughout the week.
MJ Bradley