One memorable incident involved a brown hyena’s daring escape from hunting lions amidst the marshes, a testament to the unyielding survival instincts.
Sparse sightings of spotted hyenas within the woodlands were supplemented by abundant tracks along the game routes, indicating a bustling hyena presence.
During August, one lion pride visited Lebala several times. The pride consisted of three adult males, two lionesses, and five subadult cubs. We saw the lions with full bellies, indicating successful hunts in the marshes, where they caught an impala and a reedbuck on separate occasions.
We also encountered a mother leopard with her two cubs playfully roaming the Lebala landscape. We enjoyed watching them in various locations, and they were incredibly relaxed around our vehicles. The enigmatic tracks of other hidden leopards crisscrossed our game drive routes, hinting at the presence of these graceful yet mysterious creatures within the depths of our surroundings.
Guests witnessed two male cheetahs hunting impalas successfully, but they have since ventured northwards towards Lagoon Camp. We also observed two females that preferred the safety of the west and avoided lion territories.
The place of wide open plains
Lebala’s open plains were home to various wildlife, including giraffes, lechwes, elephants, kudus, warthogs, jackals, and buffaloes. The area also offered rare sightings of eland, roan, and sable antelopes.
We saw multiple crocodiles and water monitor lizards gliding through the water. Other animals we spotted included steenboks, bat-eared foxes, aardwolves, African wildcats, scrub hares, genets, spring hares, civets, caracals, and servals.
Birding enthusiasts were delighted to see black-winged stilts and African jacanas gracefully flying, and the mesmerizing sight of carmine bee-eaters and white-fronted bee-eaters marked the arrival of summer visitors. A nesting pair of secretarybirds at Kubu Pan became a cherished treasure, and we visited their area frequently. There were also black herons, slaty egrets, squacco herons, grey herons, darters and cormorants.
(Please note: For the safety of the animals, we do not disclose the precise location of either rhino or pangolin sightings. Accompanying pictures are from our Kwando Photo Library which consists of all your great photo submissions over the years, it may not be the most up to date, but we felt it was worthy of a feature alongside this month’s Sightings Report!)