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Umkumbe Big Cat Catch-up: Lion Cubs & Leopards

There is such a dense population of cats surrounding Umkumbe Safari Lodge, each lion pride and leopard with their distinct character and story to tell. Their stories are all knitted together, with long and dramatic histories. The fights, the birth of cubs, the splintering of lion prides and the solitary lifestyle of leopards makes for an incredible intricate big cat journey. The Sabi Sand is the place to watch big cat action unfold. Choose your favourite leopard, pick your favourite lion pride and follow their stories here…

Game drives at Umkumbe Safari Lodge are always jam-packed with exceptional predator sightings. Leopard’s are in abundance on the Umkumbe traverse and they have such a dominant presence around the lodge. Each leopard appears to have their turn in limelight and rangers are always there to witness a leopard’s time to shine. A male’s territory may overlap with 3/4 female’s territory’s, which means we often see more than one leopard in a sighting.

Our social and pride orientated cats, the lions, have also decided to share the stage with the leopards. As if being rewarded with leopard sightings isn’t enough, the lion sightings have been equally as noteworthy. The wild being the wild is always unpredictable, but recently Umkumbe has struck gold with its big cat sightings.

Here’s a big cat update from Umkumbe Safari Lodge:

Catching up with the Sabi Sand Leopards

Rangers have reported regular sightings of Mxabene, Tatowa and Kigelia over the past couple of months. Mxabene boasts a dominant presence and is an old school favourite with guests. He is superbly nonchalant with the presence of vehicles and pretty much “owns” his area. This male has quite a commanding presence and an absolute highlight of the week was when he casually strolled past a vehicle full of guests. His delicate body brushed the side of vehicle and he just continued his patrol while everyone looked on in wonderment!

Kigelia is a young leopardess and the daughter of Little Bush. She’s been spotted hunting and appears to have inherited Little Bush’s prowess and pouncing ability. Little Bush hasn’t been seen in a while, but then again she does have two cubs to protect and defend. Rangers haven’t had any recent sightings of White Dam but she was caught on the camera trap with her male cub!

Sightings of another majestic leopardess, Tatowa, have been reported. Tatowa is a slender and beautiful leopardess who crossed over from the northern boundary onto the Umkumbe traverse. She’s built a name for herself as quite a tough cat and is the only surviving leopard from a litter of 4. She used to wander over briefly and then return to the northern reaches, but sightings are definitely more regular now. This past week Nicki Steenberg said guests observed Tatowa marking her territory and sniffing buffalo dung. Leopard’s mark their territory by leaving claw marks on trees and by littering faeces and urine over their turf.

Just when we were getting used to the flood of photographs and information about the above leopards, in steps sightings of different leopards who’ve been on the “down-low”. These two include Mahlatini and the Bicycle crossing male. Mahlatini is renown for being more of a nomadic male and solitary wanderer, whereas Mxabene and the Bicycle Crossing male appear to be more territorial.

The Bicycle Crossing male is definitely making his present more dominant. He has been rolling in buffalo dung and grooming himself. Their territories intersect at the Sand River, which runs in front of the lodge, but they don’t overlap. Male leopards guard their territory against other males but their traverse overlaps with, on average, 3/4 females.

One to watch: I’m keeping my eye on the Bicycle Crossing male. A few months back he came right up to the ranger’s block at the lodge and seems to be fast racking himself as a firm favourite in sightings. Who will you be watching?

Catching up with the Lions of the Sabi Sand

The Charleston’s, the Southern lionesses and the Mangeni Pride have certainly wowed guests with sightings. In the past it was all about the Sparta pride and Matshapiri males, so it’s great to see these other prides on a more regular basis. And of course, the Southern Pride lionesses have a bit of exciting news…There have delivered two new cubs into the Sabi Sand!

It’s endearing to watch tawny bundles of lion cub fluff blunder about trying to establish themselves within their pride. The Southern Pride lionesses have two new cubs sired by the Charleston boys.The cubs are doing well and guests were elated to witness their playful antics in the wild. The Charleston male lions are absolute warriors and one of the males is easily recognisable by his decaying, straggling tooth which hangs from the side of his jowls.

Guests at Umkumbe have been incredibly lucky with the sightings of the two roguish Charleston boys, their cubs and the southern lionesses.

But, just when you thought the lion sightings couldn’t get much better, rangers stumbled across the Mangeni pride of lions, a pride 9 lions strong. Guests and rangers saw the pride two days in a row. The second sighting of the pride unfolded into quite a chaotic scene. The pride were stampeded and chased by a huge herd of buffalo, totalling around 400 bovines. The lions were about 200 metres away from the buffalo herd, just sleeping and then the drama ensued.

The buffalo herd became weary of the lion pride and began their chase, almost knocking them down in the process. A rather gutsy lionesses turned around and tried to hunt; but to no avail. The Mangeni’s sought refuge in a drainage line. Ranger Nicki Steenberg said, “Watching the buffalo herd chase the lion pride looked like black death approaching!”.

One to watch: I’m keeping my eye on the Southern Pride lionesses two little cubs. Let’s hope the cubs see maturity!

All in all, a successful couple of months of leopard and lion sightings for the Umkumbe team.

Unknown Nomadic Male Lion in Klaserie

An interesting sighting of an unknown nomadic male lion took place in the Klaserie on the weekend, which is exciting for the lion fanatics following the lion pride dynamics in the area. Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp are in the well known territory of the Trilogy male lions, and the female lions circulating in the area include the Ross Breakaway lionesses, the Hercules Pride, and the Giraffe Pride lionesses. This reserve is open to the Kruger National Park, which means that all wildlife has the freedom to roam without the obstruction of fences, so it is only natural that from time to time an unfamiliar face pops up.

This lone male lion was seen after dark, as nThambo guide, Luan, found him lying in the middle of the road on his game drive route. He was very skittish and uneasy and immediately moved out of the open and lay low in the bush alongside the road. Giving him some space and a few minutes to calm down, Luan edged closer and got a look at the young male as he radioed Greg from Africa on Foot and told him the news of this unexpected lion sighting. Greg arrived with his guests and both vehicles got to enjoy the sighting, although the shy male was not up for posing for photos!

It is expected that this lone, young male lion would be nervous, as he is deep inside the territory of other lions. This is a normal period of a male lion’s life – to be out on his own searching for his own territory to dominate. After puberty, males are pushed out of the pride and begin a period of life as nomadic lions, moving from place to place. We assume the Trilogy coalition is down to 2 males, instead of the original 3, and with the remaining two males occupied by the Giraffe Pride females (one male mating with a white lioness just last week), it seems this lone lion found a way in.

He is keeping very quiet and not drawing any attention to himself, as he is well aware of the Trilogy scent in the area. We are not sure if we will see him again, but we will certainly be on the look out for his tracks in the area. So far, it looks like he had spent a few days where we had found him, and had even ventured after the scent of the Breakaway lionesses which were seen at a dam nearby…

Week in Pics : Party Central for Elephants, Lions & Leopards

A common thread seems to weave through today’s week in pictures. The sightings of elephants, lions and leopards have been in abundance across all of our camps. That’s not to say we haven’t seen large ungulates, even tempered herbivores, plains game and cunning birds of prey; it’s just that the big five sightings this week really stand out for us and we’ve thus proclaimed it “party central” for three of our big five! We hope you enjoy your weekend and this week’s week in pictures.

Here are the highlights from our camps.

Ezulwini Game Lodges

There is a heavy presence of big cats in the Balule at the moment and you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s a big cat only reserve! This week, however, huge breeding herds of elephants and buffalo have been spotted grazing and wallowing. The rains gave new life to the landscape, providing ideal conditions for new greens and grasses to flourish. Plenty of food for the herbivores, which means plenty of food for the carnivores and thus plenty of scraps for scavengers.

The food chain – isn’t it harsh but wonderful?

The Van Wijk’s leopardess is becoming a regular guest on game drive and there are plenty of lion sightings of the famous Olifants West Pride. Duma, the golden-haired dominant male of the Olifants West Pride is often seen patrolling his turf and protecting the pride.

Elephants are once again enjoying the waterholes in front of the lodge and continue to stroll under the skywalk at Billy’s Lodge.

Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp

A highlight which stands out this week is the discovery of two new leopard cubs in the Klaserie. Guests enjoyed sightings of Ross Dam and her two cubs two days in a row! The mother was on a kill and the cubs eagerly helped her devour the tasty morsels of the impala carcass. They cubs are roughly 4 months old and Ross Dam leopardess is confident enough to brng them out into the open.

Good news for the lions of the Klaserie! The Ross Pride breakaway females are appearing more regularly in our Klaserie sightings. Just the other day they were seen hiding in the thickets, out of view of a herd of buffalo. No doubt they were beginning their observation stage in the stalking phase of taking down a meal. The scavengers are out in full force, but then again, there are so many big cats around with plenty of meaty carcasses to steal.

The brief rains in the Klaserie have breathed new life and transformed the landscape. The pans and dams have filled up, creating a playpen for elephants! The buffalo and plains game are also enjoying the instant availability of food sources.

Umkumbe Safari Lodge

The Sabi Sand is always a major drawcard for leopard fanatics. Male leopard Mahlathini decided to take a stroll along the riverbed right in front of the lodge! The recent rains have ensured that the river is far more full than usual, which means the vegetation surrounding the area is lush. Plains game are naturally drawn to the area because of this, which means the leopard follow suite. Ranger Nicki Steenberg captured a fantastic clip of Mxabene getting up close to the game viewer ! That’s two major highlights in terms of leopard sightings this week. Hippos, honey badgers and birds of prey certainly haven’t shied away from the limelight. A successful week for the Sabi Sand.

John Chase Safaris

As per usual, the game viewing in Botswana fails to disappoint. Days spent exploring the Moremi Game Reserve, the Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta always impress with what’s on offer. Hippos and elephants are pretty much a guaranteed sighting.

Boma Dinners at Umkumbe Safari Lodge

Little improvement is needed when you wake up in one of the Greater Kruger Park’s most sought after private game reserves, spend the day wallowing in an infinity pool overlooking an elephant-filled river, and watch leopards with their cubs feasting on their hard-earned meals; but at Umkumbe Safari Lodge, a day like this is made even better with an African boma dinner served around a dancing campfire under the stars.

Every evening (unless it is raining), guests return from their game drive and take their seats in the boma, which is lit up with lanterns and decorated with bougainvillaea petals and green gwarri leaves, and toast to their fantastic safari holiday before dishing up a delectable, home-cooked meal. The Umkumbe boma is alive with the chatter of excited voices, vibrant colours, and the warm glow of the wood fire in the centre of it all.

The cooks and service staff present the evening’s delights: dishes of fragrant chicken curry, or hearty lamb potjiekos, paired with fluffy rice and cinnamon-roasted butternut, crisp green salad, and a variety of sides. Braai-grilled steaks, sweet potato, coleslaw, and home-made bread create the mouth-watering menus Umkumbe delivers to guests every night. Dinner is served on a help-yourself basis, so guests are invited to fill their plates to their preference and take their seats at their tables.

Desert is a must-have, especially when it is the famous chocolate brownie and ice-cream. This may sound like an old-faithful recipe, but there’s something undeniably special in the way it tastes inside the convivial boma under the Sabi Sand night sky at this unmissable safari lodge.

Ross Breakaway Lionesses Hide From Buffalo

This morning’s game drive led, unexpectedly, to a pair of lionesses sneaking around in the dappled shade only metres from a big herd of buffalo. In the left corner, the Ross Breakaway lionesses lay in silence, looking eagerly through the thicket, and in the right corner, a large herd of buffalo grazed lazily in the sunlight. The buffalo were oblivious to the stealthy presence of the lions, and continued to mill around without a care in the world.

What started out of a buffalo sighting just outside the entrance to nThambo Tree Camp, turned into the game drive highlight as it became obvious that these buffalo were being stalked by the Ross Breakaway lionesses. The cats lay secretively in the bush and almost got away unspotted, but the guides in these parts are expert game watchers and word soon spread that the herd of buffalo was not alone!

Only about 50m away from the feeding herd, the lions lay and watched carefully. At first they were in separate positons, both well hidden from sight, but after a while one lioness got up carefully and padded over to her sister where they greeted and groomed one another briefly before locking eyes on the target once more.

The guests at Africa on Foot were out on a walking safari at the time, but news of the lion vs buffalo sighting came through on the radio and the walking guests were soon picked up in a game viewer and taken to see the lions and watch them watching buffalo. After a long time lying carefully and quietly in wait, the lions picked up on the movement of the buffalo, and without hesitation they rose and crept along in the herd’s wake.

Soon enough, the animals were out of sight and the show was over. Africa on Foot guests continued with their walking safari and nThambo guests went on to see all sorts of other wildlife before heading back to the lodge for breakfast. This just goes to show how much we might not see if we don’t look hard enough! We hope to follow up on the lions and buffalo, and perhaps we will be reporting a kill in our next blog!

Ross Dam plus TWO leopard cubs on a kill at night!

How do you top this? A leopard sighting on its own is something to smile long and hard about, but when you follow the distinctive alarm call of a jackal and arrive at a full family of these elusive spotted cats, you really count yourself lucky! Exactly this happened when guests at Africa on Foot guests interrupted their dinner at the lodge to follow up on a noisy jackal calling not far from the lodge. Greg and Enoch knew unmistakably that the jackal was alerting the night to the presence of a leopard, so they packed their guests back into the game viewer and followed the sound of the alarm call. It didn’t take long to arrive at the incredible scene and see Ross Dam female with not only one, but two leopard cubs!

This regularly sighted leopardess has been seen with a single cub on a couple of occasions, but it turns out that in fact there were two cubs and we were seeing, only one at a time. In the darkness, the mother leopard and her two cubs fed on an impala carcass, unbothered by the presence of their admirers.

One cub is a male and one is female, and they are about 4 months old. Greg first caught sight of one cub at about a week old while he was leading a walking safari back in January, but until now, no one has known about there being a sibling to the little male. The female cub was more timid than the male, and she is a little smaller in size, which is normal for a female leopard. The male has two spots above his whiskers on the left, and a rather dramatic ‘smudged’ eye marking on the right. He fed alongside his mother, and pounced playfully around a termite mound, giving guests many fantastic photo opportunities.

After a long time enjoying this rare and beautiful sighting in the Klaserie wilderness, Greg took his guests back to camp where they turned in for the night and slept peacefully before their morning walk in the wild!

Week in Pictures: Changing Seasons

The weather is slowly turning, and the extreme heat of the African summer is beginning to subside. Temperatures are dropping, and game drive guests now require an extra layer of warmth when they set out into the wild in the mornings and evenings. There is a sense of relief among the human and animal participants of the safari world, and the proof is in the pudding – lions are less fatigued, and we’ve had some interesting interactions from Chobe and all the way down to Kruger!

Elephants have emerged in abundance, and our guests have watched them flock to the water and feed on the greenery with visible gratification. Birdlife is, as always, a spectrum of colour and singing calls in both Kruger and Botswana. After such an extraordinarily hot summer, it seemed impossible to imagine the bitingly cold winter mornings, and – let’s not get ahead of ourselves – winter is not yet here, but a cool breeze in the early evening is very welcome! Here is the Week in Pictures…

At Africa on Foot, the incredibly rare and unusual white lion became a feature on game drive as she and a Trilogy male lion, accompanied by a second lioness, ambled into the Klaserie. Both lionesses were in oestrus and the male was dutifully performing his role. A memory of Africa in the making! nThambo Tree Camp, sharing traverse with Africa on Foot, enjoyed the superb lion sighting equally, as well as some fantastic visions of vultures, elephants enjoying the renewed vegetation, and a hippo found returned to a recently filled dam.

Ezulwini River Lodge and Billy’s Lodge have received some magnificent lion action with the constantly dynamic Olifants West Pride. Numerous leopards have also paraded their spotted beauty for guests in the Balule Nature Reserve, and herds of every-sized elephant have plodded and tumbled across game paths en route to and from water.

At Umkumbe Safari Lodge, the presence of leopards is unsurprisingly constant. It’s been a fantastic week on all fronts, from the smallest of insects, to the big cats of the bush. A video of lion cubs trying to suckle from their tired and cranky mother was featured this week, while on the photographic front, we’ve appreciated some of the less dominant members of the safari bucket list. Take a look…

On the Botswana side of the border, things are just as dramatically beautiful as our prestigious Kruger Park. John Chase Safaris – a welcome new addition to the Sun Destinations portfolio – is taking the safari world by storm with their diverse, luxury mobile camping itineraries, spanning the country from Nxai Pan, to the Chobe River. This week, in Chobe: more lion activity, elephants galore (of course, this is Chobe after all), a spectacular sunset, and an up close experience with a spotted bush snake!

Know Before You Go : 3 Facts About Lions at Ezulwini

So you’ve booked your safari at Ezulwini Game Lodges and you’ve decided that lions are a definite “must see” while in Africa. Being the ultimate super-predator, seeing a pride of Panthera leo in the wild is a memory that remains etched in your mind long after your safari is over. Before departing for the ultimate safari in the Balule, we’d like you to take some time to understand general lion pride dynamics and what the traverse surrounding Ezulwini has in store for you.

When you understand how wildlife functions, their natural instincts and their historical stories; it makes your sighting far more meaningful. All of the below photos were taken over the past 4 days! Proof that the Balule Nature Reserve is buzzing with lion activity at the moment.

3 Facts About Lions at Ezulwini Game Lodges :

1. The traverse around Ezulwini River Lodge and Ezulwini Billy’s Lodge is home an abundance of lion prides. There are mega-prides of lions and smaller prides which are split offs from the mega-prides. Duma is the leader of the Olifants West Pride of lions and certainly puts the other males to shame. Having fought off many males attempting to oust him from his place as dominant leader of the Olifants West Pride; sightings of him are always top of the list. He is often seen wandering around with his pride or taking time out to patrol his turf. Bestowed with an incredible mane, he is one of the most recognised male lions within the area. Good lucking finding him!

There are many split-off prides from the Olifants West Pride of lions, which are also seen on a regular basis. The lions of the Balule truly are a good-looking bunch. Their mottled tawny colour fur makes for interesting markings.

So why are other males trying to fight with Duma? It’s quite common behaviour with lions. When male cubs within a pride of lions reach the age of 3, they tend to be ousted from the pride and they’re expected to lead a nomadic lifestyle, often together with ousted males from other prides or their brothers from within their own pride. At roughly at the age of 5 the sub-adults begin to search for territory and prides to take over. Lionesses remain within a pride for life, but they have been known to split into cliques/groups.

If a male wants to lead a pride he’ll often kill off the cubs within a pride and battle with the dominant leader. Killing off cubs encourages the females to breed again and continue the new lion’s bloodline. Taking over of a pride can happen with coalitions of brothers who will end up ruling the pride.

It’s a cruel fight for survival in the world of lions. This is why you’ll often see smaller prides in the Balule, males in tight coalitions and lionesses roaming together. What complex social structures these lions have!

2. When you stumble across your first lion sighting in the Balule, it’ll probably be a bunch of lazy cats lying around under a bush. Lions spend up to 20 hours a day resting. They expend a lot of energy during their territorial patrols and the take down of prey, which is like an intense high-impact workout for them.

Although they appear half-asleep and relaxed they’re actually incredibly alert. When you’re in the game vehicle, watch them carefully. It’s quite interesting to watch how they stare or react to even the slightest suggestion of movement. This is why your rangers urge you to sit still in the vehicle at all times!

3. If you happen to witness lions mating, just be aware that it’s a very tiring for them. The pair will mate every 20 minutes for up to 4 days. Each “session” takes about a minute. The courtship ritual is quite laughable. The male follows the female, sniffs her, tries his best to cuddle and the lioness generally takes a while to roll over and accept his advances!

It’s quite common for the male to become exhausted from all that copulating and another “brother” from his coalition will come in and take over the mating duties. That is why you often see two lone lions with a lioness. A dead giveaway that there might be a bit of love brewing…

Elephant Pool Party in the Klaserie

It’s unbelievable how the brief rains in the Klaserie completely transformed the bush. The dams and waterholes slowly evaporated until they were merely cracked shells of their former existence, and after a decent downpour, many of the pans and waterholes have filled up and retained their water providing ample place for water-loving elephants to swim. The elephant sightings at Africa on Foot have soared since the rains, and guests have enjoyed numerous sightings of them splashing, drinking, and swimming in the water.

They show their emotions on an almost-human level. Youngsters become overjoyed at the sight of the water and throw their weight around to get as much splash as possible, while the older siblings challenge each other with head-to-head wrestling matches. It is all in good fun and high spirits as they celebrate the presence of the water. Ranger Mike explains this to his guests as they sit in the game viewer and admire the elephants surrounding them. Another memorable moment out on game drive!

White Lioness Spotted Mating with Trilogy Male

This is breaking news if there ever was any: One of the Trilogy male lions was seen mating with a white lioness this morning, as guests at Africa on Foot and nThambo Tree Camp enjoyed front row seats! It’s not everyday we get to witness the rare white lion unique to this region in Africa, and to watch them (hopefully!) procreating is a real bonus. Having the freedom to roam the Kruger, the Trilogy males and the Giraffe Pride have moved around to where they would be most comfortable during the drought, and now, after a bit of rain, we’ve the lions nearer their old territory.

The Trilogy is assumed to have lost one of its members. The last sighting of the third male showed him in a poor condition, after battling through the drought with an injured hip, and the remaining two males have since been seen without him. These male lions were seen last week feeding on a buffalo carcass with the Giraffe Pride and their cubs (sired by the Trilogy), and since leaving the carcass, one Trilogy male has partnered off with one of the white lionesses and the happy couple wandered back into our traverse.

A second Giraffe lioness was seen with them, and it is thought that she might also be in oestrus and waiting to mate with the dominant male lion. The sun was rising with a perfect glow, capturing the lions in the best light and giving the Africa on Foot and nThambo guests a superb show.

The furious growling and snarling sounds penetrated the air, and the flirtatious flicking of the lioness’ tail demonstrated just what her intentions were. The pair of lions will dutifully mate over several days at regular 20-minute intervals, becoming a tiresome, yet necessary part of life at the top of the food chain!