How quickly has a getaway to Cheetah Plains Lodge in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve changed my mind that visits to the bush should be confined to winter, when the game is easier to see.

Summertime, and the rain has fallen, buckets of it that leave the land looking as if it has just stepped from the shower. Dust settles, waterholes fill, new shoots appear - the greening of Sabi Sand has begun.

Young bulls spar at the water's edge

It’s a time of miracles up here, for residents and visitors. Game emerges from winter with a spring in its step, inviting us to sit back and enjoy the start of the bushveld's annual cycle; watch it revel in the greening, and listen to its fanfare.

Such a contrast to the dry winter. Now, a chorus of birds celebrates a hyena mother suckling her babies, young wild dogs rolling about at the water’s edge, and an adorable little hippo snorting in a pool with its mother. Tiny impala teeter on tippy toes next to their mother, and a young rhino snuffles about in the grassland, impervious of its ever-watchful parents. A baby elephant stamps its feet in frustration as it tries to master removing foliage from branches, without tusks.

Father leopard lolls in the shade as his two sons ferret about among the rocks. One becomes bored and we follow him to where mom guards her half-eaten duiker in a marula tree. The waiting hyenas sense trouble and slink off, and a bit of a spat ensues as Mrs. Leopard tells youngster to leave her meal alone and go find his own.

The Earth is sated, trees have new coats, bellies are full, and there’s a singing in the air.