The Big 5 at Londolozi
Lions, Leopards and more in Greater Kruger National Park
A direct flight from Tswalu to Londolozi takes roughly 2 hours, traveling north-east across South Africa. We left the very dry and cold Kalahari Desert winter behind us and arrived in a, still dry, but much greener and warmer winter climate.
2 minutes from the airstrip we were greeted by a group of elephants on their way to the Sands river on whose bank the 5 different lodges of Londolozi are built.
As our Guide Nicki, at Tswalu, had told us before, you immediately realize the wildlife here is very different and more densely populated than in Tswalu. For that reason we had focused on the rarer species while at Tswalu and we’re now looking forward to see the big 5.
Our agent’s choice of lodge, the Private Granite Suites, proved perfect as always. With only 3 grand suites for a total of 6 guests it is the most private lodge in Londolozi. We stayed here for 2 nights, so were able to do 4 game drives before we left for Royal Malewane which is just 15 minutes north by plane.
Our main goals here were to see elephants, rhinos, leopards and some more lions. We were hoping to see a leopard or lion hunt again, but considering they only eat every couple of days this is always quite unlikely.
Although in the end we did not see any hunting, right on the first drive we were able to watch a leopard indulge in his kill (an Impala), which she had placed up high in a tree to protect it from the scavenging hyenas.
The sun comes up around one hour earlier here than in Tswalu, so wakeup call was already at 5:45am to be able to leave between 6:15 an 6:30 for our morning drive. Breakfast then was at roughly 9:30, and the afternoon drive as usual at around 3pm.
The second day we started with cute little lion cubs playing among themselves while their mums were sun bathing in one of the many dry river beds. The last months were very dry in this area so water is scarce. Londolozi makes sure the animals around have some extra water by manually filling watering holes from the sands river. This way they ensure the animals do not migrate away from their territories or simply die.
After a relaxing midday break, massage included (proving to be better than expected in all these lodges), we departed for the afternoon drive. There had been a bit of excitement in the camp in the last few hours, because a leopard had been active there at night. A leopard had killed an impala and dragged it up a tree at night and Staff removed it for safety reasons. Therefor we decided to try to find the male leopard which likely was still close to camp.
After some time of unsuccessful tracking, we decided to give up and make our way back, when our luck changed drastically for the better. Although we did not find any leopard, we did find multiple animals that are very hard to see, and we saw them all one after the other. (We will publish a separate article about these crazy sightings shortly.)
Our stay at Londolozi ended with another great last game drive. During the night there was quite a bit of activity among the lions, which was evident in the morning from multiple tracks all over the place and all night calling. It was clear something was going on, but what exactly nobody was too sure about. Since we had not found any leopard the day before, we decided to head out looking for one and to also keep an eye out for any signs of the lions.
Already shortly after departing we found the first tracks of lions. Better yet though, we heard a lion’s call close by which hinted us towards the location they were at. Just 2 minutes later we found a male and female lion together, separate from a pride, which excited our guide & tracker tremendously. Why, we would learn just a couple minutes later, when we were able to witness the two mating.
Later on, after some more tracking, a female leopard was found by another team, actually a group of trainees. It was hiding in the middle of some thicket but luckily these Land Rover Jeeps used on the Safaris are stopped at nothing. We managed to push right inside and watch the leopard for a little bit. Sadly she was getting lazy and ended up lying down.
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