We were rather rash in telling you last month that spring had come – as some of you were quick to point out! The snow on the mountains around Cape Town has brought a chill wind to the bush. However, nothing seems to detract from the outstanding game viewing, and warm fires, hot water bottles and a few extra blankets are all that have been needed for our guests comfort. Their enthusiasm has been as great as ever.

     Our first photo should draw gasps of amazement (or horror!) from most of you. The rangers found this 4 ˝ metre python out in the bush. It was docile at the end of winter providing wonderful photographic opportunities for all. As you can see from the photo, this python, being held by Sam, Neil, Patrick, Shaune, Nordick and Lawrence, is in extremely good condition. Coming out of a long winter hibernation, to be as fat as it is, is an indication that it must have had a good previous summer. It is unusual to see a snake of this size, yet alone be able to pick it up.

     Even though we have had a cold snap, certain spring trees like the knob thorn, weeping Boer bean (Scotia) and the wild pears have all come out in the most wonderful flowers. The Scotia, with its bright maroon coloured flowers, is dripping nectar, providing wonderful feeding opportunities for the birds, monkeys, baboons and insects.

     The six male lions, the Mpogo, are still causing havoc in the North and the herds of bachelor buffalo bulls are taking the brunt of this. This month alone, they have killed three bulls along the river and have had countless encounters with others that have escaped. We wonder what they will go for once the bachelor groups have been depleted. Maybe this will be the time when they expand their territory and make a concerted effort to take over the southern part of the property. They were seen mating again, with the Sand River females. This seems to be a monthly ritual and the Sand River females will only conceive once they know that these 6 males are here to stay.

     Several days ago, the Ximungwe Pride chased a buffalo bull into Georges Dam, just below the lodge. There was a stand-off all afternoon, livened up by a bull elephant that was trying to chase the lions away. All this was being watched by 3 hippos, basking in the shallows. It was obvious that the buffalo was getting tired in the water even though he was no more than 2 metres from the bank. After dinner that evening, the guests were still very keen to monitor the situation, so, prepared for a longish night, the rangers took them out, armed with hot water bottles and blankets, only to find that the buffalo had drowned and the lions were trying to feed off it in the water. An unusual point was that only one vulture came into this kill at the beginning. When the carcass was virtually bare to the bones, at least 60 vultures descended and picked at the remains for an hour, completely blocking what was left from view. Right next to the road on the way into this kill, a blacksmith plover was sitting tightly on her eggs. She continued to sit and guard her eggs while Land Rover after Land Rover trundled past within a metre.

     Even though the Sabi Sands has taken off some rhino to sell, our rangers had the dramatic viewing of two rhino bulls fighting over territory. The fight continued for over an hour before one bull relented and moved off, closely followed by the victor. We were fortunate that this encounter did not end in a fatality. Rhino fights can be very gruesome and savage affairs. The photo below was taken by one of our guests.

     We have had a huge boost to our on-going community projects. We have received a donation from Macsteel of 12 tons of children’s books. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Macsteel, as we know these books will be a great help in raising the standard of education in our surrounding community. We will be distributing them to 12 different primary schools within the next few weeks.

     Our thanks to everyone who has purchased a 2007 Savanna calendar – they have been exceptionally popular this year.