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	October 2005 Dear Friends      As we come to the end of October, we have had our first small downpour of the summer. The heat built up and up over a few days and it was a great relief when it ended with a tremendous storm. Unfortunately the thunder, lightening and wind were more impressive than the rain itself as the final measurement only amounted to 24mls. There was no immediate effect on the parched earth but after 3 days the bush started to push up bright green shoots and the effect is startling. The timing in the middle of the night could not have been more perfect, however, and neither dinner nor game drives were interrupted!
	True to form, the Ximungwe Pride has been feasting on our new wildebeest population. On one occasion, they were seen killing 4 wildebeest in one skirmish and the latest exchange was 3 wildebeest during the night and one the following morning. How they are able to consume so much meat in such a short space of time is beyond belief. It will take a little while still before the wildebeest realize that lions are a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile the Ximungwe Pride is fat and flourishing. The wildebeest are still not comfortable with the Land Rovers so whenever we see the new groups they are careering through the bush at a rapid rate. They do have this unfortunate habit of doubling back so that if they run from the lions the lions will then lie down patiently and wait for their return! Not a clever move and this just compounds our theory that wildebeest must have been made on a Friday!
	The Sand River pride is also flourishing, even though they have not had the benefit of the wildebeest invasion. They have stayed with their diet of impala, nyala and kudu. We have not seen the Ravenscourt Pride for a few months now but believe from our neighbours that they are also in fine form. The Ottawa Pride is also doing exceedingly well. Counting all the adults and cubs together, our lion population has reached a total of 56, giving us wonderful consistent lion viewing.
	Leopard viewing also continues to be outstanding with the Wallingford male being very prominent during our drives this month. “Wallys” is covering huge distances now and has re-established his full territory again. The “ugly” male has not been seen recently and there are indications that he has been pushed out of this area. The Ottawa male continues to infringe on “Wallys’s” territory. He comes in along the river before turning back onto our neighbouring property. We have also received some very good news this month - the Shangwa female, which also spends time around the river, has given birth to 3 new cubs. We have not seen them as yet but wait in anticipation for her to bring them onto our area. Her previous cub, that became independent about 6 months ago, has been providing us with some fantastic viewing. She is totally independent now and makes kills on a regular basis, proving that she is a highly competent female.
	The one-eyed female that we mentioned last month has been seen again with an impala kill. She is a beautiful, small, extremely relaxed leopard and we hope she will include our area in her territory. We believe from our neighbours that she has one cub of about a month old and we wait in hope that she will introduce this cub to us. Mkwela viewing has been intermittent, as she has developed the habit of jumping the fence and going out of the reserve. She is also pregnant and we are keeping our fingers crossed that she does not decide to have her cubs in the tribal areas beyond our boundaries. If this does happen, it is highly likely that they will all come to a sticky end.

	While following the Wallingford male on a recent game drive, we happened to stumble across a young pangolin. This was a wonderful rare sight for the daytime as pangolins are normally nocturnal and very shy animals. They are one of the most rare animals viewed in the reserve. So whenever we see one, we feel extremely privileged.      This particular pangolin was incredibly relaxed. They usually roll into a tight ball protected by their scales when they feel danger but she unfolded herself, enabling the guests to take some rare and special photographs.
	During one evening drive, we picked up a dikkop in the spotlight sitting almost flat in the middle of the road. Wondering if she was injured, we investigated further. On approaching, she moved away and there beneath her wings were two tiny chicks!

		Our rangers have had several wonderful sightings of bush babies on the evening drives. Sam and his guests came across one carrying something in its mouth as it jumped from tree to tree. They thought at first that it might be a mouse although this would have been strange for a bush baby, then to their wonder, they realized it was carrying its own baby!
	Paddy encountered another one falling asleep in the tree, its lids so heavy, it could barely keep its eyes open even with the light shining on it! They are the most wonderful little creatures even though they have the nasty habit of urinating on their hands to mark their territory!
		We must apologise to those of you who have not yet ordered your Savanna Calenders. Unfortunately, we were misquoted at our local post office on the price of stamps and in order to cover costs, any more that we send out we will have to charge R120 to include postage and packing. We hope this will not put you off buying in time for Christmas. If any of you would like to purchase one, please let us know and we will email you an order form.      Please take note that we have had new telephone lines put into the lodge, which should vastly improve our bush telegraph and speed up our emailing. The new telephone number is 013 735 8700 (outside South Africa, +27 13 735 8700) and the fax line is 013 735 8728 (outside South Africa, +27 13 735 8728).
	Once again this month, we have had many repeat guests. It is always a huge pleasure for us to welcome you back and we hope to have the opportunity of seeing many more of you.      Warm Wishes      Paddy and the Savanna Team

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