There is always so much to think about when returning home from far afield, particular if it’s somewhere new. My mind is still spinning with colours, tastes and sights from my first visit to a phe...read more
The African Twig snake, also known as a vine snake, is the cat walk model of the snake world. An extremely thin snake it is an arboreal species which relies on its unique shape and cryptic colouration to camouflage from its prey species....read more
Elephants by Perigee Moon
“For the person for whom small things do not exist, the great is not great.”
When it comes to super moons and mega pachyderms surely not a truer word can be spoken. For the most part ...read more
I met a wonderful woman from Finland recently who likened the texture of African bushveld air to the feeling of velvet. Wow! I cannot begin to describe the creative barrage that invaded my mind when those words were first uttered. The de...read more
Up until this particular day I had never developed much respect for Buffalo. I obviously respected them as animals within the environment but I did not regard them with the reputation they had earned. They are believed to be ...read more
In terms of spectacular wildlife events I am sure for many of you a number of instances instantly come to mind. In my case Orcas stranding themselves in order to hunt sea lion pups is right up there.
During the middle o...read more
Southern Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve is as wild and remote as it gets. I was exploring this area of the Lukula Concession - a private 300,000-acre tract of wilderness in the southern region of the reserve – for futur...read more
Have you ever stopped at a particular place in time and evaluated your life and realized that you are exactly where you should be? It happens to me often. I was walking the other day while on safari with European guests and the thought s...read more
As we walked out of camp and onto trail that morning I had a hollow feeling in my stomach and did not know why. Myself my back-up Daniel and five guests had heard lions roaring all night from the west and decided we would try to follow u...read more
Exploring the bush on foot is a treat – once we’d left the Ngorongoro Crater, we dropped down the Maasai Steppe into the southern reaches of the Serengeti and the Loliondo Game Management Area. Our aim here was to spend time ...read more
2011 was an anomaly here in the Western Sabi Sand reserve, no less than 8 separate Pangolin sightings of different individuals after a "drought" where none at all were seen on game drive here for over 2 years!
One particular sigh...read more
A lion pride takeover is always a heart wrenching chain of events that usually only occurs every few years in any given territory. It is often rather emotional for us to observe as the victorious male lions seek out to eliminate the oust...read more
It often happens, when guests are adamant about seeing a particular species, that it eludes us until they are gone. On this occasion the species in question was Rhino and despite having been in the southern parts of Kruger, our gue...read more
This Little Crake is causing a flutter in the birding community throughout South Africa - for the first time ever, it's been spotted south of the equator! I spent this morning at the Silvermine Wetland, just round the corner from w...read more
On a recent trip with Safari Architects and Wilderness Safaris through Namibia, I was blown away by the diverse nature and sheer size of this magnificent country. One of my favourite places has to be Damaraland. I fell in love with this ...read more
I sat the other night on an open plain on Mapesu Farm, our beloved slice of Africa. I was shivering because I was in an open Land Rover and had already driven a while through the frigid bushveld air. I had just left a jovial bunch of Bel...read more
I remember sitting in the company of an old gentleman of the veld. The view from his veranda was one of those impossibly beautiful vistas that one never forgets. His house was perched high on the Drakensberg escarpment overlooking the...read more
GREAT WHITE SHARKS, SEAL ISLAND
Some fantastic news from Seal Island is that our Great white sharks seem to have made a very early return.
I almost feel nervous writing about the sharks arriving back at Seal Island, they ...read more
SPOTTED GULLY SHARKS ENCOUNTER
Every summer Chris & I aim to try and dive with this normally shy species of shark. They live in temperate waters and can be found in the kelp forests, shallow bays and off sandy beaches. They a...read more
Still in the delta, one of the more frequently encountered animals around camp is the spotted hyena. These odd looking creatures would stay discreetly on the fringes of our camp by day, but when the sun went down, they&rsqu...read more
LIONESS, QUEENS OF THE KALAHARI
I am saving the best for last! The afternoon before this sighting Chris had spotted a male lion crossing Leopard Pan. He was calling for his mate and as such we were on the lookout for the evasive ...read more
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana spans 55,000 square kilometres and is the second largest wildlife reserve in Africa. It is one of the most remote paces in Africa and when visiting here one needs to bring all fuel, wa...read more
It was an extremely difficult month to begin with, as the lack of rain was seriously starting to take its toll on both the animals and the vegetation in the Southern Kalahari. The reserve became silent. No cricket croaked, no lion roared...read more
My previous story about our time at Ngala, particularly the cheese-stealing hyena, brought back some funny memories of my brief foray away from guiding into the unfamiliar world of lodge management. Picture the scene – a beautiful...read more
I wrote this some time ago and even to date I feel that this entry pretty much somes up what it is that we guides do, everyday, seven days a week...for 6 to 8 weeks and sometimes up to 12 at a time.
The story also involves a very...read more
This is not a biography. This post isn’t about how a man learnt the ways of the bush lore and tracking and all of those details that seem insipid and very cliché to me these days. This story is an attempt to describe how one...read more
“Adrian…there is a rhino over there.”
Guests are often so eager to see game that animal-like structures such as small dune bushes (Crotalaria spp.), sociable weaver nests and so on are perceived as the high-pro...read more
The wind had been howling throughout the reserve for several days. It had caused such an immense uplift of dust and sand that the sunsets were almost non-existent; in fact dusk was now a mirror of dawn. A crimson tone stained the h...read more
We spent a fantastic 3 days in the Tau Pan area. After very dusty conditions with few animals we approached a beautifully green Tau Pan with hundreds of plains game. Tau Pan was like paradise! Of course with so many animals we knew there...read more
.jpg.21620b11a0cdf79381f55d13701eb6db.png "My Younger Days - Animal, Bird or Mineral?")
Whenever a guest asks for a specific thing they want to see, it's always a challenge (and sometimes a matter of pride) for the guide to track down the quarry and make that dream come true – after all th...read more
The Damara Molerat - what a creature! I have seen their little mounds all over the place at Camp Hwange, but I have never seen an actual Damara Molerat before and never thought I would ever get the chance to see one. I had just...read more
PELAGIC SHARK TRIPS
We always look forward to our Pelagic Trips in December. The warm Agulhas Current normally pushes really close to Cape Point and can sometimes give us the opportunity to see species in our waters that are not ...read more
It was late afternoon and we were sitting watching two male cheetah lying in one of Kwandwe’s open plains. They were the dominant coalition on Kwandwe, and the last few days had been pretty tough on them. They had been moving aroun...read more
I was up in the mountains in the north of Kwandwe trying to unravel the mysteries of some lion tracks from the previous night. The tracks went up and down the road and kept disappearing on the hard rocky ground, only to appear goin...read more
I've guided in the Okavango for a number of years, and used to be proud of the fact that I had never 'drowned' a Landrover in one of the many deep channels that guides here are called upon to drive through n...read more
Walking for five days in the Kruger National Park, sleeping wherever we chose.....lying in a sleeping bag on the banks of the Limpopo listening to Pel’s fishing owls booming at each other from oppo...read more
Reading all these great stories here on Ranger Diaries reminds me of some of the funnier things that have happened since I started guiding back in the late nineties. Wherever we are - be it in a vibrant city or tranquil oasis of wi...read more
This diary piece features some of the rarities which we encountered during our previous safari to Tanzania, and follows on from the Incredible Wildebeest Crossing. Huge volumes of game provided endless action, and our days in the S...read more
Late one spring afternoon on game drive we were lucky to hear Julius call in a sighting of 5 African wild dogs. There was much excitement as dogs had not been seen on Londolozi for quite some time and are very rare! We began to make o...read more
Leopards surprise you every day.
It’s not only their ‘freakish good-looks’ that make them interesting, but their adaptable and often unusual behavior we so often miss when looking through a camera lens.
...read more
With reference to my previous post "The Ghost of Afirca", I am happy to report that at 10.30pm, on the 2 January 2012, I did in fact, see a Pel's Fishing Owl on the Olifants River! After spending a windy night watching a femal...read more
Elephants on an iMfolozi trail
Day 1
It was a sunny African Bushveld Friday, just before twelve noon, when I introduced myself and Corporal Richard (my backup) to five of the seven guests I was a...read more
It was mid July in the Pilanesberg and the morning drives were absolutely freezing! This did not stop my one family of 4 going on the drive though. They had been with me for 3 drives and this was to be their last of their 2 ni...read more
Often bush tales begin with the cliche
"And there I was!"
Well, if you weren’t there, then it would be a pretty crappy story now wouldn’t it?!
However, few bush tales ever begin with "Gnus are stupid, ...read more
There is no real reason for it, but for as long as I can remember my favourite animal in the bush has been the Lion. I know....how origional.... but that is the way it is! I have also been very honoured and have worked in a few regions w...read more
I had just started guiding at a private lodge in the Kruger Park. The man who was assigned to track with me was called Johnson. He was about six foot four and had the frame of a lock forward. He was blessed with binoculars for eyes&...read more
I had once read that Grey Duikers have an appetite for meat. Be it scavenging off carcasses or actually even catching their own prey - in reality, an omnivore. I could easily conceptualise a duiker perhaps, feeding off a ...read more
It was around 23h00 Monday night when I was woken by lions roaring just outside the Mpafa satellite camp area. Rick Wilson, the trails leader, was also awake and called out to everybody to stay in their tents and not go out under any cir...read more
I love the onset of the rainy season in the African bush. It brings home the fact that here, water is life! The bush seems to know that the rain is on the way, and the trees in particular start to change, produce leaves and seem to ...read more
As a game ranger, I’m lucky to be able to enjoy the wilderness more than most. As an avid mountain biker too, I had to be creative in finding time to ride when I lived and worked on Kwandwe Private Game Reserve. It wasn...read more
“Do you think they’ll cross?” I was asked. King and Dace had traveled with me before on safari in Botswana, and back then we’d discussed where our next safari “hot spot” would be. Now we sa...read more
What do you get if you have a couch, laid out beautifully facing one of Africa’s most gorgeous views…
… and a leopard?
A cricket score of 438 for 9 wickets in 49.5 overs!
If you’re slight...read more
Derived from the Malay word “peng-goling”, meaning “the roller”, there is no better description for this shy and mysterious creature that can elude many safari travellers.
Growing up to a metre in length a...read more
I was about a year into my guiding and I probably had a bit too much confidence for my own good. I had a really nice group of American guests and we'd seen pretty much everything we'd wanted to see except for lions. We'd follow...read more
Global warming, climate change - whatever you want to call it, it’s a can of worms, or in this case, a can of sardines. I’m not the first to open it, nor will I be the last, but what I saw recently, together with many o...read more
At 8,200 feet above sea level the air is relatively thin. After our approach walk to the edge of the National Park boundary at the base of the impressive Sabyinyo Volcano, we stopped to catch our breath...read more
Wildlife conservation and ecotourism have created many new opportunities for job creation and the realisation of human potential in South Africa. Previously impoverished communities have been drawn into the business of running ...read more
Bird Song
Birds like to sing because they are territorial or because, like rock stars, they think their songs will be attractive to potential mates. Francolins are different, they also screech in order to terrify...read more
The Heralds of the spring
The return of other birds was a far more pleasant occurrence than the return of the noisy little kingfisher. After a dry and chilly winter it, the first sighting of a thin tailed Wahlber...read more
On the banks of the Timbavati River we found a female leopard with two little cubs around three months old. It's not often that one gets to see leopard cubs this age, the mothers usually keep them so well hidden in the early stages of th...read more
Guiding. With birds.
Once qualified, I could no longer simply gloss over the birds I was not quite sure of or justify to my guests why one particularly non-descript Pipit was the same as another slightly differen...read more
Birding Part 2: Guide Training
If you would like to read Part 1 click here...
When I arrived at the training course I was in possess...read more
Before I begin I thought it may be helpful to include some birding definitions.
Birding – The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1970, defines the verb ‘bird’ as ‘to cat...read more
Another perfect day with another three highlights. The first was finding a lioness (North pride) and two youngsters after a morning of hard tracking by Christo and William. Again, we had the sighting all to ourselves.&nbs...read more
Three highlights stood out amongst an outstanding day. The first was spending the morning sitting with a family of suricates (meerkats) as they woke and rose from their burrow. They were totally habituated to the presence ...read more
Male Common Duikers have big testicles. I know this because Jerry found a duiker in the spotlight on the way home the other night and it stood with its back to us just long enough for us to have a really good look at just what duikers ha...read more
The continuing decline of the dominant male lion coalition was of continued interest. It was playing itself out in classic textbook style. The three brothers...read more
Zoological gardens I’m guessing that I’m not alone in having been asked by guests over the years what my opinion of a zoo is. Actually if I had a rand for every time I was asked the question - well put it this way &...read more
.jpg.21620b11a0cdf79381f55d13701eb6db.png "In the face of a leopard charge there is no I in TEAM")
Throughout the existence of man stories have been told around the campfire. These tales delight, excite, and warm cold hearts, but perhaps most importan...read more
The original concept of 'safari' began in the early part of last century. Rugged walking boots, an entourage of porters and the ability to endure tough conditions were needed, as these expeditions were done on foot, with the occasional ...read more
We had fresh tracks of the elusive Pangolin, and Christo and tracker William put in hours of working trying to follow the sign back to its burrow, but the closest we came to seeing this rare mammal was unfortunately a pile of its scales:...read more
Elephant Charge
An entire safari is a compilation of experiences, ranging from quiet contemplation, through to the excitement of unexpected encounters. It's not unusual to be chased from time to time by an eleph...read more
The great wilderness on Cape Town's doorstep
Looking out to the ocean I often try to imagine the lives of the ancient mariners attempting to navigate their way through the dreaded Cape of Storms after many months...read more
In the afternoon we watched two subadult lions in amongst a large herd of buffalo. In the evening we returned to the cheetah we'd seen earlier, and as the sun set we watched them hunting impala. And then we headed back for dinner. If you...read more
It's always nice when the time comes to start looking for new equipment, in this case, a camera. But it's not always an easy position to be in, as there are many choices. Firstly there are different brands to choose from. Personally, ...read more
Head tracker Richard Siwela and I were guiding two of my favourite guests, a South African couple who are absolutely bedondered about leopard (they like leopards very much). We'd done our best to show them as many leopards as we could ov...read more
Red-headed finches, African red-eyed Bulbuls, Swallow-tailed bee-eaters and yellow canaries arrived in small flocks at the waterholes to relieve their thirst. A pair of crimson-breasted shrikes nesting in a nearby aloe announced the...read more
The great thing about working and living in the bush is that sometimes you don’t need to go and look for something exciting, sometimes something exciting will happen right on your doorstep. Such an occasion happened one afternoon w...read more
We were on our monthly birding day where we go out for 24 hours and try to see how many birds we can see. We had left for the mountains in the north at 4 am. We got to a well forested valley just as the sun was starting to come up. As we...read more
Just as that big, big orange winter sun starts to hit the top of the Drakensberg Mountain range, a big pride of twenty two lions that come onto Ngala from the Northern Timbavati. Two big males and a powerful sisterhood of large females. ...read more
We had decided to go to the Northern section of the reserve in the morning looking for leopard. We had been driving through the mountains for a while with no signs of any leopards. The good thing about the north though is that it has a g...read more
Dear Safari Friends
I hope life is treating you with joy & adventure.
We all have a sense that with a new day there is a new beginning, wildlife seems to make this a realty without hesitation. Two male lions dominate ...read more
Each year an amazing natural cycle is repeated in Northern Botswana's Okavango Delta and associated systems. From hundreds of kilometers to the north of the Okavango in Angola's eastern highlands rain falls in the catchment area and f...read more
It had been very dark when we found the Dudley Riverbank female and her young leopard cubs (now 6 months old) the previous evening, so we went straight back to the site of the kill the next morning. When we got there one of the youngs...read more
Our recent safari through Tanzania produced a wealth of highlights from north to south. Large prides of lions with cubs, lions pulling down buffalo and then being chased off by the herd, cheetah crouched met...read more
It was absolutely fantastic being back in Botswana\'s Okavango Delta once again. After a long break from this country, I had the privilege of joining the Benz family for a nine-night safari, which was out of this world. The most diffic...read more
In the middle of a beautiful large clearing at Ngala there was a spindly little marula tree. In the tree was a half-eaten impala. Under the tree was a mother leopard and two very well fed cubs, resting in the cool of the lowveld afternoo...read more
There was always a certain joy I got driving at Londolozi, when I crossed North over the Sand River and knew that I had three thousand hectares of the most beautiful land to just myself , my tracker and my guests. We drifted through the...read more
One of Africa’s great reserves is the incredible Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. This vast, arid wilderness of 22,750 square kilometers is ce...read more
7am Saturday morning saw a keen group of birders board the Zest II aboard a birding trip arranged by Zest for Birds. Soon after leaving Simonstown, we had our first excitement of the day, a pod of Common Dolphins actively feeding in a sm...read more
We are often asked, “Is it possible to bring children on safari? How old should they be, is it safe, will they appreciate being in such incredible surroundings?” The simple answer, in my opinion, is a resounding “Y...read more
We drive through the Sand River, it flows deep and strong after the recent rains, and comes high enough up the Land Rover to wet my shoes. I switch off the engine in the middle of crossing and we laugh like children as the water rushes a...read more
Being new to the industry means there is always something new to experience and thus learn something new. One of these moments happened when I was feeling adventurous. I decided to take my guests up to the northern section of the reserve...read more
The month has been really amazing. The landscape has been absorbed by many amazing wild flowers and new born animals.
Grant, Beth, Christopher, Robin and their Grandparen...read more
As a guide one of the questions you get asked the most is "what's the most hectic sighting you've ever had. It's a tough question... sometimes I see a look of disbelief when THE ONE doesn't come immediately to mind. Its ...read more
It was a beautiful day for a walk, and no more beautiful a river bed than the Timbavati. My guests, my tracker and I strolled through the old forests of ebony and tamboti that lined its banks. The fresh air carried the delightful scent o...read more
“What are we going to do this afternoon Adrian?” asked Bob.
“Well, after tracking these animals for almost two and a half hours I r...read more
The morning started off fairly slowly. The day before, Ben and I had tracked the southern...read more
I had just got five new guests, their first safari & not a bad start. Late in the afternoon we just taking it easy watching lions do what lions do best, SLEEP! We were just about to leave the lion and fol...read more
After 12 years spent working as a guide and managing lodges for one of Africa’s finest and largest operators, I have finally taken the plunge and joined Essential Africa as a shareholder and professiona...read more
I'm writing this 'journal' from the deck of my tent. To my left, an immense buffalo bull has been casually watching me for the last twenty minutes. Across the stream, a pair of reedbuck is sounding the alar...read more
Winter brings many things to Londolozi. Dense air so fresh and sweet you want to drink it glides through the camp on its way down to the river, at night carrying the flowers of the potato bush and a trace of burning bushwillow logs. Imp...read more
We enjoy a slow drive through the leadwood forests. Golden hour approaches and brings the trees to life, the quiet is pleasing. Milton in the tracker seat raises a silent hand. This is what we came for. We were looking for these track...read more
About 45 minutes into our game drive, we came across lovely big herds of springbok, black wildebeest, red hartebeest and zebra all in one fairly open area. These animals were all busy grazing and seemed quite relaxed. After viewing t...read more
Sometimes when we work in the bush we tend to get "attached" to specific animals due to their individual nature or character. This only becomes apperant when something happens to that animal. This is what recently happened. A resident ch...read more
RHINO POACHING!!......... the two words have the become an expletive of the worst kind the most terrible swear word, a cuss that sadly in 2011 gets used each and every day!
As I type this we have to date lost 279 Rhinos in SA t...read more
Our plan for the afternoon was to find leopard. We headed off to an area where there had been a young leopard seen during the morning. We managed to find the leopard, resting at the base of a jacket plum tree. He was using the base of th...read more
On Sunday morning we were geeted by a light rain that looked like it was there to stay. This, however, did not make us any less excited to go out into the northern part of Kwandwe to search for cats. With our poncho's on, we crossed the ...read more
It was a misty morning when I first entered the gates of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area; my destination, the 8th Wonder of the World, the Ngorongoro Crater. Upon entering the park, I drove for several kilometers along the mo...read more
There’s something so special about that first game drive after holidays. There’s an air of excitement, like you’re just getting back into a good book you had to put down for a while. After two weeks the scenery has c...read more
We had decided to go north over the river into the mountains to look for the elusive leopard. We had been driving for about an hour when there was a flash in the road in front of us. I was sure that the flash ahead of us had a distinctiv...read more
If you’ve seen a Pel’s Fishing Owl, I’m never speaking to you again!
My sightings of this incredible yet elusive bird include…
A foot, a few feathers, and a bunch of leaves f...read more
Living the Dream: My Life as a Professional Safari Guide
Part 3: Tsaro Power
It was 02:15 and my guests Ralf and Perdita Lubbe Scheurmann’s and my final morning of a 17 day safari i...read more
The Black Mamba is one of the most dangerous snakes in the world... Often guests at Londolozi will ask with concern: are there lots of snakes here? The answer is yes, there are snakes here. But you hardly notice them, and they are ver...read more
This morning we set out looking for the elephants. Pretty much right of the bat we found 3 white rhino, mother and calf and a sub adult male. The young calf is about 5 months old now and so full of energy. Spent some quality time with th...read more
We have all heard the stories, told the stories & stated the facts about the Bushbuck....the meek, mild, timid and shy antelope with an almost Jekyll & Hyde personality. We always share with guests this underwhelming spiral ho...read more
There a few places like that of the African bush, few places that hold the same majesty, and wonderment. Every time my guests and I venture out it is never the same, unscripted, and expect the unexpected.
I clearly...read more
-2.jpg.21620b11a0cdf79381f55d13701eb6db.png "Misty Morning")
Mike Sutherland and I were driving a group of 12 guests, but after a rather festive diner the night before only 3 of our guests were up for drive on the last morning. It was quite chilly and very misty but we decided to head out and look...read more
Not long after we set out on our afternoon drive we spotted a bateleur eagle and a hooded vulture perched in the same tree. These keen eyed scavengers helped us discover a mother cheetah and her three tiny cubs feeding on an adult mal...read more
In a world where size does matter, it was inspirational to watch a single Banded Mongoose stand up to the teeth and claws peering down on him.
Fighting to survive is a way of life out here in the bush. Eat or be eaten are th...read more
As everybody knows the life of a ranger can be a hard one! We contend on a daily basis with the worst of the elements..drives in the pouring rain, howling wind, freezing cold early mornings and blistering summer heat. We face f...read more
Its really not what you expect when you first get here. For a lot of people, the name Kalahari is synonymous with desolate landscapes devoid of life, but in fact, the kalahari is an extremely large area with a variety of different habita...read more
Shortly after leaving our lodge, my tracker and friend Abraham Sibuyi found fresh tracks of a male leopard in the soft sandy soil in front of us. He jumped off his specially modified seat situated on the bonnet of the vehicle for a close...read more
I don’t often write about my experiences as a guide in Africa’s wilderness. Believe me, I could write a fair sized book! However some experiences stand out, some experiences don’t warrant memory. These are forever entre...read more
At the beginning of the month, I had two couples from England out on their first safari. Rick and Caroline had already been on one drive that morning, where we had seen lions mating, and it was Tom and Katy's first drive.
Midway ...read more
Southern Tanzania as a birding destination is not well known compared to the north of the country with its world renowned Ngorogoro Conservation Area, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti National Park. And this is part o...read more
It was my guests’ second day at Londolozi and we had already seen some amazing animals, including a big herd of elephant, six rhinos and two different male leopards.Gary and his family had come from another reserve about fifteen...read more
Night has fallen, and five of the Sparta males, the infamous Mapogo coalition, are sleeping on the grassy plains of Winnis’ Clearing. They lie flat and motionless, our spotlight only just illuminates the outline of their heaving...read more
Upon joining the Londolozi ranging team and becoming part of the family, tradition is to undertake ten days of unarmed walking of the roads, no matter how experienced you are before arrival. Part of the exercise is to acquaint the new...read more
"A leopard would never even bother going after a giraffe.” Before the words are out of my mouth I realize that I have just committed one of guiding grand faux pas. When in the bush one should never say never. As if to reinforce t...read more
Those of you familiar with the poet e.e. cummings may have chanced across his poem, ‘spring is like a perhaps hand’.
Spring is like a perhaps hand (which comes carefully out of Nowhere) arranging a wind...read more
Jerry and I had spent 2 days looking for a pair of leopards we believed were mating down in the Sand River. Tracking in the river is something we try to avoid: it’s very thick, the visibility is poor, and the reeds often hide re...read more
From the tracks in the Tree Camp car park and the roars and snarls the guests had heard one evening it was clear that at least two big male lions had found the Tsalala females and their cubs.
A few days later we found the two T...read more
Tonight we watched the sun set behind a prime breeding male lion as he called out his challenge to the wind.
Tonight we watched a battle-hardened lion huntress sharing her nyala kill with her son, still alive against all the odds...read more
Whispers in the wind. A shift in the forces. A look of uneasiness on the face of a mother lioness, sniffing the strong gust coming from the West. The distant roars of the past year closer than before. As night falls she rises and call...read more
hate not being out when there's a big day on Londolozi. Today's game drive: Shorty (male leopard) found up a tree with a dead zebra foal, 3:4 (female leopard) feeding on scraps at the bottom of the same tree...
Camp Pan (male l...read more
It all began on a wet and rainy Saturday evening. I had a funny feeling that something was being planned by the senior rangers. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I had noticed that Alex had carried a box of food down to ...read more
Young lion does the tracking for us... We left the camp at daybreak, looking for lions. Soon afterwards we heard what sounded like a female, roaring across the Sand River in northern Londolozi (Marthly).
We cr...read more
Early morning, and we found fresh tracks of the Sunsetbend female around the Vlei. We found her shortly afterwards, hunting impala in a thicket.
We have to be as careful as possible when an animal is hunting in front of us, we ...read more
I was in camp, about to go to the morning meeting to discuss the lodge agendas for the day when Richard, who was on game drive, called me and asked “Jamo, do you want to see some leopards?”
He had found Vomba female...read more
What would Africa be without the king of the beasts? There may be as few as 23 000 lions left on the entire continent- down from 200 000 in 1975 and 400 000 two decades before that.
Londolozi has always been an excellent area f...read more
We spent the morning following tracks of the Dudley Riverbank female and her cubs. We were on foot when we heard francolin alarming around Tshabalala Pan, and got back into the vehicle to investigate.
Freddy had his head down o...read more
Driving down Winnis’ Wallows, we stopped at a pan to watch a terrapin feeding on a Cape turtle dove, a bird almost the same size as the terrapin, which it most likely caught. They can hunt like crocodiles, ambushing what is, rel...read more
The Sand River, despite its name, is the vital life force of the Sabi Sands. Three days ago it stopped flowing. This is an occurrence we have come to expect around September, not March, and is an environmental disaster. We are staring...read more
A new beginning at Londolozi means a fresh start for the ranging team. And with all the renovating and upgrading going on in the camps, we have had far fewer guests than normal… the perfect opportunity for a ranger version of a...read more
We were out on a drive in the open savannah in the south of Londolozi, watching some white rhinos while the sun set behind a red sea of grass, when we noticed a dust cloud in the distance following something unfamiliar…. a whit...read more
Field ranger, Thomas Mathosi has stabilised in hospital after the vehicle in which he was a passenger was overturned by a group of elephants while they wer...read more
Shorty Face to Face with an Otthawa lioness... Alfie and Bennet found Shorty eating a warthog high up in a marula tree on Pipeline Road. N...read more
We had coffee on Varty camp deck and watched the moon set over the Sand River while the sun rose on the opposite horizon. Soon into our drive we found tracks of the Mxabene female leopard and her cub. The tracks of the female were goi...read more
Protective mothers are not to be messed with... Freddy had to go home for family reasons, and Judas, his uncle and mentor joined me for the afternoon drive. Judas is a wonderful personality with very little English but...read more
Mxabene cubs survive buffalo herd :We had an idea that the Mxabene female was keeping her new cubs in a den close to Three-streaked donga Road: her tracks had been coming in and out of there for three days now.
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Leopard kill at the curio shop. It started off like any other morning: a hot shower, a quick coffee, and then the short walk in the faint pre-dawn light to Tree Camp. On my way through the car park I noticed something...read more
On the morning drive Gavin and Jerry had found an impala carcass on Circuit South with lots of meat still left on it, but no sign of the killer. We headed straight there and found the Mxabene female with her two little male cubs. We p...read more
The Passing of a Legend One of the Marthly male lions (the one with the swollen foot, father of the two young Selala lionesses) passed away today in the East. Cause of death is almost certainly TB.
This m...read more
On the morning drive Jon and Richard had found the Vomba female with an nyala kill off Tsalala loop, which she had pulled into a thicket on the banks of th...read more
Malvin and Milton went back to our last tracks of 3:4, and found her close by, we joined them and she walked right past our vehicle. It is always a pleasure to see this leopard: she has such a history, so many stories, and it is alway...read more
We set out in the morning looking for leopard and elephant, and Judas and I thought we would try find the old 3:4 female, the one we respectfully refer to in Shangaan as ‘kokwaan’ (grandmother). On Siwela’s Road we b...read more
A walk by the river : We had a beautiful morning and were lucky enough to see a male cheetah sheltering under a bushwillow tree (on Railway line). Later we found three white rhinos and a herd of about a hundred buffa...read more
In the light of sunrise we found fresh lion tracks on Vomba Road, still glistening: a large pride had been here. We followed the tracks to Circuit Pan where Freddy with his hawk eyes spotted the flick of an ear in the grass. On closer...read more
The hardships of a solitary life (30 December 2006, am) : We’d had a long drive in a beautiful part of the reserve (Mashabene and Tugwaan Drive), and as dusk was approaching Freddy and I were discussing where we ...read more
On Tsabalala Road Grant Oliver and Simon mathebula found a dead wildebeest calf hoisted into a marula tree. We were close by and joined them in the search for whichever leopard had put it there. The tracks were confusing: Freddy and I...read more
New Leopards of Londolozi: After a magic two weeks in Namibia it was good to be back home at Londolozi, and I couldn’t wait to get b...read more
I can only imagine what it must have been like. From the tracks we found the next day we have an idea, but his last few minutes must have been like somethi...read more
Morning drive: We followed fresh tracks of two large male lions (Shaws males) to find them lying in a clearing lazily watching a herd over a hundred buffalo on the crest. They were still without their females, the rest...read more
Morning Drive at Taylor’s crossing : All 9 of the Selala Lion Pride (male, 2 females and 6 cubs) were found feeding on the giraffe they’d broght down. The mother (tail-less lioness) of the 2 adult lionesse...read more
Shorty was still with his stolen kill, gorged fat and lying sprawled out in the ebony. In the darkness of night, a number of hyenas arrived at the base of the tree, attracted by the smell of the carcass and hoping for any morsels that...read more
The Camp Pan male. Possibly one of the most powerful leopards ever encountered. We have seen him hunting young giraffe. We have witnessed him aggressively ...read more
Male leopard steals from mother and cubs.On Strip Road Freddy raised his hand, motioning for me to stop: fresh tracks of a male leopard, very fresh. Shorty was not far. We drove into the Mxabene River bed, and I saw a...read more
There is a bizarre group of creatures that occur at Londolozi. The young are often bigger than the adults, and look nothing like their parents. They have anywhere up to 20 000 eyes. They taste their food with their feet, and can smell...read more
