The month of August offered a lot as far as game viewing goes. We have been lucky with amazing sightings. Winter has definitely broken, and you can tell summer is around the corner.  There are still a couple of cold fronts coming through, and August is known for being the windiest month in most parts of South Africa. The bush is very dry and many water holes have dried up completely. But it makes for very good sightings around the remaining water holes.

Currently sunrise is at 06:45 AM and sunset at 18:00. Temperatures average in the morning between 9 – 11 degrees Celsius. The afternoons average around 30 – 33 degrees Celsius. Windy conditions will still last into September.

Here’s a few sightings for the month of August…

The two dominant male lions in the east killed a Buffalo in front of Mateya’s water hole just after guests finished dinner. A pride of lions killed an impala and big male kudu near the river. Another pride of lions killed a young zebra not to far from the lodge. We also had black back jackal, as well as brown and spotted hyena joining in on most of these sightings. We’ve been lucky to also see a female cheetah with her five 3 months old cubs on a few occasions. The pack of wild dogs near the lodge have moved their den further west towards Thlou dam on the mountain. No sign of the pups yet, but we are hopeful the pack will bring them out with them soon. Leopard sightings also picked up nicely during the month as it’s getting drier.

We encountered four rarer animals during the month. Pangolin, just before sunset on one afternoon game drive. We were lucky with an aardvark one night on our way back to the lodge, also porcupine close to Mateya on a few occasions. We were also spoiled with two honey badgers next to our vehicle in the northern section of the reserve.

We are looking forward to the month of September. We will keep you posted.

Until next time.

The Mateya team.