5 Fantastic Wildlife Sightings at Rhino River Lodge

One of my favourite questions to ask a game ranger is “What has been your favourite wildlife sighting so far?”
After all, surely they’d have some epic stories to tell after spending several hours out in the bush each day. However, to my dismay, the rangers often come up blank. It’s not that they haven’t witnessed anything spectacular; on the contrary, rangers witness so many special sightings that it can be hard to recall them all, let alone pick a favourite. (Tough life hey?)
Rhino River Lodge Ranger, Kyle Naude’, is one ranger who is particularly good at recalling sightings. As he is an avid photographer, Kyle loves to document his sightings while out on game drives and after several years in the bush, he’s seen a lot!
Prepare to go green with safari envy as Kyle shares his top 5 sightings from his time at Rhino River Lodge so far:

Lion Cubs in the Riverbed

Kyle: “I really enjoy photographing cats, especially when they are active. At the moment, we have quite a few lion cubs in the reserve which is providing great photographic opportunities. This is one of my favorite photographs because it is a reminder of an amazing sighting we had of two cubs in the riverbed. They were playing, stalking, jumping and tripping one another, and all this happened around the vehicle!”

Male Cheetah on Patrol

Kyle: “Seeing cheetah is in my top 5 of a ‘must have’ sightings. These animals are my absolute favourite. Fortunately, we have a male cheetah that often patrols around the Rhino River Lodge area and sightings of him are always good. This particular photo was taken when he was patrolling the southern fence line, alongside two other male cheetahs from the neighboring reserve.”

Playful Wild Dogs

Kyle: “Wild dogs are always fun to watch. They are very interactive with one another and there is never a dull sighting. This specific photo shows just that. After making an impala kill, the excited dogs began chasing each other around, as well as some nearby vultures that were trying their luck with the dogs’ kill.”

Leopard on a kill

Kyle: “Although this is not the best photo in the world, it is one of the best leopard sightings I have ever had. Earlier that afternoon we had found a dead impala. Not knowing what the cause of death was, I told all my guests that we will follow up in the evening. When we returned that night we found this beautiful female leopard feeding on the impala. Everyone was in awe and we were lucky enough to sit with her for 40 minutes before we decided to leave her to enjoy the rest of her meal.”

Grumpy Black Rhino

Kyle: “Black Rhino, what more do I need to say? I think with at least 70% of the sightings I have had with these amazing animals, I’ve been mock charged. With their infamous temper, it is always exciting seeing these animals. On this occasion, I was fortunate enough to capture this grumpy black rhino making a hard effort to entertain us.”
Never a dull moment at Rhino River Lodge! Armed with his radio and camera, we can’t wait to see what Kyle spots next.

Originally published at Africa Geographic.