A brief look through the Window into our World, at this incredible place we are privileged to call home.
Enjoy the Journey…
Author: LH Focus Online
Majingilane Male Lion Coalition
Majingilane Male Lion Coalition finishing of the remains of a Buffalo Kill.
All four Males were seen feeding together, paired with some intense growling and interaction. They were finishing of the last remains of the buffalo they had killed two days before and moved off shortly after as they were heard roaring in the distance.
Xikavi & Cub
Xikavi & her growing Male Cub were found on a Duiker kill, which she hoisted to safety from the waiting Hyenas.
They were seen lying some distance from the tree where the kill was hoisted. Xikavi kept an ever-watchful eye on her Cub, he then moved closer to his mother for some affection. He then claimed the kill as he played with the remains while the Hyena anxiously looked on for anything that might fall to the ground.
A Rare sighting!
As guides we are very fortunate to call the African bushveld home. We spend many hours every single day as witnesses to mother nature’s astonishing beauty. As much as our days have some form of routine we always expect the unexpected, and no two days are ever the same. On the 26th of May, this point was proven yet again. We had just left a sighting of two lionesses and their three cubs, we were on our way home when a surprising call came through the radio. A word I had yet to learn and had to refer to our tracker Sipho and ask what this animal was. “Ndloti?” he asked in disbelieve. After a few seconds Sipho turned around with a great big smile and said “That’s a Serval!”.
Riddled with excitement, we dropped a gear and started making our way into the area where this small cat was called in. Keeping in mind that usually Serval sightings are so quick that the opportunity for a photo slips through your fingers before you have even reached for your camera.
Well we were absolutely flabbergasted when we arrived to see that this Serval was laying down 10m from the side of the road watching us with utter content. We managed to spend about 40 minutes with her as she moved through the brush and eventually disappeared into a thicket.
The next evening we managed to find her again, not too far from where we found her the previous evening. We were observing her moving through an open area where the grass was nice and short. Her ears flickered, and her behaviour changed instantaneously. She dropped her body, raised her shoulder blades, and began a very brisk stalk. Within a couple of seconds we managed to witness her kill and consume a field mouse.
We will certainly be on the lookout for her again in the hopes that she becomes more commonly seen, and awes our rangers and guests alike with her enchanting beauty.
Photos by Hugo Breed
Video by Cameron Engelbrecht
Written by Cameron Engelbrecht
Life at the Hyena Den
Life at the Hyena Den
It is always special spending time with a Clan at their Den, the youngsters offer incredible viewing with their playful interaction & behavior.
View from the Lower Pool Deck
As we enter into the dry Winter Months, we are seeing more and more animal activity at the waterhole in-front of the Lodge. Regular sightings of Elephant, Buffalo and even the occasional Leopard, stopping by to quench their thirst.
Thlangisa & her two cubs
Thlangisa and her two remaining cubs are doing very well and she is certainly looking after them in every way, especially when it comes to meals. She had the remains of two kills in the same tree, as they spent a couple of days feeding on them. The Cubs were hidden close by as she was resting in a tree some distance from where her kills were left.
She hoisted the remains of a Kudu kill into another Marula tree and then went to collect the cubs, bringing them back to where she had the meal. The Cubs had a good look at the kill safely hoisted, but preferred the company of their Mother below.
At 11 weeks old, the Cubs are now growing quickly and doing what they do best, playing with each other and their Mother.
The previous two cubs which Thlangisa successfully raised to adulthood, named Basile & Khokhovela, are also doing very well and have occupied territories alongside their Mother’s territory.
They have been providing spectacular viewing and we will update you on Thlangisa and her two cubs as they continue on their path to adulthood.
Leopard Update
With the start of 2016 there has been quite a bit happening with the Leopards at Leopard Hills.
New Female Leopard
There is a new face within our traversing area, she is a young female leopard of a couple of years old, as soon as we have some more information on her we will be sure to update you.
Boulders Female
Boulders female has also been seen with two young Cubs of about 4 weeks old, hopefully they will grow up to be wonderful leopards with many special sightings.
Boulders Female by Hugo Breed
Thlangisa Female
Thlangisa female has given birth to another litter consisting of 3 tiny cubs, they are now about 8-10weeks old and doing very well. We look forward to following them and update you on how they are doing.
Thlangisa Images by Hugo Breed
Best Wishes for 2016!
Torchwood’s Tug-of-War….
As guides we often get the question if we don’t get bored with going on game drive pretty much every day of our lives. The answer is no, we don’t. Even though we see the a lot of the same animals on a regular basis, we see them doing something different, get to witness different behaviour and interactions between different species. We also see them grow up and develop their own personalities.
But yesterday was one of those mornings I will not easily forget. It started out slow, we spent some time at a Hyena den and watched the adults interact with each other. We patiently waited at the entrance to the den, to be rewarded with a very young Hyena pup showing itself to us.
After this we headed for a relaxing coffee and muffin break with some Hippos.
We then set of again on the lookout for more animals before returning to the lodge. Suddenly one of the guests spots a puff of dust behind us. We started to reverse to investigate and we realized it was a Leopard(Torchwood) that had just caught a Warthog. We rushed over and positioned ourselves to watch nature at its rawest unfold in front of us. While Torchwood was still strangling this Warthog a Hyena came out of nowhere and approached him from behind. Torchwood didn’t flinch and just kept his grip on the Warthog’s throat.
The Hyena saw its opportunity and started to bite into the Warthog. This continued for a while, with the Warthog still trying to escape and the Hyena feeding on its hind quarters. Eventually Torchwood managed to suffocate the Warthog and then proceeded to slap the Hyena and try and chase it away. A tug of war ensued between the two.
Eventually the Hyena ripped a leg off of the Warthog and moved off to the side, while Torchwood, who was now exhausted, started to feed as well. He then started looking for a tree to hoist the kill and dragged the carcass all the way through a drainage line and up a Tamboti tree.
None of us could really believe that we were so fortunate to witness this.
So the answer remains no, we do not get bored. There will always be something exciting happening. Especially at Leopard Hills.
Written by Hugo Breed
The “New Look” Leopard Hills.
I am very pleased to announce and introduce to you, the new look and feel of Leopard Hills.
Following the re-vamp we conducted on all the Suites over the last couple of years, we took the decision at the beginning of this year to carry on the new look and theme through to the Library, Curio Shop, Reception and dining room bar areas.
I sincerely hope you like it as much as we do!!
We look forward to welcoming you back and showing you around.
Lounge, Dining Room and Bar Area
Reception/Curio Shop
Library
Thirsty travelers stop by to quench their thirst at suite 5
During the morning Duncan had the privilege of having this amazing sighting of three Elephant bulls from the inside of suite 5.
[KGVID width=”640″ height=”427″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/DuncanElephantsroom51.flv[/KGVID]
First Quarter 2015 Ranger’s Report
The first quarter of 2015 has gone by in a flash and we can’t believe autumn is already looming around the corner. Leaves on trees have already begun to change to a beautiful orange, red and yellow colour. In the Western Sector we are waiting in anticipation to see if we will get some very much needed rains before winter takes over. Sightings of the first three months have truly been first-rate in all aspects. 
Starting with the Lions, we have a look at the mighty Majingilane coalition. These four brothers have surely shown us they are a force to be reckoned with by occupying such a big territory in the Sabi Sands. Over the three months at least one or two of them spent most of their time in our Sector. They were seen mating with both the Othawa and Ximhungwe females, and also spending time with the Othawas on a couple of kills as well as over taking a kill from the Ximhungwes.
The Othawa pride has been moving quite a bit with them being split up from each other for a while. One of the females spent a lot of time mating with some of the Majingilane males while one of the other females disappeared to give birth to three beautiful cubs. She has since introduced the cubs to the rest of the pride, their fathers and to us. They have already provided us with some special times, and we look forward to seeing them grow into magnificent Lions. The two surviving sub-adults have been wandering around by themselves, with the female joining up with the rest of pride over the last couple of days. The future of the young male is still unknown. 
The Ximhungwe pride has been their usual selves and has been traveling a lot, and even moving distances during the midday heat. The two females have been alternating between mating with the males. The youngsters have still not been seen together with the coalition.
We have also been lucky enough to spend some time with the Manghene pride, fourteen Lions in total, from the east. We had the privilege to watch them hunting and even being chased around by a big herd of Buffalo. They did manage to kill a Buffalo, which provided us with some more incredible viewing.
On the Leopard front Dayone has come back in full force, regaining all of his territory, and in the process pushing Nyeleti back East. He provided us with outstanding sightings of him stalking prey, patrolling his territory and mating with the Dam 3 female.
Kashane also came into the West a couple of times, but not staying for a long time before he returned to the majority of his territory in the East.
With Dayone pushing Nyeleti out of his territory, we have had very few sightings of him over this period.
Both Torchwood and Ravenscourt are still nomadic as they roam over parts of the Western Sector, trying to avoid the big boys. In a year or two they are going to become forces to be reckoned with.
We also had a visit from the old Camp Pan male from further East. It seems that he had been in a big fight and possibly been pushed out of his territory by another male.
Hlaba Nkunzi still spends most of her time in the East. We were however fortunate enough to see her newest cub a couple of times. We estimate it at about three to four months old. Hopefully she will spend some more time on our side.
Thlangisa up in the North have started to move a lot more with her two beautiful daughters, who are now almost a year old. She is still providing for them as any good mother should. It is coming close to the point where they will start to make their own kills and then start moving away from mom to establish their own kingdom. 
Xikavi wasn’t seen a lot this time around, and when she was seen it was in very thick vegetation.
The very elusive Dam 3 female was found a couple of times mating with Dayone. 
The young Scotia always provides us with impressive sightings, be it where she is up a tree or stalking some Buffalo, to hiding from Buffalo until they almost step on her, it is always a treat to spend time with her.
Tasselberry also has a cub which is now around five months old. They are also not seen very often. 
Sightings of the elegant male Cheetah have been spectacular with some good interaction between him and some Hyena on occasion, and him always giving us a show by either going up a termite mound or a fallen over tree to pose for the guests.
The Wild Dogs have been very scarce in this first quarter. We hope to see more of them in the upcoming months.
Hyena sightings have really been first class. Over the last couple of months we discovered two den sites, with a couple of youngsters. At one of the dens we have seen two Hyena pups that cannot be older than two weeks as they are completely black.
The Elephants are always a winner when it comes to the guests, especially the little babies. The rest of the bush has also been alive with activity from all the species providing us with superior game viewing opportunities.
Birding in the Western Sector is a treat as they are always around and busy doing something. Even when we can’t see them, we can at least hear there beautiful calls.
Video compilation for the first quarter. [KGVID width=”320″ height=”240″]https://www.leopardhills.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Firstquartercomp1.flv[/KGVID]
With this first quarter at an end we once again look forward to what the bush has to offer us and our very special guests. 
Written and compiled by Hugo Breed and Johan de la Rey