Singita Grumeti: March 2022

March 2022

Singita Grumeti: March 2022

March has been an exciting month, although wet at times, with the sun’s rays warming us up when they emerged from behind the storm clouds. There has been a hive of activity up on Sasakwa Hill, with lions successfully hunting buffalo just a stone’s throw from the lodge.

The Grumeti River continues to flow although a little muddier now with the elevated rain showers, and the pools and waterholes dotted across the expanse of the reserve remain full. With water and good food available all over the ecosystem, animals are covering great distances as they spread over vast areas.

Here’s a sightings snapshot for March:

Lions:

The Sasakwa Hill Pride of 11 have been spending a lot of time close to Sasakwa Lodge. The pride has been hunting buffalo successfully and recently we observed three very young cubs with this family.
The Butamtam Pride have been sighted in the central areas, as expected. Sometimes pushing east towards the Grumeti River and hunting on the banks.
The Nyasirori Pride are camped out on the Raho drainage just east of Sabora, offering some great interactions as they hunt along the edges of the drainage line.

Leopards:

Good leopard sightings this month.
Always a pleasure spending time with the Grumeti North leopards and yet again they have offered some incredible sightings.
The Mbogo male leopard has been sighted on regular occasions just west of Faru Faru. This individual is impressive. A beautiful mature, heavy-set male with a darkening coat. Such a treat to share with guests.
The Sabora Drainage male has been seen a number of times this month.

Cheetahs:

We have observed cheetah from time to time this month. The grass continues to get longer and longer making sightings tricky as cheetah individuals tend to be moving through to more favourable hunting regions.
Always a pleasure to witness our resident male cheetah on the Sasakwa plains, and we have had some great sighting of a female just west of Sabora.

Elephants:

Some really impressive elephant numbers rolling through the plains during the month of March.
Fantastic numbers observed in the western regions as well as the Sasakwa plains.
So beautiful to see breeding herds aggregating in large numbers on the grasslands during the green season.
Such a pleasure to see elephants dotted across the land, all the way to the blue horizon.

Hyenas:

The hyena interaction in the south and west of the property has been great, as you would expect at this time of year.
Great hyena viewing as we watch clans hunting the great topi herds. Such a pleasure watching these clever, calculating animals pretending not to be interested as they casually breeze past, all the while, weighing up their quarry. An occasional glance at the detail, assessing, calculating and searching for a weakness. A fantastic story to share with guests as we watch the hunts unfold.
The Nyasirori den has been particularly active this month. A number of young cubs spotted at this den in the last few weeks offering great viewing.

Buffaloes:

The great herds of buffaloes still roam the vast grasslands. There are black masses in the heavy rains as you look south from Sasakwa Hill, towards the dam. Three large herds can be seen on the Sasakwa plains.
There are large herds residing in the Sabora region and other herds observed towards Faru Faru region.
Great buffaloes around Sasakwa area have fallen victim to the lions that have been hunting in the area.

Rhinos: