The blue skies and windless days of the week end in blustery swirls of dust and leaves. Although not chilly, the wind is unsettling and the antelope are skittish, running away at the scent of predators not close, but brought on the wind.

The week has been packed with wonderful game viewing, but the Rhinos that have been abundant for months seem to have vanished and we have had to work hard to find them. Instead of being out on the open plains, they too have taken cover from the wind in the drainage lines and denser bush.

Our cat sightings have been incredible, leopards and lions have been in plain view on the roads for much of this week and it’s been an unusual treat to view them in the open instead of through the long drying grass.

Tuesday dawned crisp and sunny and Patrick picked up tracks for the female leopard and her cubs that have been around the lodge so much over the past few weeks. Making our way through the drainage line, we came across the family of three feeding on a waterbuck kill. To our surprise a large male was feeding with them on the carcass. All were relaxed and didn’t seem to mind us joining them as long we didn’t want a share of their feast. Although not her usual choice, this female has brought down waterbuck before and it seems that the reputation these antelope have for being unpalatable didn’t put her off from making the kill.

Last night, appreciating the beauty of a huge full moon rising whilst the light of day faded slowly at our backs painting the sky in shades of pinks and orange, we heard lions roaring not far off. Finishing off the snacks and draining the last of the G&T’s we headed in their direction.

We nearly missed them, but Patrick saw a couple of ears sticking out of the long grass and we made our way in. As we approached, we were met with an angry snarl from both a female and a large male we think is the father of her two month old cubs and noticed they were feeding on a carcass. The sighting of these two is not unusual in itself although we don’t see them often, but a little further back we noticed some of the pride of 16 not far from the carcass. The big male allowed only the females from the pride to feed but did his best to chase off the various sizes of sub adult males in the group.

The male didn’t seem at all bothered to be sharing his kill with some other females but he definitely wasn’t letting the whole family in to finish off his prize. We stayed for over an hour watching the male protect his kill and the interesting interaction between the females from the other pride and the female with the young cubs. It was a really special sighting with so much interesting behavior and close up vocalizing from the whole pride.

The coalition of four males was seen this week as well; they looked healthy and fat by cheetah standards and are obviously a force to be reckoned with on the hunting grounds of the Manyeleti. We haven’t seen any other cheetahs for a while.

A small pack of four wild dogs came through the reserve early in the week, it’s always such a treat to see them but they didn’t stay long and were off before the end of the day, back over the boundary and into Kruger.