The Week In Pictures #660 – Londolozi Blog

Golden light at sunrise perfectly framed one of the Ntsevu lionesses as she led her latest litter of cubs approaching us from across an clearing.

After waiting patiently at the wild dog den, the pups emerged for only a brief moment to be fed, before disappearing back into the den – full-bellied and satisfied!

Having a longer lens in this particular sighting would’ve been beneficial, but I think I made it work simply having the 70mm-200mm. This particular buffalo bull seemed to attract the crowds, and for the most part he didn’t seem to mind one bit.

A fairly large, relaxed elephant bull slowly moves across the open grasslands.

While spending time with the two full-bellied Ndhzenga Males on a buffalo kill, we spotted a curious Nottens Male on the periphery of the thickets who had come to investigate the scene. Safe to say all my images from that sighting were of the Nottens Male in all his beauty, and none of the successful lions hehe!

We could not help but be entertained by these four utterly adorable cubs that were attached to their mother’s hip!

Terrapins and a hamerkop rest on the back of a hippo in the late afternoon heat, surrounded by a background of greens and reds from the duckweed that covers many of the low-leveled water holes at this time of year.

The horizon on fire. Nothing beats closing down for a sunset drink “sundowner” in the open grasslands to take in the simple magnificence of the sun’s rays as they refract light for the final few moments in the day.

The face of concentration. We seemed to be positioned perfectly to capture a look of intent as the Nottens Male’s spotted an Nyala in the distance.

As temperatures began to drop for the afternoon, the Kambula pride stretched and yawned and proceeded to walk across a firebreak. The dust from their steps, remnants of the burnt bushwillow leaves and backlight all created a rather unique scene and halo around the pride as they approached.

Pausing on the boundary.

One of Nkoveni’s cubs rests on a fallen tree trunk to avoid the dewy grass in the early hours of daylight.

Turning a fallen tree into playground.

One of my favourite sightings of buffalo is finding them while on approach to water. Nothing beats looping up ahead of the herd and simply watching them approach the water’s edge in the hundreds…

Towering above the clouds.

A rather unexpected find to the start of drive, we spent most of the morning following this cheetah. The short winter grasses, and aftermath of the firebreaks allowed us to have an unobscured view of this cat.