Category Archives: Memorable sightings

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Magnificent Lion Encounters

Whenever we tour our country’s premier conservation areas the magnificent Lion is usually at or near the top of our guests’ wish lists, and in this respect our Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June certainly did not disappoint. We can reflect on some terrific encounters with the King of Beasts!

Lions after dark, surveying a nearby herd of wildebeest using a termite mound as a lookout point.

Being out of camp at first light gave us and our guests the best chance of finding lions on the move; still active before the warmer parts of the day lulls them into a sleepy mood which doesn’t provide the best photographic opportunities. As an added bonus the golden light of early morning, just as the sun rises above the tree tops of the savanna, really shows the lions off in a most regal glow!

Sunrise catches the royal family of lions

Magnificent Male Lion

Young male Lion

Lioness on the move

Magnificent Male Lion

On our final excursion from Buffelshoek, on the day that our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari concluded, we were treated to one of the most memorable lion sightings you could ever hope for. In a large clearing we came across a notorious group of lions consisting of three brothers with a very close bond, their half-brother and a half-sister which had broken away from a pride in neighbouring Sabi Sands and were now roaming across Manyeleti and adjacent reserves resulting in some nervous tension with the prides currently staking claim to those territories. The beautiful males and their very imposing female sibling gave us a show that we will all be thinking about for a long time to come!

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Two of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

The female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males and the female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

The female from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Three of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

Three of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride with a very affectionate bond

One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride

It is experiences like this that will continue to call us back to Manyeleti and we’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Hunting with Painted Wolves

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One of the absolute highlights (yes, another one!) of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari and workshop was the time we got to spend with three hunting African Wild Dogs – or, to translate their Latin scientific name, Painted Wolves – and a bunch of opportunistic Spotted Hyenas who had much trouble keeping up. We followed along for many, many kilometers and were astounded not only by the dogs’ fascinating behaviour but also by how well our guide Beckson knew the Manyeleti’s roads and tracks and how expertly he anticipated the dogs’ movements, time and again putting us (Hannes Rossouw and myself) and our guests in perfect position to photograph the frenetic action!

African Wild Dogs in playful mood before starting their hunt

African Wild Dog, or Painted Wolf

Painted Wolves on the hunt

Spotted Hyena looking a little winded from trying to keep up with the dogs

Spotted Hyena

We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!

Manyeleti Magic 2024: A Leopard Surprise!

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Midday on the last full day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari this past June we were whiling away the hours in Buffelshoek Camp, our base for the trip, photographing a variety of birds including a pair of very obliging Pearl-spotted Owlets, a pair of Red-billed Hornbills feeding their chicks in their mud-cell nest, and a family of Cardinal Woodpeckers. Our group of eager photographers were certainly kept very entertained and busy!

Red-billed Hornbill at the nest

Red-billed Hornbill nest, opening almost entirely enclosed by mud

Yellow-billed Hornbill

Cardinal Woodpecker

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Pearl-spotted Owlet (showing eye-spots on the back of the head)

It was the commotion of a group of Vervet Monkeys that moved through the camp just minutes before that first alerted us to the fact that something dangerous was about. We soon picked out the shape of a Leopard moving through the long grass, headed for the waterhole just outside of camp. Pretty quickly we were all – cameras at the ready – in the open safari vehicle and on our way towards the beautiful but very shy animal. It didn’t drink long and crept down into the drainage line, disappearing from sight.

Leopard

We searched high and low for it for several minutes, but the leopard vanished just as quickly as it appeared. If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.

If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Rhinos and Oxpeckers

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With poaching still an enormous concern in South Africa it was wonderful to enjoy a couple of great sightings of white rhinos during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari in June.

White Rhino

White rhinos

White Rhino cow and calf

White Rhino

Invariably the rhinos we saw were accompanied by both red- and yellow-billed oxpeckers that were not at all shy about the intimate spaces they were inspecting for ticks!

Red-billed Oxpecker inspecting a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Red- and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers sharing a rhino

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Cheetahs

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We had two terrific late afternoon Cheetah sightings during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June. Our guests were most appreciative of these two beautiful models!

Our first cheetah sighting of the trip was courtesy of this male patrolling and marking his territory. We could follow along for quite some distance and our guide positioned the vehicle expertly for great shots, even in the fast-fading light.

Cheetah

Our second cheetah sighting of the trip was of another male using a fallen Marula tree as a vantage point from which to check for prey or danger – we never figured out which it was as he disappeared from view in a thorny thicket shortly after jumping off.

Cheetah

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Abundant Buffaloes

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The Manyeleti Game Reserve has a large population of buffaloes and we encountered several enormous herds of these bulky bovines while exploring the reserve on our recent Manyeleti Magic photographic safari. Being able to venture so close to animals this intimidating is always a thrilling affair.

One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong

A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective

Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead

Old Buffalo bull

Buffalo cow with interesting headdress

Buffalo calf

Alert Buffalo bull

Buffalo cow

Young Buffalo bull

Manyeleti Magic 2024: A massive serpent in an idyllic location

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Late afternoon on the third day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photo-safari we were driving through a most beautiful spot of towering trees lining a stream and waterhole, with the most glorious golden light illuminating the scene. It was a little slice of paradise filled with various animals and birds and it is hard to describe just how blessed we felt to be there in the moment.

Giraffes congregating at the water to drink

Giraffe checking out the water before drinking

Nile Crocodile basking on a sandbank

Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole

Hippopotamus cow and calf

Hippopotamus calf

Our guide Beckson was the first to notice an enormous Southern African Rock Python slithering across the two-track road we were on. It was a magnificent specimen and must’ve only very recently shed its old skin as it was now resplendent with shiny new scales amplified by the golden light of the afternoon sun. With pythons, especially this size, being a rare sighting we all got off the vehicle and our guests had a chance to photograph the enormous snake from all angles before it moved underneath an old leadwood stump and disappeared from view. A most memorable encounter; the kind of which we’ve learned is pretty much par for the course in the magical place that is Manyeleti!

Shiny new scales on a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari

The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari

Just look at the size of this Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari!

Finally seeing a Pangolin in the wild!

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Last month, while travelling between Elephant Sands Lodge and the Sua Pan in Botswana during Gospel on Safari, a life-long dream of mine was realised when I finally had the chance to see a Pangolin in the wild!

Ground Pangolin

Ground Pangolin scales

Ground Pangolin rolling into a protective ball

Smutsia temminckii – The Ground Pangolin

Sadly, the Ground Pangolin is being threatened with extinction and is currently listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Like other kinds of pangolin their populations are being driven downward by illegal trade for mainly superstitious medicinal uses and as a high-end delicacy. Farming practices, electric fences and road deaths are further threats to these enigmatic animals. In South Africa today they’re found mainly in the Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and northern KZN, with populations in the Eastern Cape and Free State now feared extinct, while their natural distribution stretches beyond our borders as far north as Chad and Sudan.

Fully grown Ground Pangolins measure between 70 and 110cm in length, stand about 30cm high on all fours and weigh between 5 and 18kg, with males being considerably bigger than females. They feed on ants and termites, breaking open their nests with the powerful claws on their front feet and lapping the insects up with a tongue that is longer than the Pangolin’s body! They inhabit any habitat that has an ample supply of their favoured food items, being found from semi-deserts to the edge of forests. They do not need to drink.

As their name suggests, Ground Pangolins are strictly earthbound. They rest in tunnels that they dig themselves or take over from other animals. They plug the entrance to the tunnel from inside when using it. If caught outside they will roll up into a tight ball, their hard, sharp scales serving as excellent protection. Pangolins have wonderful senses of hearing and smell, but poor eyesight, and are solitary animals except when mating or when a mother is with her offspring. Females give birth to a single baby at a time, which she carries around with her on her tail for much of the first months of its life. They live to about 12 years of age in the wild.

Watching Black Mambas at Domtshetshu Pan in Botswana

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While camping near Domtshetshu Pan in Botswana recently, as part of Gospel on Safari, I took a stroll towards a muddy part of the waterhole, where I found two Black Mambas – one of the deadliest species of snake on the planet – wallowing in the mud, drinking from little pools and being very coy with each other. The snakes paid me no notice at all, making me think that they probably have never seen a human before – what an amazing thought! Later, one of my fellow campers joined me at the sighting and still the snakes acted as if we weren’t even there.

Black Mamba

Black Mamba trail

You just can’t tire of seeing Lions

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No matter how often you visit our national parks and game reserves or how many encounters you have with these regal cats, you just don’t get blasé about seeing Lions in the wild. Our most recent visit to the southern Kruger National Park earlier this month delivered some very exciting and some not so exciting, but still very memorable, sightings of Lions.

Our first Lion sighting of the trip came at the bridge over the Nwatimhiri River, where a small pride of lionesses and youngsters were lying in the long grass and trying their best to blend in with their surroundings.

Lioness in the Nwatimhiri River (photo by Joubert)

Lionesses in the Nwatimhiri River (photo by Joubert)

Lionesses in the Nwatimhiri River

Not much further we found the Lubyelubye pride walking along the road with a cavalcade of vehicles following them. As they walked past our vehicle they were close enough to touch, not that we’re foolish enough to ever attempt that – watch how carefully Joubert videos the passing procession from inside the car! 😉

The Lubyelubye lions walking along the road, just north of Lower Sabie Rest Camp

Early the next morning we were on our way from Skukuza to Tshokwane when we came across three lionesses stalking a zebra in dense growth. The zebra did not notice the lions until it almost step on the closest one, but it still got away! Thrilling to watch for us but I thought I saw a rather miffed expression on the faces of the lions…

Lions failing at their zebra hunting attempt

Lions failing at their zebra hunting attempt (photo by Joubert)

Sometimes you have to work really hard for even a glimpse of a lion, as this one relaxing in the shade in the heat of the day proves.

Being out of the camp gates as soon as they open improves your chances of finding the lions up and active. On our final morning in the Kruger National Park we found this group of 4 lionesses walking over the Sand River Causeway.

Lioness in the dark of early morning

We were still wondering where the males associated with the group of female’s we’d just seen could be, when we found these two lazing on the Marula Loop road only about 2km further.

Very tired male lion wondering why he decided to sleep on the road… (photo by Joubert)

Very tired male lion wondering why he decided to sleep on the road…

And then getting up to find a quiter spot for his early morning lie-in (photo by Joubert)

If seeing lions in the wild is on your wish list we’d love for you to join DeWetsWild on a guided tour of the Kruger National Park or to help you arrange a self-guided visit. Don’t hesitate to reach out!