August 2025

Pamushana Lodge

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Pamushana Lodge: August 2025

Spring is in the air – early blossoms are open and the calls of the first migrant birds have been heard. It’s a joy to see vultures sitting on their nests atop the highest trees, and to see a resident pair of crowned eagles preparing their nest in a stately baobab once again. The grass is the precise colour of lions, and the dappled greens, yellows and coppers of mopane leaves provide the perfect invisibility cloak for leopards. The weather is warming up properly with some high midday temperatures, and the August winds have breezed through.
A sightings snapshot for August follows:
Lions
Lion sightings have been excellent – so much so that one game drive saw three different groups of lions during a morning drive in the areas of Nduna Dam, Lojaan Dam and Hwata Pan.
  • The Nduna Pride of three males, six lionesses and a nine-month-old cub were seen together, and split up in various factions during the month. We watched with bated breath when the pride was at Nduna Dam and a herd of buffalo came to drink. Ultimately the buffalo saw the lions and chased them away.
  • The River Pride leave tracks all over the Hippo Valley side before diving into the swamps or the river! On one occasion 12 of them were seen, two males, six lionesses, and six sub-adults, sleeping in the shade near Ngwenyeni Pan. There’s a mating pair within this pride, so perhaps there’ll be more mouths to feed before year’s end.
  • The three Nduna males feasted on a buffalo north-west of the Banyini, keeping a wake of vultures and hyenas waiting their turn.
  • The mane-less male lion was seen walking from 02 Camp, past Nyari, before resting below the hills.
Leopards
Sightings have been few and far between this month, other than a few quick glimpses, but a couple of highlights were:
  • A magnificent male leopard with a kill, feeding on top of the rocks at Lojaan Dam.
  • A female leopard crossing the road in front of a game-viewer, and then sitting on the side of the road for guests to get a good look at her.
  • Watching white rhinos and two spotted hyenas at Banyini Pan, when a female leopard crept into the scene for a drink.
Wild dogs
The large pack of 24 wild dogs have stolen the show this month! Their ten pups are doing well. Highlights include:
  • Watching the pups play with an old impala bone, before the whole pack set off to hunt, then seeing the adults kill an impala ewe. The meal was devoured in a matter of minutes.
  • Hearing a wild dog calling, then seeing it on the track ahead, then seeing five more, then watching as they fetched the pups and led them to a warthog kill.
  • The eight adults of the Hippo Valley Pack were seen hunting in the Machurini area along the bank of the Chiredzi River. They were in hot pursuit of an impala which they killed, fed on and then crossed back to the Hippo Valley side, and headed west.
Rhinos
White: Every game drive can count on seeing white rhinos, which is an extraordinary situation. There are a few tiny calves at the moment which are adorable to watch, especially when they show energetic exuberance.
  • An unusual sighting was at Kim’s Crossing where two white rhinos were on the riverbank. One went up the steep bank then tried to come back to join the other, but took a different route down, stumbled, and tumbled all the way down. It seemed okay once the noise and dust had settled.
Black: Black rhinos are on many a wish list for our guests, and fortunately sightings of them have been very good. There was one drive this month that saw seven black rhinos in total!
  • There was a fearsome showdown at Hwata when two adult bull black rhinos had a fight. (However, it didn’t seem to bother the two adult male lions just 200 metres away, that were looking very full and lying in the shade of the mopane trees.)
Elephants
Breeding herds: It gets a little more challenging to find breeding herds during the dry season when food and water become more scarce, which leads to smaller family units staying together to find resources. The river area, the swamps, and the periphery of the dam are the areas to search and have offered great rewards.
  • There was a herd of more than 40 elephants at Croc Creek near the lodge, heading to the dam, where they drank and splashed water on themselves to cool down.
  • Another herd of more than 40 elephants was near the swamps area, feasting on pods from the umbrella trees.
  • Bull elephants: Various large bulls have been spending long hours during the heat of the day dominating the pumped water sources.
  • It was interesting to see two old elephant bulls together with a very young bull.
  • A bull elephant in musth challenged a male white rhino at Hwata Pan. The rhino at first stood its ground but the elephant proved himself by not giving up and eventually the rhino fled.
Hyenas
  • There is possibly a hyena den near Malevula Hill, but we are yet to see cubs emerge.
  • The guaranteed place to see hyenas this month was on the Banyini when eight of them were kept waiting by three male lions to abandon a buffalo carcass.
Brown Hyenas
There have been regular sightings of brown hyenas, so much so that they can be added as a category to this sightings overview!
  • A brown hyena was seen throughout the morning in the vicinity of the Nduna lionesses as they fed on a buffalo kill.
  • Another great sighting of a brown hyena was at Chikwete Pools.
Buffalos
Herds of about 400 buffalo have been seen regularly, north of the dam, in the swamps and along the river.
  • One game drive saw three separate buffalo herds on their morning drive. The herd at Nyamasikana Pan was bullied away from the water by a breeding herd of elephants that came to drink.
  • A lone buffalo bull was seen swimming across Nyamasikana River.
Plains game
There’s no better time to see plains game as it is dry and they are drawn to the limited grazing and water sources.
  • A herd of more than twelve Lichtenstein hartebeest have been drinking regularly at Chiloveka Dam.
  • A herd of sable antelope and three hartebeest were grazing between Southern Straight and Bandama Roads.
  • More than 20 giraffe were drinking together at Nyamasikana Pan.
  • Eland, sable, zebra, wildebeest and impala have been gathering at Hwata Pan.
  • The warthog population has rebounded and it’s wonderful to see them down on their front knees mowing the grass, or dashing off elsewhere with their aerial-like tails pointing high in the sky.
Birding
  • There been some good sightings of black-chested snake eagles (Circaetus pectoralis), but a highlight was seeing a long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis).
Boat cruises
Our boat safaris prove to be popular adventures as guests relax, enjoy sundowners, and look for birds and animals while the boat moves along at a gentle pace. It is the best way to get close to hippos, crocodiles and birds without disturbances.
  • Terrapins have been seen in vast numbers, lining the edge of the water or fallen trees, and enjoying the sunshine.
  • Buffaloes, elephants and waterbuck have been seen on the shoreline this month.
  • An incredible sighting took place when guests were watching a pod of hippos. In the background, a pride of seven lions appeared walking along the shoreline, intently scanning the area for prey animals.
Fishing
  • The water is warming up, and the fish are biting! Bream, catfish and a few snappy tigerfish have been landed, and a lot more have not!
  • Taunting one of the fishing parties was a giant kingfisher that dived into the water and pulled out a medium-sized bream. It then proceeded to knock the fish repeatedly on a branch to kill it and tenderise it, before swallowing it whole.
Rock art
  • Visiting the rock art on the property is always a fascinating experience and it invites one to reflect on where we’ve been, and where we are going to, as a species.
Unusual sightings
  • A honey badger announced its presence atop a termite mound before dashing away.
  • A very unusual visitor was a grey-headed gull seen flying above the water of the dam, feeding on the midges at sunset.
  • Also, a Palmnut vulture was seen at the northern end of the dam, close the hippo skull area.
Photographic hide
  • Our hide and the pan underwent some maintenance in the early days of August, and we were as relieved as the animals when it, and the source of water, were restored. It can be active throughout the day, as well as before and after sunset, and the light changes as steadily as the diversity of thirsty birds and animals.
Gonarezhou National Park
Not only did our guests see the Chilojo Cliffs and many other special landmarks, but they also saw elephants, wild dogs and a leopard!
By Jenny Hishin
Author / Field Guide