We are proud to announce that Pondoro Game Lodge was voted as one of 5 finalists in the category "Luxury Game Lodges" in the prestigious World Luxury Hotel Awards which was held on the 18th of October. Voting was cast by a select panel of 50 leading tour operators and travel industry consultants. October is a month of extremities. It is either, the month of joy and happiness when everything starts to go green after the first good rains or it can be dull and dry with the heat of summer sucking the last bit of energy out of everything that still dares to be alive. This is one of those years where the bush seems to be going into a depression and the never-ending screeching of cicadas seem to amplify the drought and everyone's expectation for rain. The breeding herds of elephants that left us during August seem to be slowly returning and the 1st herd was seen on the 6th of October. They went northeast into Kruger Park to feed on the Mopani shrub and their return means that the whole area are suffering from the drought and that the elephants are now wandering far and wide to find enough to eat. Knob thorn trees are the only trees that have started to grow new leaves. The leaves, however, are out of reach of the bull elephants that still frequent the area and the only way to reach them are to topple the tree. This behaviour now saves a lot of smaller browsers like kudu and impala as there are very little else to browse upon at the moment. We enjoyed good lion sightings as always, but it seems that the newborn cubs of Kokwana must have died as she seems to have stopped lactating and she has also joined up with other members of the York pride. Big Boy, one of the dominant males of the York pride, were seen mating with the Mother Lion on the 14th and he was also seen mating with Kokwana on the 24th, so hopefully we will see some new arrivals within the next few months. The York Pride has split into smaller groups. They probably get more kilogram of food per lion for energy expanded by being in smaller groups which is to our advantage as our chances of finding them are much better because there are more groups around. Buffalo were also seen regularly, mainly small groups of dagga boys. Rhinos were seen daily and guest enjoyed good sightings of rhinos on walks as well. Highlights of the month: 3 October: 4 Lions on a buffalo kill at Duke's pan. 4 October: Lions on the kill at Duke's pan. 5 October: Guests saw lions on foot and Big Boy, the dominant male, gave everyone an adrenalin spike when he gave a warning charge. 14 October: Guests saw an African Hawk Eagle making a kill and thereafter 2 Wahlberg's Eagles swooped in and took the kill away. 14 October: Saw a Zebra giving birth. 15 October: 1 Female Cheetah. 16 October: Saw 2 young male lions killing a warthog. 23 October: Saw 4 lions at a Zebra kill. 25 October: Saw 2 lionesses killing a warthog close to Hamilton's North. All photographs were taken by Robbie Prehn during October 2008 while on game drive with guests.