Mother Nature can be a cruel queen at times, however every move she makes on her chess board is for a purpose. We may not know it at the time, but as her game with life continues, we begin to see the bigger picture she creates.

Great sadness fell over the Pilanesberg when a truly majestic creature fell after a battle between two male Elephants. Elephants, usually the phantoms of the bush, move as silently as air and melt into the bush like molten gold, in this instance however they dramatically became thundering forces of the Pilanesberg.

Two elephants went into battle one morning in April. They fought for many hours throughout the afternoon, continuously colliding with a powerful energy that was both fearsome and brutal. As the day came to a close, so did the battle between the two giants. As the last light shone through the grass, it created little warmth for such a cold time, as one of the giants of the bush took his last breath.

Checkmate. The king had fallen. For many weeks many did not understand nature’s move. However, as time went on we began to understand the game as we began to grasp that this was the first move that caused many other pieces to fall into place. The elephant was just the first sacrifice.

Many animals began to come from far and wide to feed on the dead elephant. The rarest of them was the Brown Hyena which could be seen from morning till late evening constantly feeding. During this time, Mother Nature worked her wise medicine. The hyena went from being in a very bad condition with open wounds, to being fat and healthy with its wounds healing swiftly. Other animals such as lions, jackals and smaller animals slowly arrived to feed, and bit by bit the next move in the game of life was made by putting nutrients back into the earth.

Even in the sadness of death, the elephant sustains other life, as well as starting new life. Even though winter started off with a cold atmosphere, it has brought fantastic sightings of brown hyena, as well as lion, around every corner, making a trip down the Bakubung access road an adventure on its own every single day.

Written by Amy Upton from Bakubung Lodge. Start your adventure here: lstyl.com/yFr7Cy