Malcolm Bowling

The beginning of June has arrived - the month of my Botswana adventure. I can hardly believe it is at the end of this month. So much to prepare! Our drive this morning was quiet but awesome. Tracked a female leopard from the lodge this morning. No success.

My favorite Sycamore Fig in the area - est. 600-700 years old!

Ndumiso & Agnes making some delicious gluten free flapjacks

Yesterday was beautiful - we have moved from Duncan, the Lodge Manager's house into one of the suites - room 13 to be exact... one of the best rooms overlooking the rocky outcrop where the leopard was seen on the first day!

Here are some photographs that I took yesterday morning and evening drive. We were fortunate enough to see two big black maned lions on a small buffalo kill - the visual was not great hence no photographs were taken.

A young hare lying very still in the grass

Male Bateleur effortlessly gliding past

These incredible 'blue balls' below vary in intesity due to serotonin levels in the males I have heard. They pale as they lose their mating dominance  - very important to their status!

How 'blue' are these balls?

I went onto Kingston for the first time since Charlston was lost as a traversing area - really sad about it but Kingston really does have some wonderful open areas, drainage lines, and a track along the Sabi River. Stunning trees and an active hyena den that is well occupied with adults and varying ages of youngsters.

A little male hyena

As we returned last night from game drive there was a male and female leopard on the grass next to the swimming pool. The female then climbed the prominent marula tree outside the bar and lay down on the brnch while the male was below the camp in the bush being less relaxed. This was the same female that was 'sawwing' to attract a male a couple of days ago - see photo below. Many guests were standing on the verandah sipping on a glass of wine watching this unbelievable event.