2005 : January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November |
2006 : January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
2007 : January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November |

     This month has been an extraordinary month. Not only from a game point of view but the weather has been exceptionally diverse. We have had probably one of the hottest months of March that we can remember and yet we also had one of the worst hailstorms in our memory. We are attaching a photo of the size of one of the stones picked up!

     Luckily the guests were back from their drive and safe in their rooms as the hailstones were as big as peaches! Fortunately, it did not last too long but temperatures plummeted to 12 degree celcius. During the day the temperature had reached 42 degrees! The temperatures then rose back into the 40’s but today as we write this letter, we have had the most wonderful rain – approximately 40mm. This has relieved us from the stifling heat that we have experienced over the past couple of days. The guests stayed out in the rain and had the most wonderful viewing of the Sand River females’ brand new cubs.

     Last month, we were not sure if any had survived but we are now seeing two cubs on a regular basis. The second Sand River female has definitely lost her cubs and is mating with all and sundry from the Mpogo. We were privileged to see a clash between two Mpogo fighting over this female. It was awe inspiring to witness the incredible power and strength of these huge male lions and makes one shudder to think of the damage they could do to a human. While they came out limping and bleeding profusely, there was surprisingly little damage done in the grand scheme of things. After the initial skirmish of a few minutes both males were so exhausted that they called a halt and walked off parallel to each other. They then returned for another bout but the paler of the two was definitely the more dominant.

     What we find absolutely incredible is that the animals in the wild hold no grudges; this seems to be a human trait. We are adding a photo of the two fighting brothers the following day to show this.

     We have also got some very exciting news about Shangwa, the female leopard. She was spotted a few days ago and we can confirm that she is definitely pregnant. She is the female that has just made her other two two-year old cubs independent. She is quite well advanced in her pregnancy and you can see that her teats are swelling so it should not be long before we have the patter of tiny leopard cub paws again. While we are on the subject of leopard, Mkwela and her cub still delight us on a daily basis with their antics.

     The cub remains exceptionally relaxed with the vehicles and Mkwela is her normal efficient self. Every few days she produces a new kill for her youngster to feed on. Mambiri has been seen fairly regularly this month. Her cub is still doing well even though we still feel it is the “ugly duckling” of leopards. We hope it will improve as it gets older.

     Also great this last month are the sightings of some of the rarer species not often seen in the Sabi Sands. We were luck to see an African wild cat. As you can see on the photo below, it is a genuine African wild cat and not one that is crossed with one of the domestic cats, a rare occurrence these days. Because of inbreeding with domestic cats, genuine African wild cats are becoming very scarce. We are also having regular viewing of serval. These have become quite relaxed with the cars so our viewing is getting better and better.

     Another big plus for this month is that the wild dog were here again. It is wonderful to be seeing this pair of wild dog on a regular basis in our area. It was thrilling to watch them hunting impala. Unfortunately for us but fortunate for the impala they were unsuccessful in this hunt but it was amazing to see their speed and maneuverability through the bush, incredibly difficult for the Land Rovers to keep up but making them the most successful predator out of all the predators.

     The elephants are back! Last month, we mentioned that most of the elephant breeding herds had disappeared. We did say that they would be back after a couple of weeks and sure enough they are. As we write this newsletter, the guests are having wonderful viewing of them at our waterhole as they eat their breakfast.

     On one of our early morning drives we found a grey tree frog sitting in a tree and what is incredibly interesting is how they change their colour to regulate their body temperature. The first picture shows the frog with its darker shade coloration which insures that it absorbs heat. The second photo, taken later, shows the frog, white in colour which reflects heat and helps it to cool down to stop it dehydrating.

     The Sabi Sands are bringing in more wildebeest which again are being placed in a boma on Savanna’s property. They should be released in a month to six weeks when they have settled on our terrain. These wildebeest come from Botswana, having come on the previous occasions from Swaziland. We are lead to believe that they are “lion” habituated and hopefully the Sabi Sands will have a bit more success this time.

     Most of the migrant birds have left us now and it was interesting to see the European barn swallows gathering in huge numbers before their epic journey back to the UK and Europe. There are only a few diehards that are left like the Woodlands kingfisher. Although they have stopped calling for territory and to attract a mate, they are still here for another couple of weeks.

     With the end of the renovations and the special experience that Savanna has to offer, we are very proud to announce that we have now been re-graded as a 5* lodge. We would like to see as many of you as possible coming back to enjoy our beautiful lodge.