We pride ourselves on accuracy here. Correcting people on the difference between a leopard and a cheetah. Identifying pretty much every single thing out here. Getting the Latin names right. Using the correct anatomical terminology for why a lion’s dewclaw is structured the way it is. We spend years becoming experts in the wild so that we can share what we know with confidence.
And then we spend basically half the year calling it winter when it isn’t.
I caught myself out on this during the game drive this morning, saying “now that winter is in full swing”, along with a few rangers also referring to winter being underway for some time now in a few different blogs and TWIP write-ups. We’ve all been at it since May, talking about the cold mornings and the dry air and “winter is coming” (said with a Northern English accent), as if we are collectively living in Winterfell of The Game of Thrones.
The Flat Rock Male on a territorial patrol as he walks through a misty crest on a cold winters morning.
Here’s the thing, though: winter only started yesterday for us in the southern hemisphere. The 21st of June. The winter solstice. That is when, by every astronomical and meteorological definition, winter actually begins. What we’ve been experiencing since May is the tail end of autumn.
Let’s be honest — “autumn at Londolozi” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. And I get why we collapse everything between May and September into one big “winter” in the way we talk about it. The days get shorter, the mornings get cold, the grass dries out, and guests pack their fleeces. It feels like winter. It feels like it has always felt like winter. Which apparently has been enough for all of us to just… agree that it is.
On a misty morning as the sun rose, these zebras grazed in the morning light.
Except it isn’t. Or wasn’t.
What makes this slightly worse is that this particular “winter” has been, as winters go, remarkably underwhelming. We’ve had five days of it dropping to 8 degrees Celsius. Five. And every single time it has risen to a delicious 25-27 degrees Celsius by midday. I’ve had colder mornings in September, which is technically still winter, and is the one part of this whole thing I think we’re actually getting right.
This pair of Fish Eagle perched on a branch together in the midday sun. This pair are often seen soaring over the lodge, and if not, their distinctive call is hard not to notice
So here we are. Ranger team corrected. The official position of this blog, as of today, is that winter has only just arrived. We’ve been in autumn this whole time. I’m sure we’ll call it winter again by next week, but at least for this one brief moment, the record is straight.
Sean Zeederberg
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