Sometimes it seems that nature knows that our guests are due a lovely Christmas present.

And nature didn’t disappoint this year either! 🙂

Jackals, cheetahs, giraffes, big herd of wildebeest, vultures … everything and quite a lot more was on the Christmas menu. What a way to celebrate before a huge Christmas dinner!

Christmas is upon us, and that is always a very busy time for us at the lodge. No Christmas for us! 😉

But the festive season is a time of reflection, looking back at the past year, and looking forward to the new year. And of course it is for most people a time to catch up with family, friends, and enjoying some time together.

Speaking of family … we got this superb shot on our reserve a few days ago, and I thought it was a lovely image to publish for Christmas: a Leopard Tortoise and her little one. There is a lot of love in this world, and that also in the world of animals. Very cute!

And with that picture, we wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS !! 😀

After the severe drought we have had over this year’s dry season, rains have been quite regular and plentiful, just what the doctor prescribed. This is great for nature – and for our guests! The reserve certainly looks all the prettier for it! See for yourselves.

We have been lucky as it seems all the animals have moved to the south of the reserve, and that’s very close to the lodge.

The elephants were tracked and found just off Nyala road and it is amazing if you sit very quietly how close they get to the vehicle. Great photos to prove that if the animals feel comfortable, it is an amazing sighting.

We found them again west of Lodge road and had another amazing close encounter.

The Lions were tracked and found first at Porcupine dam by both Vuyani and MRL guides. They were napping and not fazed by the Hippo in the dam. Great sighting. The following day we tracked and found them off Eastern River road – in the same vicinity as the Wild dog – the wild dog were on the move so we only managed a couple of shots. But still – what a quick succession of unique sightings!

The cheetahs were just off the fence line of Bloubergbos heading west – as soon as the Lions entered the southern area of the reserve, the cheetahs moved out. Amazing how all these predators live in “harmony”. They certainly know how to stay out of each other’s way. Well, more like everyone stayng out of the lion’s way, I suppose. 😉

 

On Monday, Hendrick and his guests were treated to an amazing sighting. Unfortunately it all happened so fast that no one really captured all of it on film. It was one of those sightings that you can’t stop looking and completely forget to film.

Dawn and Alan captured the Leopard and kindly gave us the photos. Amazing guests! Many thanks! 🙂

So what happened? Hendrick was driving along and tracking the lions on Nyala road. He saw the tracks move off and took a little to track. He saw the lions through the thicket and decided to approach. They were quite active and noisy and kept looking up into a very big Marula tree, it looked like the female was chasing something. As the vehicle approached Hendrick could hardly believe his eyes. There was a young leopard up the tree!! The Lions had managed to chase it up there and the leopard was looking rather nervous. The lions were circling the tree at the bottom and kicking up quite a fuss. The leopard jumped from one tree to the next and down and ran for his dear life! The lions did not see this happening and kept looking up the tree for Mr. Leopard (who was long gone by now) it was an amazing sighting, and that’s putting it mildly.

Even Hendrick said this was a once in a lifetime sighting, even for an experienced guide! Wow !! I wish I had been there myself, tell you what!