February 2026

With February closing, Summer is technically over and Autumn is here. February has been an extremely hot month, which is typical for February, just as expected. Our temperature highs went up to around 38’C (100’F) and lows of around 18’C (64’F). We had a fair amount of rain this month, as we had hoped for and it looks as though the new month is going to bring some more rain! The rainfall for February was 72mm. The bush is still looking lush!

We have had some great game drives this month again. One of the more memorable game drive moments was a miserable looking morning, clouds hanging low and a constant, soft drizzles, just enough to feel it dampen your clothes. However, we still went out and had an amazing game drive. We spent quite a bit of time at the Tufa caves, a big family of baboons were playing around and going about their business all around the cave and its surroundings. We caught glimpses of the young brown hyena, and he slowly got increasingly curious, eventually getting right up next to the baboons. The baboons did not seem too upset about him, but instead the young brown hyena looked a little bit cautious of them. It was great interaction to see.

After our visit to the cave, we started making our way back towards the lodge as the weather was slowly getting wetter. As we drove around a corner, we saw some Zebras staring across the road, and then we saw what they were looking at, a beautiful, big male leopard. The leopard was not interested in them and just continued across the road and into the bush. We drove around to another road where we anticipated he might pop out, and we were spot on, he was sitting under the smallest of shepherds’ trees, smelling something that caught his attention. At this point, the rain had gotten heavier, but we hadn’t even noticed it with the excitement of seeing this beautiful cat!

It starts to feel a little suspicious when we have more sightings of leopard than wild dogs, and perhaps we spoke a bit too soon in the last ranger diaries when we said that it looked as though the wild dogs were not looking to venture west, because they did and they were not a common sight for us in the east this month. I guess we can’t have it all! Despite the wild dog’s scarcity in the east, we did still manage to see them this month. We are also slowly heading into the wild dogs denning season, so as we do every year, we are expecting to start seeing less of them in the next couple of months as they prepare to head to their den-sites for the cooler season. But hopefully not too soon.

The lions have been quite vocal this month, and having timed it just right, we would find them as the sun starts dipping to the horizon. The reason for this, is that these big cats are most active at night. So, as the afternoon cools down and the colours of the sky soften whilst the sun slowly sinks, this is the time when the lions start to yawn and stretch after a whole days long nap. As they get up and get ready to roam the night, there is a good chance that they will call out to announce their presence or perhaps to wait for a response from other lions in the area. We were fortunate enough to be there in this moment. To see the lion’s ears peak up, because he is listening for something in the distance. The whole world goes silent around you and the next moment you hear this deep, thunderous bellow of a lion calling from just 20 metres away. You don’t only hear it, but you feel it as though the bass of the call is tickling your belly and shaking your bones. In that moment, you are absorbed by the sound, a sound you will never forget but ache to hear again. Just one of the many memorable sounds of Africa.

Another memorable sound that must be noted is that of a hippopotamus! We had spent one afternoon to take a trip to the river in search of these big animals. After driving all along the river and not catching a glimpse of them we had stopped to look at something and from where we had just driven past, we could hear the hippos. It was almost as if they were laughing at us because we had driven right past them. So, we went to take a closer look, and we were not disappointed by the view. There were only two of them, but they put on quite a show. Opening their mouths to a full 180 degrees to show us their teeth. And then as if to tell us that they want us to move on so that they could find their way out of the river without an audience, they started to make that deep grunting sound, along with the loud snorts and almost like a wheezing honk. Their fearsome and powerful calls can reach up to 115 decibels which is often compared to the intensity of a rock concert or a siren! So not only has it been a great month for sights, but also for sounds that you could feel in your very bones!

Until Next Time!

The Mateya Team