We have had the most glorious weather during May and are still waiting for a really cold snap to arrive. Although there is a definite nip in the air in the early mornings and evenings, the daytime temperatures have still risen to between 25c & 34c. The sunrises and sunsets have been magnificent. The beautiful kaleidoscopes of colour at these times of day have been enhanced by the amount of dust in the air. The bush has turned golden as the grasses dry up. We are going through the driest period recorded at Savanna in the last 16 years. Waterholes that do not normally disappear are now empty which is very unusual so early in our winter. This is bringing wonderful game to our own fed waterholes around the camp. In the last few days, we have witnessed herds of elephant, rhino, warthog, buffalo, leopard and lion drinking in our pans. Also large amounts of antelope species, including kudu, impala and reedbuck have also become common visitors.

     As the water diminishes, our waterholes have become a haven for birdlife as well. The storks are able to catch frogs and small fish very easily in the receding water. The glorious light that we are having provides wonderful photographic opportunities.

     The hyena den continues to be active. As far as we know we have 4 young hyena that are growing up fast and they are providing us with exceptional viewing on a daily basis. The inquisitive young often pop out of the den to view the guests that have come to view them! These youngsters are just over 5 months old as can be seen by the fact that they are starting to get their spots.

     We are having a rhino baby boom at present and there are numerous cows that have new born calves including the female with the 97cm horn. She gave birth about 10 days ago. We also had the rare sight of rhino mating. This act takes from 40 minutes to an hour to perform. On that note there has been a lot of mating in the Reserve this month, with the rutting of the impala, mating of warthog and wildebeest and lions mating with females from the Ximungwe Pride.

     We did have an unusual occurrence in the Reserve this month when a male rhino killed a female rhino. I have seen this happen only twice before in the last 25 years. This would probably have occurred because females can become incredibly aggressive towards males when they are not in season and the male probably took umbrage to being attacked and then retaliated. With the male being much bigger and stronger, there can only be one outcome. This incident did provide a huge meal for the Ottawa lionesses and their cubs. While they were feeding, the Sand River Pride was also drawn to the carcass by its strong smell or the presence of vultures overhead. A fight ensued and one of the Ottawa cubs was killed. What was also amazing was that the Ottawa Pride moved off the carcass, only to return the next day with one of the Mpogo from the dominant coalition of male lions. The Sand River Pride then moved away and did not return. Three more of the Mpogo joined the meal the next day and soon devoured what was left.

     Early one morning, there was an amusing incident where lions were happily lying next to the waterhole at Cheetah Flats, sleeping as they do for 20 hours of the day and a couple of young elephant bulls who had come down for a morning drink took umbrage to their presence. They made it quite clear that the lions were no longer welcome and proceeded to chase them across the clearing, trumpeting as they went.

     We have seen the Mpogo in our area often in the latter part of the month. Having only had a few sightings of them the previous months, they have now been spending some time patrolling their areas. This may be due to the fact that we mentioned previously that 2 of the Ximungwe Pride seem to be coming into season. It has been wonderful to have them back and enhanced our game viewing tremendously. The Sand River Pride has been around but since their skirmish with the Ottawa Pride they have moved to the North Eastern perimeters of our traversing areas.

     It has been a disappointing month for viewing of leopard cubs. The Shangwa female and her 3 cubs have been off our property and we have not seen them at all. Mkwela, we believe, still has her cubs but we have not seen them as yet. We do know that she has moved her den sight but quite where she has hidden them, we have yet to find out. Makubela still has her cubs but we are not sure where they are but viewing of these cubs should improve in the near future as they will have to start eating meat and will be brought to kills that their mothers have made. This should then provide us with unbelievable viewing.

     The Wallingford male has been seen a lot this month but he is under huge pressure from a young male that refuses to leave his territory. On several occasions, we have seen the two of them growling at each other from a distance. As far as we know, there has been no physical contact but this young male is definitely making his presence felt. He is now more relaxed with the Land Rovers and we are having good viewing of him on a regular basis.

     We told you in a previous Newsletter that we were in the running for an AA Award and we are very pleased and proud to announce that we were awarded the AA Gold Achiever Award for our accommodation and services. For this we have all our wonderful and loyal staff to thank and so many of you who took the time to fill in the forms which enabled us to win this award.

     We also had an exciting night a few weeks ago, when one of our housekeeping ladies gave birth in camp. Thembi has been with us for a few years and named her baby boy after the paramedic, Warren, who was with her for the delivery!

     As you can see by this month’s Newsletter, it has been a very good month for unusual animals and lots of game proving that our winter is a very good time to come on safari.