Weather and Landscape
The first two weeks of February were very dry, continuing on from two months of no rain. Until the middle of the month, the days were also rather warm: we recorded the hottest day of the year on the 13th when temperatures soared to 46°C (115°F)! When it finally rained on the 17th the change was remarkable. On the 19th we received about 68mm (2.5 inches) of rain, which was enough to fill some of the pans. A day after that the bush came back to life, with frogs calling in all the pans, White Storks marching about and Lesser Spotted Eagles in every second tree. The bush is now covered with a lush green blanket, studded with wild flowers.

Although it is wet now, more rain is still needed to fill the pans to their capacity, and to fill the ones that have no water at all. We always pray for more rain, and if this prayer is answered we will have incredible game viewing at Pafuri this winter. It seems that global warming is affecting our weather patterns and making this year's wet season very dry. But despite the climate change, Pafuri remains the best true African bush experience, with amazing biodiversity.

Wildlife
As usual, big breeding herds of buffalo are seen everywhere in the concession. The buffalo number up to 300 in a herd. The two old buffalo bulls are essentially part of the furniture, and are seen almost every day in front of camp. Hippo are also seen almost every day in front of camp, and sometimes also during the night, when they leave the water to graze. A couple of breeding herds of elephant were seen before the rains, but now only bulls are occasionally seen on areas of higher ground within the concession. Eland sightings were not common this month, but towards the end of the month we saw a herd of about 60, with lot of youngsters, at Manqeba floodplain.

Big cat sightings have gone down a bit this month, probably because the bush is thick and the antelope have dispersed and are no longer concentrated along the river. The Pafuri Pride, which numbers 12, was seen five times this month. We also saw the two sub-adult lion a few times. We saw leopard, on average, every three days - which isn't great, but certainly better than not seeing leopard at all. Other interesting mammal sightings include: African wild cat, African civet, white-tailed mongoose and black-backed jackal; African rock python drinking water from a puddle in the road, and a large spotted genet with two babies.

Birding
Birding is always phenomenal at this time of the year. The migratory birds are still around and some of the water birds are coming back because the pans are filled with water. I am almost tempted to say that Pel's Fishing-Owls are no longer rare birds at Pafuri, because we are seeing them now during the day at their roosts - sightings from the road no less. We also saw a Bateleur feeding on a big snake, possibly a snouted cobra.

Enos Mngomezulu