The Malilangwe Reserve is home to very healthy black and white rhino populations and, while black rhinos are more reclusive than white rhinos, every guest spending a few days at Singita Pamushana can be near guaranteed of having unrivalled wild rhino viewing.

The sun was setting and the pack of wild dogs left the riverbed where they’d spent a relaxing afternoon, to go on an early evening hunting foray. We left the area too as it was getting dark, and following a hunting pack as they disperse in all direction is near impossible. They fanned out through the scrub, and we trundled off down the track, heading homewards.

Sitting in Hwata blind (our sunken photographic hide) is an incredible way to wait for animals to come and drink, especially when the heat beats down on the earth and scorches the last bit of moisture out of almost everything. At this time of the year one can sit in the blind and always have something to watch, from the endless amount of doves that just seem to keep coming to drink, to the almost resident impalas around the open areas of the pan. It’s always great to see this action, but of course the action that we all hope for is the arrival of the bigger pachyderms.

Painted wolves (Lycaon pictus), also known as African wild dogs, rely mainly on their sight to hunt, therefore they need a certain amount of light. They prefer hunting at dusk and at dawn, as midday temperatures are often too high. Very often, as seen here, the pack will find a cool spot not far from water, and spend the heat of the day resting nearby.

Summer is the time that the reptiles become active and we are definitely seeing more of these fascinating creatures now that the temperatures have increased and the rains have arrived. The rains and new plant growth have increased the numbers of insects present and this has provided more food items for the lizards.

Spotted hyenas are infamous for scavenging from other predators! They go about their lives, opportunistically looking for the weak and injured, as well as any chance to rob large felines and canines of kills they make. Popular belief regarding hyenas is that they hunt and scavenge in clans, but here in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve we often see them roaming around alone and only see them in clans at their den-sites, around waterholes, or after calling for backup if the predators outweigh them in numbers or strength around a carcass!

Living ‘bush’ allows us to watch the ebb and flow of nature taking her natural course with the circle of life. It is such a privilege to experience the unique feeling that we are a small part of an animal’s life. Over the last seven years working at Singita, I have watched leopards come and go in various Singita regions, true to the peak and trough of leopard populations in the wild.

Walking in general is good for your health so you find that most people love it, but they don’t take it to the lengths I do. The most exhilarating part for me when I am walking is that all of my senses function at their extreme, and this is when I completely connect with nature.

This is an amazing little animal that has the speed of greased lightning! The slender mongoose is the most ferocious of the mongooses and is frequently seen, on game drives, crossing the road at high speed, undeniably recognised by its speckled russet colour and black-tipped tail.

The Malilangwe Reserve is home to very healthy black and white rhino populations and, while black rhinos are more reclusive than white rhinos, every guest spending a few days at Singita Pamushana can be near guaranteed of having unrivalled wild rhino viewing.

The sun was setting and the pack of wild dogs left the riverbed where they’d spent a relaxing afternoon, to go on an early evening hunting foray. We left the area too as it was getting dark, and following a hunting pack as they disperse in all direction is near impossible. They fanned out through the scrub, and we trundled off down the track, heading homewards.

The zebra is one of the iconic animals of Africa and is one of the creatures that people on safari are keen to see. They are extremely beautiful animals, with their black and white striped patterns. Zebras belong to the family Equidae and the plains zebra, which we find in our area, falls in the genus Equus. They are diurnal, black and white, striped, plains-loving, grass-munching horses of the African savannas!

As an avid lover of lions, I am extremely excited to report that we saw a total of 89 lion sightings in January. The lion Prides were spread out across the reserve, in pursuit of the grazers who are seeking shorter grasses. The grass has grown quite substantially this month after some rain in December, giving us wonderful coverage of the reserve. We’ve observed that the Prides are still split up. Yet, we have had some new male arrivals and movement of males between Prides.

I saw this female leopard at the beginning of the Raho Drainage with a large male Thompson’s gazelle kill. She stayed with her kill in this tree for three days, peacefully basking in the glory of having a constant meal to eat. On the third day, however, the Butamtam Pride (which has a total of 18 members) walked towards the leopard’s tree seeking some shade to cool down.

Sitting in Hwata blind (our sunken photographic hide) is an incredible way to wait for animals to come and drink, especially when the heat beats down on the earth and scorches the last bit of moisture out of almost everything. At this time of the year one can sit in the blind and always have something to watch, from the endless amount of doves that just seem to keep coming to drink, to the almost resident impalas around the open areas of the pan. It’s always great to see this action, but of course the action that we all hope for is the arrival of the bigger pachyderms.