This week has been up and down with regard to the weather, but the cloud cover has provided a few spectacular sunrises!

Last week we were a little concerned about the two older cubs from the one Ximungwe lioness. As mentioned in the previous week, the female was watching the herd of buffalo near Mackenzie Airstrip, but chose not to take her chances with them. That night, the herd of buffalo moved through the area we believed the cubs were hidden. The following morning we found the female walking around the area, calling constantly for the cubs without success. We did not see the cubs for a good few days after this, and we feared the worst! Early this week, however, we found her, and both cubs looking very healthy on a large male kudu kill! They fed on the carcass for one day, before another female and one male joined them. After they all finished the kill, they moved south east onto some large rocks south of Skwenga dam to rest providing great photo opportunities!

Metsi and her cubs provided great viewing again this week. First, the more relaxed cub was found in the evening just off Simbi road, north of Mackenzie Cutline. He was patiently waiting for Metsi to return, so we had great views of him lying on the branch of a large marula tree.

The next morning we went to check if he would still be there, and found him in very much the same place, having only moved slightly further east into a different marula tree.

Metsi returned and led both cubs (one at a time) back to an impala kill quite far from where she left them. With her and both youngsters feeding on the kill, it did not last too long, and they were spotted leaving the area that evening.

The male cheetah, Makamisa, arrived in the middle of the week. It is always amazing how the cheetah leave very little signs of their presence. We did not find any tracks of him coming into our area, and found him late one morning lying on one of the prominent termite mounds at Brass Monkey Donga.

The wild dog pups are just over 3 weeks old now, and have still not emerged from the den. Due to the sensitivity around the den, viewing is limited when they are at the den, and we have to wait for them to go on hunting forays. On a few occasions we were privileged to witness them at their best, hunting impala around Mackenzie Airstrip.

The good elephant viewing has continued this week, with many breeding herds on the concession. After all the rain, there are still many wallows full of mud, and they seem to be enjoying the mud baths when the opportunity presents itself! With the breeding herds moving through the area, they are inevitably followed by large bulls in musth.

We have also had some good rhino sightings this week. Two bulls were found wading in the water at Tassleberry dam late one afternoon, and we are finding them on quite a few occasions still ‘sleeping in’ on the soft sand next to the roads.

The Ximungwe female with the short tail and two younger cubs was seen this week as well, further north in our concession, in the Madjembiri drainage line. These youngsters are getting bolder, and are enjoying exploring their environment when mother is close. On one occasion, the two cubs decided to see how well they could climb. They discovered quickly that going up was no problem, but coming down was not as easy! After that they decided to stick to the safety of large fallen over trees!

As with the previous two weeks, our hippo viewing has been phenomenal, with the bull near Savanna providing most of the entertainment. He has been in Georgie’s dam on a number of occasions, and always gives us good displays!

The large herd of buffalo is also still present, and providing us with great viewing. There are also the ever present lone bulls scattered around who choose not to move as much as the herd, and prefer being on their own!

The hyena sightings have been few and far between over the past few months, and we were treated to a quick view of three of them running across the clearing at Treehouse Mackenzie before disappearing into the thickets east of the dam.

As usual, we also had some good sightings which were not part of the Big 5! A large Verreaux’s Eagle Owl was seen during the day and David was able to get a good photo of it. These are the largest owls in our area, and are not seen too often, as they have very large territories.

The marula trees have stopped producing fruit, and so the elephants no longer have juicy fruit to enjoy. However, the results of them feeding on the seeds are now visible, as new trees are starting to germinate in the elephant dung, after having passed through the elephant’s digestive cycle.

We look forward to bringing you more wonders from the bush next week!