20 - 21 April

Felines beloved felines and a wonderful abundance thereof!

It helps that we have a trio of leopards not two hundred meters from camp but they were merely the beginning! Without fail our first port of call, we took a gander to Inkanyeni and upon our arrival found her and her two cubs all lying up in the riverbed close to the kill.
The little male cub was the most active, stalking squirrels and making a general nuisance of himself.
Not only had his mother gone through great pains to kill a large impala ram, but also a draining feat of dragging the kill out of the open and into a dense spike-thorn thicket away from prying eyes.
Our little champion decided the kill was inappropriately placed and proceeded to exert every ounce of energy and power he could muster to drag the kill out into the open and down into the riverbed with mom simply looking on, for this is how we learn!

It was straight to the west from the kill where lions were plentiful.
While Jaces travelled further north in pursuit of the Styx pride, we meandered towards the far western boundary where the Breakaway pride was lounging about in true lion fashion.
Jaces tracked the Styx through dense brush as they marched along, occasionally lying up in little clearings they encountered.
The Breakaways literally slept from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. But when you’re watching three lionesses and a total of nine cubs, it matters not...

On the way home we stopped on Safari airstrip for a sun-downer and star chat. The moon is fast waning, giving way to the milky-way and blanketing the sky with a billion little lights. While we sat in awe and gazed at the heavens the Majingilanes (four male lions) started roaring somewhere to the east of us and truly completed the setting.
Pleased we returned home.

This morning began much in the same way yesterday did. Only, a hyaena added itself to the mix, sending leopard cubs scampering up trees and the mother into a dense bush.
The hyaena dragged heir hard earned kill away but after a hundred meters or so stopped to feed. It broke off a large chunk of hindquarters which must have been enough for it sauntered off and left the majority of the kill behind.
Inkanyeni used her great sense of smell and tracked down the carcass. She dragged it to the closest Marula where she stood and pondered hoisting it for an age.
She eventually changed her mind and gave off a few gentle, almost inaudible snorts, summoning her cubs to which they responded, leaving us with a fantastic view of mother and two offspring, safe and sound together and right next to the vehicle!

Then it was to the west again where we spent the rest of the morning with a rowdy and playful bunch of lions known as the Styx.
After having a deadly encounter with the four Majingilane male lions the entire pride had moved further westward and were now all together on Knob-thorn open area where the three cubs chased each other around and repeatedly coaxed the fat-bellied adults into play.
It was truly a magnificent sighting and by far one of my best lion sightings, as the pictures will show!

We truly cannot wait to get back this afternoon; hopefully everything will play itself out just as this morning had!