A look back at the achievements and experiences that shaped the year at Ingwelala.
A message from the team
As 2025 draws to a close, we wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support through another successful year at Ingwelala. We would also like to thank our dedicated Board Members who have unselfishly given so much time towards the success and growth of Ingwelala throughout 2025. We truly appreciate every minute dedicated to making Ingwelala as good as it can be.
We can proudly say that many improvements were made this year, and that our growth and development was immense. This has reflected across every department, whether in large steps or small and consistent developments. From securing a new rental vehicle for our fleet and completely re-building viewing sites, to slowly but surely upgrading every road sign and cairn, we are incredibly proud of the continual improvements 2025 has shown.
Our engagement and growth within the staff constituent have also been impressive, as has the continued camaraderie between staff and Members. Soccer matches at Vuka Ingwe have been very well supported, many staff have undergone training in various fields, and Members have had the opportunity to attend multiple educational information sessions hosted on site. We continue to strive towards ongoing growth and development and look forward to many more shared events and occasions.
We would like to extend special thanks to those who contributed towards the staff children at Vuka Ingwe. Thanks to your contributions, support and donations, we were able to host a successful celebration for them, including a game drive, gifts and school/developmental supplies. We were once again impressed by the spirit shown in camp, especially by those who decorated their game viewers to celebrate the occasion, and by all who joined us for our “Out of Africa”-themed New Year’s Party!
Our gratitude at the close of another year is palpable - none of this would be possible without your support, assistance and encouragement, and we thank you! We wish everyone a blessed and happy festive season, and hope that 2026 will be a year of further growth, happiness and productivity for all at Ingwelala.
Sightings of the Year
Looking back on 2025, the year has been filled with many wonderful sightings, from young pups and cubs, predators on kills, and enormous herds of buffaloes, to some incredible birding rarities, spider sensations and unusual behaviours. We thank you for your dedication towards sharing these sightings on the various platforms available.
Here are the highlight sightings from 2025, including a graph below showing some of the most recorded species throughout the year, and the frequency of sightings per month:
- In total, there were 131 recorded sightings of Southern Ground Hornbills in 2025.
- Leopard and lion sightings totalled 328 and 243, respectively, while wild dog sightings totalled 121 for the year.
- There were five recorded cheetah sightings during the year. One of these was a cheetah on an impala kill, while another was of a cheetah being chased by a family of warthogs.
- Over two days during the year, there were three leopards seen together on Fence Road, and then three leopards seen together on Beacon Drive.
- Mating elephants, giraffes, leopards and lions were seen during the year!
- A troop of baboons were seen attacking a leopard on the porch of bungalow #31. The leopard eventually escaped.
- In one evening, an aardvark, caracal, leopard and lionesses were seen within a few minutes of each other, in close proximity.
- On 14 July, there were five different lion sightings, three leopard sightings, two wild dog sightings, a sighing of a hyena and cubs, and an aardvark seen!
- Birding rarities included a sighting of a Great Spotted Cuckoo being fed by a Glossy Starling, Trumpeter Hornbills seen at Aloe Ridge, a Martial Eagle with a scrub hare kill and another with a monkey kill, a Eurasian Golden Oriole, a White-breasted Cormorant, a few sightings of Dwarf Bitterns and Greater Painted Snipes and plenty of African Openbills, Black Storks and African Spoonbills.
(Images from previous reports, courtesy of Gary Macdonald, Craig McCann, Maureen Kirk, Josh Hibbett, Viv Newell, Terry Pickard, Helen Knight, Gareth Owens, Charne Louw, Tessa Woollgar and Erica Tyler)
Infrastructure & Development
Across the Maintenance, Infrastructure and Workshop departments, here are the highlight developments from the year:
Larger-scale projects included renovations at Sibon camp, with extensive improvements to the accommodation and restroom facilities at Leadwood. Nyala house, a staff house, also received internal renovations and a new pilot roofing product called Shingles. Further roofing repairs were carried out at Corkwood and Owl, both staff houses, one of which required a full re-thatch, as well as repair-work to Guineafowl Cottage’s roof.
Within our vehicle fleet, we acquired a new rental vehicle (IVH2) from Lydenburg Toyota, who also very kindly sponsored a vehicle for field use within the conservation department. The oil storage containment area was upgraded, as was the heavy-duty towing trailer. Under the safety portfolio, our firefighting storeroom was upgraded, a new emergency assembly point was created, the fire extinguishers were serviced, and a fire safety survey was conducted. From this, it is mandatory for all bungalows to be equipped with a fire blanket and steel fire drum, hose reels to follow. It is also highly recommended that suitable fire extinguishers are available in every game viewer.
In camp, infrastructural developments included upgrading of all road signs and cairns, repainting and maintenance of various buildings, the installation of paving and new garden beds at the entrance gate, the building of a new mobile welding/workman’s trailer and boilermaker’s workshop and maintenance of the jungle gym at the swimming pool.
(Images courtesy of Tessa Woollgar, Ruan du Preez and Josh Hibbett)
Reserve Highlights
On the reserve, the highlight projects included the re-marking and placement of all boundary markers, the introduction of a new emergency access official use road on Argyle, continued maintenance to roads and river crossings and verge trimming on all roads.
Our various bomas, hides and viewing sites were a major focus this year, with Timbavati Picnic Site, Aloe Ridge, Klipspringer Lookout, and Beacon Boma having undergone extensive construction and maintenance. All restroom facilities on the reserve were also upgraded to include new toilet paper dispensers, dustbins, and soap dispensers, as well as the addition or maintenance of various screens and handrails. Various sites had new benches installed, following on from wear-and-tear or, in some cases, elephant damage.
The N’hlaralumi River has flowed an impressive four times during 2025, with rainfall well above the historical average. Reserve activities to highlight include the installation of a donated artificial Southern Ground Hornbill nest at Mermaid Crossing, veld rehabilitation projects, extensive alien invasive plant control and additional tree protection. Below are some highlight images and a historical rainfall chart showing rainfall over the past five years.
(Images courtesy of Tessa Woollgar and Ruan du Preez)
Member Engagement
During the year we enjoyed various soccer matches held at Vuka Ingwe, which were incredibly fun and well-supported as the Members took on the staff. All matches were incredibly close, with every match ending in a one-goal difference between the two teams and multiple goals per side. Thank you to all who have been involved in these matches - we look forward to many more in the future.
During the year we also had many volunteers joining the Conservation team in the field for some hands-on experience, whether with invasive plant control, tree protection or sightings monitoring. Having these volunteers join us was an absolute pleasure, and we are so grateful for the extra help, initiative, interest and rewards. Thank you to all who joined us!
We also had the pleasure of hosting various educational information sessions for Members on site, including the most popular session to-date: a live demonstration of snakes and scorpions by Tim Baynham, during which we had over 200 Members in attendance! Other talks included the use of technology in conservation, and the conservation of the African Wild Dog and what we can do to help.
We would like to thank you for support and engagement throughout the year and look forward to seeing you at plenty more events in the future!
(Images courtesy of Tessa Woollgar and Craig McCann)
Staff Development
We had the extreme pleasure of hosting our annual staff awards ceremony in May, during which staff received certificates and awards for training, new qualifications and achievements of long service at Ingwelala. Various awards for long service were handed out by our chairman, Rory Kirk, with service periods ranging from five to thirty-five years!
Particular congratulations and gratitude go to all who received long service awards - we are so appreciative of your dedication towards Ingwelala, and the value that you continue to add year after year. We are immensely proud of our staff contingent and the passion that is shown towards being the difference for all at Ingwelala!
Other staff training during the year included First Aid Level 3, Snake Capture, Financial Literacy, Firefighting experience, and Stackpile burning. Congratulations to all who received awards and certificates and thank you to the Members who attended the ceremony to support our staff - it is greatly appreciated! We look forward to continuing our development in 2026.
(Images courtesy of Tessa Woollgar and Dave Annandale)
Words by Tess Woollgar. Images as above.