Arathusa Safari Lodge blog

It’s been another fantastic few weeks in the northern Sabi Sand, with many a great sighting and lots of fun.

We’ve been fortunate to have had many lion sightings in recent weeks, as the Majigilanes (the four male lions named for their tendency to walk in a straight line) continue to show their dominance over their new territory. The coalition has been seen mating with the Styx lionesses, which will hopefully signal the end of all the killing that has taken place in the area over the past few months.  It seems as if they are settling down nicely, which should serve to stabilise the lion population within our area. From a game viewing point of view this is good news indeed.

In terms of leopards, all the usual suspects are still going strong. Mafufanyane had a tussle with Tyson a little while ago, but he managed to escape the ordeal largely unscathed. It looks like the old man still has some say in the area.

Mating time has arrived for a few of the females. Thandi has been seen ‘getting it on’ with Mvula, Ntima with Mshagwen and Salayexe with Tyson. Hopefully these unions will bear fruit in a couple of months, so that we’ll have new cubs to share with our visitors. Safari is doing okay, although she is taking a bit of flack from other females trying to encroach on her territorial boundaries.

We’ve had great sightings of white rhino, elephant and buffalo over the past couple of weeks. Short Horn was found in a very bad state one day last week. He had scarring on his face and body, and was barely able to stand properly. He must have had a fight with another male in the area. It may even have been Skew Horn, who is still relatively to the area. Short Horn was seen a few days later walking and feeding normally. His wounds had all healed nicely, leaving him with with nothing more than a bruised ego to contend with.

The kills in the area have also been pretty impressive over the last couple of weeks. The Majigilanes killed a buffalo not too far from camp, which provided a day or two of brilliant viewing. Although only three out of the four lions were there, as the other one was too busy mating with a female in a different area to think about food. Mating lions don’t normally have room on their minds for anything other than reproduction, mating about every twenty minutes for days on end.

Two of the rangers were lucky enough to witness Safari kill an impala very close to the airstrip one night.  She then – with the casual ease of a seasoned huntress – placed the kill in a Marula tree and fed on it for a day, before Ntima (another female leopard) came in and stole the leftovers from her. This was bad news for Safari, as not too long ago she was seen killing a grey duiker only to have the Styx pride steal it from her.

The lack of rain is clearly evident in the dropping levels of the waterhole in front of the lodge, with most waterholes in the surrounding area suffering a similar fate. Although this is to be expected during the winter months, as it isn’t our rainy season.  August is living up to its name of being a windy and dusty month. The Knobthorn trees are starting to blossom, resulting in the usual bout of hay fever for those prone to suffering from the dreaded lurgy.

We hope to see you soon.

Warm regards from the team at Arathusa Safari Lodge.