“There is a huge elephant that died of a natural cause,” explains Rhulani’s ranger Ralf as he drives towards the place where apparently this colossus was lying in the bushes. It will be one of those unique, unforgettable game drives in Madikwe you are waiting for.

The little black-backed jackal has lost its prey, a newborn impala, in the middle of the road we were about to drive through. We wait and watch as the jackal comes back and fetches its prey.

Three young lions in the bush and their mother is in search of food. The little ones have to stay together, but they have a great time here and play together. Soon mummy will be back.

Leopards are quite shy. That means you have to be a lucky to see this big cat on a safari. But it also means that maybe we find an animal that we have hardly seen before. And so a pretty young leopard appeared in our area and offered a show that our ranger Ralf had never seen before.

We suspected it for a long time, and yet it is a shock for us. By far the oldest lioness in the Madikwe Game Reserve, also known as “Mgogo Mika”, died at the end of this week. The proud lioness has reached an age which is almost biblical for the wild. Mika died just a few days before her 20th birthday.

We observe this female kudu from our hidden Tshembo Hide. The shy antelope seems to have discovered us, because it looks constantly and a little nervously to us, and also puts its big ears in our direction.

Cruel scene on our safari trip, and still according to the laws of the African bush and wildlife. Four cheetahs take down an adult male impala. The antelope has no chance against the big cats. We know that this is the mother cheetah, that teaches the three cubs how to keep the prey safely under control so that it does not escape again.

In a beautiful, hidden spot, a mother lion with the three little cubs are enjoying the time together. Time to cuddle and play.

Elephants are intelligent animals and know exactly where to get the freshest water. There is a fresh water pipe at our water hole. The elephant sticks its trunk on it and lets it be filled. Pretty clever!

These pictures were taken up close from our underground hiding place at the waterhole. Two warthogs visit us to eat soil, which provides important minerals for them.