The year of 2012 has started where we left off in 2011! After a very festive Christmas and New Year, the game viewing has carried on as if nothing has happened!

The large herd of buffalo has been camping close to Savanna the entire week, religiously going down to Georgie’s Dam a couple of times a day for a drink and a soak. The viewing of this herd has been particularly interesting over the past couple of weeks, especially owing to the young calves being born at the moment. One particular cow apparently got a little too close to a porcupine, and received a painful reminder of why they are best left alone!

At this time of the year, the young of the various species are definitely a highlight and the first few weeks at Savanna have been no different. We have had some amazing views of young giraffe, wildebeest, jackal pups, elephant and even a minute chameleon!

Speaking of elephant, we have had amazing and constant viewing of herds and bulls alike. They have been relishing the mud puddles, and also spending plenty of time swimming, particularly at Treehouse Mackenzie Dam.

The Ximungwe pride has remained down in the south of our property for most of the beginning of January. Early on in the month, we found them on a buffalo kill in a steep gully in the south-western part of our concession. It does not seem as if they killed it, as there was no sign of the herd being around in that area for a few days and the meat on the carcass also appeared to be a few days old. They did not complain, however, and we enjoyed our viewing of them for a few days. Unfortunately, it was not open enough to get photos of the kill. Initially, only one of the Mapogo brothers was present, but the other two soon smelled the kill, and joined up with the pride.

They then moved south and east again, and unfortunately found our wildebeest herd, which has as a result lost a few of the calves. In the morning following the kills, they relaxed on a termite mound just south of Mackenzie Windmill for some good photographic opportunities.

An unusual sighting of a hippo bull out of the water near Cheetah Flats dam during the day was also a highlight. He was quite relaxed and allowed us good views of him.

The best sightings of the weeks have definitely been the leopard viewing. The good news is that we have had our first glimpse of Hlabankunzi’s cub this week, although it was a brief and poor view. She has moved one cub into a very dense drainage line, but where we could still get a view. We are not sure how many cubs she has, and we wait with bated breath for our next view!

The Day One male has been seen a few times, but one never tires of seeing this male. He is definitely showing signs of settling in the south west, and is more comfortable in the area. He is filling out beautifully and is extremely relaxed with the vehicles, so we look forward to many years of wonderful viewing of him.

As always, Tlangisa has been providing the bulk of our leopard viewing, and continues to pose for the photos, as if she knows it is exactly what guests come this far to see. She loves climbing trees and lying on rocks, which makes the job of photographing her so much easier and more enjoyable!

Metsi has been elusive these past two weeks, but we had one great sighting of her on the move, as she was patrolling her territory. She suddenly seems to be more concerned about her territory, and has been moving very large distances to patrol the perimeter. Some have suggested that she may be pregnant and is therefore securing the boundary for when she drops the cubs. We will have to wait and see...

Another female leopard we do not see too often, Xikavi, was seen in January, and it seems that she has dropped cubs and is lactating heavily. We are not sure where the den is, but it is presumably along the Sand River, which is in the core of her territory. She has not been very successful with previous litters, so we hope that this one may be different.

The Tassleberry female was found with a fresh duiker kill hoisted in a tree near White Dam, with two hyena below the tree. Judging by the tree she was in (a small knobthorn), it seemed that she had been chased up the tree with the kill by the hyena before she had time to choose a more suitable tree. We sat with her for an hour, watching as she struggled with the positioning of the kill and tried to get comfortable enough to feed. Typically, the hyena settled below the tree, patiently waiting for scraps to fall.

Good rhino and general game viewing has continued, with particularly good sightings of waterbuck and giraffe.

As always, we like to show a few of the birds species we enjoy here at Savanna, so this week we have a great photo of a shy African Crake taken by Paddy, and the majestic Bateleur eagle.