Lions of Sabi Sands

[Xiku_kutsu]

Yet another incredible outing here at MalaMala. We had 3 lion sightings, 1 leopard sighting, a herd of elephants and buffalos, and giraffes all over the show.

The first highlight occurred right in front of the lodge as we were having morning tea and coffee before departing for drive. 3 lions (1 Northern Avoca male and 2 Kambula lionesses) were walking right in front of the main area of the lodge past the swimming pool and into the Sand River.

Once on drive, we headed into an area where a female leopard (Island female) and her cub are usually seen. After a bit of tracking, the alarm calls of francolins gave away their position and we located them. They were in a very playful mood and were jumping on top of each other and onto trees as they moved along.

The mom later left the cub and was looking to hunt some impalas in the Sand River. We watched as she crossed the river and made her way onto the opposite bank. But while she was moving about, 3 lionesses (Kambula lionesses), different individuals to the ones seen earlier, were also walking in the river a mere 100 metres away. It was an incredible sight as the lions were moving towards a herd of buffalos, the leopard was moving on the other side, and there was also a herd of elephants in the distance. 4 of the Big 5 in 1 sighting!

The lions lost interest in the buffalos and so we let them be. After the lion sighting, we went into the last known location where the 3 lionesses left their cubs. But unfortunately they were hiding really well and we couldn't locate them. But not too far away from where the cubs were suspected to be, we bumped into some more lions (2 Gowrie/Birmingham males) resting. Their movements were minimal and so we let them be and returned back to camp.

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