Animal observations in March were as successful as in the previous month. The chance to see the famous 'Big 5' is very high, even for visitors who come to us just for one or two nights. But there was much more to see.

Every time our safari cruiser went on a three hours drive, we found  each one of the Big 5 with a chance of 50% or more, except the leopard, that is spotted with a 20% likelihood, but which is still quite a good level. Sometimes you can see all of the Big 5 on a single game drive. As in recent months, the elephant is the leader. There is a large number of elephants in the reserve, and it is quite easy to see.

But Madikwe’s beauty is not defined by the Big 5 only. Statistics show other interesting animals such as giraffe (47%), spotted hyena (7%), brown hyena (18%), black-backed jackal (32%) and much more.

In March our rangers reported the following, unique experiences in the bush:

• Spotted Heynas steeling a kill from the cheetahs
• Elephant bulls fighting and swimming in the nice full dams
• Gemsbok (rather difficult to find) spotted a few times in the south
• Liones and 3 cubs eating an impala
• Lions trying to hunt on a few occasions
• Lions calling next to vehicles
• Male leopard trying to hunt young buffelo
• Big herd of buffelo (+/- 250) on few occasions
• Few leopard tortioses spotted after the rain
• Birding wise: kori bustards, African-hawk eagles, dusky lark, bee-eaters

We will remember the last month not only because of the beautiful wildlife viewing, but also because of the incredible amount of rain which fell in mid month within 48 hours. It caused for several days a disaster in Madikwe, which was handeled by everyone in a professional way. While some lodges were temporarly closed, our operation continued without interruption.

Now we look forward to cooler temperature in fall, where because of the water, hopefully the green color will stay for a while!