It’s a funny thing with pictures … it’s a bit like with the view through a rear mirror … things might not be the way they appear.

When it comes to photos, they really disguise the size of the object on them … until they are put into perspective.

I often get the question from future guests: “How big is a rhino?” or “How big is a lion?”. When you then say things like “a lion can weigh up to 270kg” (about 70 times the size of a house cat), or “a rhino weighs as much as a pickup truck”, then this usually means something to people.

Or photos like these, they also do the job. 😉

The depth and rawness of nature here is really quite overwhelming by times, and I have seen a thing or two, that’s for sure.

It’s also the variety of every day that’s so surprisng. No day is like any day ever before. You never know what you’ll get when you head out.

Here an example of what we saw a couple of days ago … a spectacular day indeed.

We tracked and found the Cheetah female with her 3 Cubs near Diep Dam – they are still doing well and have become quite relaxed with the vehicle – we spent around 15 minutes watching them move and rest and move and rest. What a sighting, and what iconic photos our guests managed. Memories to treasure a lifetime.

On our way back to the lodge we took the Entrance Road from Main Gate side and saw something in the bushes. Krest spotted it and we saw it was the lions. Amazing! They were on the move and clearly looking for a snack. We stayed with them for about 10 minutes as they disappeared into the thicket.

We also found a dead Impala with some tracks around it – hard to tell for sure as it is quite “rocky” terrain. But the Vultures were having a feast!

Also interestingL Egyptian Goose in her nest!

Some of the more spectacular sightings were the Herd of Elephants that crossed the road RIGHT in front of us and walked off munching away – they were spotted on the Eastern River Track. We even saw one of the tiny elephant calves suckling on the Mom. Very moving indeed and our guests must have taken hundreds of photos. They couldn’t have been happier. Lots of smiles.

Not long after we saw Zebra with her foal, also suckling! Babies everywhere … 😉

Yesterday, Hendrick and Krest decided to have coffee at Diep Dam with our guests, but then unexpectedly picked up fresh cheetah tracks. After a bit of tracking we found the female with her cubs. We saw her earlier in the year and she had started out with 5 cubs at the time. That is a huge lot for one female, what a brave mother. She has 3 healthy active cubs left and they are around a year old now. That’s a very good achievement for this cheetah mum. In nature, survival rates of cheetah cubs can be as low as 20% so she has done an brilliant job.

It was a great sighting and we are so glad she is still around, and that she has managed to get 3 cubs through what must have been an extremely tough year for her.

For me personally, this is the best news that I could have hoped for, as the year comes to an end. It shows us the immense value of our reserve, and what a haven it has become for some of the world’s most iconic, and yet highly endangered animals. We have done our bit here for a lasting legacy, and that is cause for celebration. 🙂

… animals are getting very lazy.

I have been a bit quieter on this blog for a little while, but that’s not because we have seen less game, very far from it (we have been spotting loads of it actually), but because I have been very busy with bookings and many other end of year (Christmas anyone?) matters over recent days. All good now though!

Over the last few days temperatures have been rising steadily, and today a monstrous peak temperature of 48 Celsius was reached. Wow. As a result the game has also become very lazy, and the photos show it. I don’t blame them.

It has been Rhino drive today! We tracked and found rhinos on two different occasions – either munching away at the greenery (quite close to the vehicle, as you can see) but very chilled out or taking a much needed mud bath in
the sweltering 40 degree heat! Very chilled indeed …

We also spotted the two Cheetah brothers – they are not being very active – as it is simply too hot to do anything, they were near the same spot on Khaya cutline where we saw them yesterday.

We also saw Nyala, Wildebeest, Giraffe, Vervet Monkeys and a plover, so it’s been a very busy day. We go out in the eary mornings and the late afternoons, so we avoid the worst of all heats that way. But otherwise, our large pool is offering some welcome refreshment.

The last few days have showed the immense spectrum of wildlife one can see within a very short timeframe on our reserve. See below a small selection out of dozens we saw. It’s always hard to make a pick, but hey, it’s everyone’s turn. 😉

The last days have been very volatile in terms of weather … and there are sporadic outbursts of very strong rains, lasting an hour or two, followed by shunshine right afterwards. Our guests got caught once, which led to a lot of laughters … rain of such magnitude is actually a sight to be seen in itself.

As a result, nature is now finally starting to green up properly. Not too late!