Leopard’s View Diary

To read the full diary from when we started please click here

SUMMARY

April - May 2010:  After good rain at the end of March and through into mid-April, the bush has remained lush and green. With plenty of food and water everywhere in the bush the grazing animals have been widely spread. However, we have still managed to see baboon, buffalo, lesser bushbaby, duiker elephant, giraffe, hyena, impala, black-backed jackal, kudu, lion, steenbok, tree squirrel, vervet monkey, warthog, waterbuck, wildebeest and zebra.

Sightings of giraffe and lion have been excellent, plus superb rhino and elephant. We had our first sighting at the lodge of a hyena, although after its abortive attempt to find food in the kitchen Iris and Lucia now keep the outer screen door shut. That glorious lowveld winter climate of warm, sunny, dry days and cool, clear, refreshing nights is here and is a welcome change from the heat and humidity of summer. The Lodge gardens are looking better than ever.

In our time at the Lodge, we have seen …..  34 mammal species at or near the Lodge, including the so-called ‘Big Five’ (and have seen 3 other species elsewhere in Balule Nature Reserve); and have identified 93 bird species at or near the Lodge (and several others elsewhere), and have seen quite a number that we did not observe closely enough to identify with certainty.