Easter has come and gone so fast and with it the bush is changing again before our eyes. After a very wet summer, we have been experiencing some wonderful clear weather with deep blue skies and glorious light for photography. The early mornings stay dark until 6am but the sunrises have been sensational and the 12 hours of daylight have ended with equally stunning sunsets. Although we are coming to the end of our flowers, the heavy and prolonged rains have caused flower seeds to germinate that may have remained dormant for years and we are seeing species that we have not witnessed before. The water table remains high and there are still many off road areas that cause problems for the Land Rovers.

     The impala rut is in full swing and one can constantly hear the challenging roars emitted by the males to any competition that there might be. During the rut the males become extremely vulnerable to predation as their concentration is elsewhere.

     In the last few weeks, we have witnessed no less than 15 kills by leopards, all mature male impalas. Shangwa and her cubs have continued to give us wonderful viewing. As we write this letter, she and her 2 cubs are feasting on a large male impala. She shows quite a lot of aggression towards her growing offspring as they try and feed at the same time as her; this is a no-no in the world of the “loner” leopard. Shangwa has had several altercations with her daughter from the previous litter who is now 3 ½ years old. A couple of fights have ensued but no real damage has been done yet.

     This behavioural pattern makes for interesting viewing. The Ottawa male is encroaching more and more into the Wallingford male’s territory. This is a gradual progression, which will happen as “Wallys” gets older. Wallys was seen killing a big male impala a few days ago and to our surprise was joined by a shy female who we have named the Dam 3 female.We do not see her often therefore we have not mentioned her before. While she is quite shy with the Land Rovers, we were still able to get good viewing of her as she flirted mercilessly with Wallys. Makwela has been seen rarely this month. She has taken to jumping over the fence again, into the neighbouring tribal areas. This is rather disturbing, as she will be destroyed as she starts killing domestic livestock. We believe that she is pregnant again and due in about a month’s time – we hope that she will give birth in one of her known den sights within the Reserve.

     We are sad to pass on the news that 10 of the Sand River Pride lions have been destroyed. The fence could not be mended quickly enough to keep them in the Reserve as they were under pressure from the 6 new males who were constantly tracking them down to establish their dominancy over them. We have had inquiries from many of you as to which pride the Sand River Pride is – a lot of you will remember the One Eyed female who was one of the dominant females within the pride. She was the first to be destroyed. They also had 8 cubs and these too have been destroyed. It is tragic to have lost virtually the whole Pride that we have been viewing for the past 15 years.

     The 6 new males have been given the collective name “Mapogo”, the Zulu word for rogues. They have been wreaking havoc in the area, chasing lions all over the place. The old male from the North, Shangoleni, has been chased off or killed by them.

     We have been having wonderful viewing of the last of the Shimungwe Pride females to give birth with her cubs as she has been keeping them on our property. She and the 3 cubs have been on a wildebeest kill. The rest of the Shimungwe Pride has been spending their time in the East of the Reserve and we have not seen them recently. Hopefully, this trend will change as the loss of the Sand River has depleted our lion population. In the weeks to come as the Mapogo expand their territory, our lion viewing will become erratic.

     We still have regular sightings of a male cheetah. Unfortunately, we are not seeing any females with cubs at the moment but this will very likely change in the not too distant future.

     Hippos moved into the dam in the valley in the front of the camp and their calls can be heard at night. We are still seeing lots of rhino at the back of the lodge in the evening and what is evident is the large number of young rhino bulls.

     They are nearing adulthood and if nothing is done to curb these numbers there will be fatalities due to territorial boundary fights.

     We are still seeing wonderful herds of elephant and because these herds are being seen in the Sabi Sands where they are viewed by Land Rovers on a daily basis, they are very relaxed, far more so than the herds found in Kruger.

     All the migrant birds have left now and what we are seeing of interest are some of our eagles that are Autumn breeders, such as the tawny that is feverishly building a nest.

     The African hawk eagle has returned to its nest that it has used for the past few years.

     We did see a huge female marshall eagle trying to catch a steenbuck but fortunately for the steenbuck, it failed.

     The guinea fowl have done extremely well this year and with the good rains, the numbers have increased dramatically. This all helps the food chain, with regard to owls, gennets, servals and caricals.

     Hopefully, with this large number of birds, the predators will also increase.

     Our renovation of the lodge is forging ahead, we are entering one of the most interesting viewing periods and we look forward to seeing so many of you back here again this year. Below is a sneak preview of the "renovations" at Savanna Lodge..........