It was a frosty early morning and the sun was yet to peek its head above the the Waterberg mountains. We left Marataba Safari Lodge wrapped in thick blankets, full of anticipation as to what the day would bring. There were fresh lion tracks close to the river, so fresh they were still wet from the lions crossing the water. As I rounded the corner I found two lionesses and their four cubs in the middle of the road! The cubs were full of life; chasing each other and pouncing o

As we near the end of the dry season in the Waterberg many of the watering holes have dried up. Consequently animals are forced along the river system and major watering holes which can make for fantastic sightings. During the night an unaware impala coming to the water for a drink fell victim to a lion and lioness at KD watering hole. After the lions had had a good feed they lay up in the shade on the other side of the main road into Marataba Safari Lodge. Visitors to Marata

Much to the rangers’ dismay the lion sightings had been very quiet for several days. Some nights we would hear them calling close to the lodge but come the morning they had disappeared into the thick bush. In the mornings we were taunted by tracks all over the roads but no lions. It was my guests’ first time in Africa and understandably they wanted to see lions. We were on the sixth game drive out of eight and I was silently starting to panic that we may not find any. Between

For the past few months we have suspected that one of the central pride lionesses had cubs. She is most commonly seen with two other females and we started seeing these two females without her; this change in behaviour is often a sign that a lioness is denning. To support our suspicions, about two months ago the female in question appeared to be lactating. What fantastic news! Our next question was. Where was she hiding the cubs? Last week a game drive spotted the female with

My morning started at 4am. The cold morning air was broken by the roaring of lions just outside of camp. The black backed jackals were yelping in warning (as though we were deaf to the thunderous roaring that had woken us). Despite my eagerness to jump straight into the cruiser to try and find these giant cats, duty called. The hot water bottles were filled, the blankets folded and the tea and coffee was made. As soon as the guests had had their caffeine fix we were off to t