Week in Pictures: Seeing Spots!

A defeated leopard recovers after losing her kill to a hyena

It’s no secret that the state of the drought in South Africa is having dire consequences on some of the water-reliant species of the Kruger Park. Some areas have received more rain than others, but in those areas where rainfall is severely lacking, we’ve been seeing some interesting wildlife activity taking place. In the Klaserie […]

Marius Witnessed Hyenas MAKING THEIR OWN KILL!

You read correctly. A standard blog title would be “…Hyenas Stealing a Kill” but Marius Zeilinga from Umkumbe Safari Lodge actually witnessed hyenas making their own kill. Hyenas normally have their food served to them on a silver platter. When super-predators make a kill there’s a guarantee that a kettle of vultures and a clan […]

Marius Gets Crazy with Photos of Elephant Anatomy

Tail of an Elephant

Our gentle pachyderms make for incredible photographic subjects. Marius Zeilinga, a ranger at Umkumbe Safari Lodge, decided to use his creative streak and photograph various parts of an elephant’s anatomy. He’s captured close-ups of ears, tusks, skin, trunk and tail. We’re loving his black and white photos of these emotional jumbos! Here are a few […]

Week in Pictures: The Dance of the Wild

Hyena at eye level

Constantly alive, constantly moving, even when all seems quiet; the bush is a place of paradise where man is the alien invader. The dance of the wild is evident in every whisper of the wind, every desperate leap to freedom, every flick of the tail, or toss of an armoured head. The bush is a place […]

Top 3 Videos of the Week: Nature is in Control

African Wild Dog

Two unsuspecting impala met their untimely fate at the hands of a leopard and a pack of wild dogs. They fought for their lives but the predators at the top of the food chain took over; demonstrating that only the strongest survive. The teams at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp spent ages planning […]

Mauritz Photographs a Trio of Leopards at Umkumbe

White Dam Leopardess

Last week we shared Marius’s photographs of Umkumbe Safari Lodge’s leopard sightings. This week, Mauritz compiled a selection of leopard photographs from his encounters with Kigelia, Tatowa and White Dam. There have been plenty of leopardess sightings but only the occasional sighting of dominant male, Mxabene. Seems like the females are stealing the show and […]

Leopard Party at Umkumbe Safari Lodge

When you stumble across a stocky, powerfully built cat with black rosettes dotted on its fur, you know it’s a leopard. Sightings of the elusive leopard are considered rare – they have a habit of hiding in thickets, up in trees and don’t care much for the limelight. When you see this elegant cat saunter […]

Elephants from above in the Sabi Sand

Elephant aerial over Umkumbe

The Sand River flows and dries up with the change in seasons in South Africa’s Kruger Lowveld. As the summer heat creeps in, the epic thunderstorms roll in on through great, purple clouds, and the rains nourish the land after a long, dry winter, and rivers such as the Sand fill up and bring life […]

Sabi Sand : The Eccentricity of Nature

Zebra Markings

Nature is an eccentric place where wildlife often breaks free from the documented textbook behaviour and leaves us feeling somewhat bewildered. Just when we think we understand a species, its physical markings and behaviour; you stumble across an anomaly. Marius Zeilinga, a game ranger from Umkumbe Safari Lodge, stumbled across a zebra with unusual markings […]