We again had a knock on the door at 5am, in the morning & during the day we don’t need an escort to or from our room, just when it gets dark. Although there is an electric fence around there is no gate. We had our cups of tea / coffee & hopped onboard, we were back to the middle row & Richard & I have swopped sides. Today’s objective was to find Rhinos in the daylight. Not far out of camp, Thomas spotted prints from a large herd of buffalos so we changed directions & found them, not the same herd as yesterday but just as many, but closer. After spending a bit of time with the buffalos we headed to the east. You spend a lot of time looking at changing scenery on game drives but when you encounter the animals as we have it’s well worth the approximate 7 hours you spend in the Jeep per day. We found the rhinos which actually were the same 3 we’d seen in the dark, a mother, her daughter & her adopted daughter, whose mother they believe was poached for her horn. Shaun said it took a long time for the mother to adopt her. Again magical to follow them for a while, watch them drink & eat, we even spotted some birds “hitching” a ride on their backs. Whilst with the rhinos we’d heard lion calls, not close enough to worry the animals but close enough to warrant investigation, we had a call over the radio that another Jeep was following 2 lions, we headed off with the view to “meet them” somewhere on the road but as it was getting later they stopped so we looked for them & found them fairly near a herd of Zebras & impala‘s near a water hole.

A brother & sister, the male not currently having a large mane, which is dependant on how stressful his life is, & won’t get really thick until he’s about 5 years old, this one was about 3.
After a really successful morning we stopped for a coffee & toilet break again being able to get out of the Jeep. There had been more tracks sighted for wild dogs which we did follow for a while but they then went bush & we lost them.
We arrived back at about 9am for breakfast, I had the pumpkin flapjacks with honeyed nuts & maple syrup. We then returned to our lodge.
Richard did go to the gym & I relaxed & wrote my diary. I was feeling a bit dizzy, not sure I’ve been drinking enough water, it’s been difficult with the game drives but I have made sure I’ve drunk a lot today.
We had a nap & headed over to the restaurant for afternoon tea, we saw Shaun our guide talking to a couple who joined us, Lucy & Shaun who have been on lots of safaris & lots of places in Africa, Lucy plans safari trips. I asked if we could find some hippos which we did, 5 we think, they were in the water & would dive & then re-appear, a couple did play fight so I got a shot with mouth open. We then headed off in search of leopards. We spotted a platoon of baboons eating the Amarillo fruit. We got a radio call to say the leopards had been spotted & we headed to them. It was the mother with her 2 cubs, the cubs we’d seen the previous day. 1 cub had eaten & was panting in the grass at the base of a tree, the other cub was up the tree with an impala, which the mother would have caught & taken up the tree, the mother was also in the grass at the base of the tree & we heard growls every now & again & think she was growling when the cub dropped some of the food. We were parked fairly close along with another Jeep when a hyena arrived. Both the mother & the cub on the grass sprang to their feet & headed off into the bush & the hyena wasn’t interested in them only the food.

The cub in the tree just carried on eating. It happened quite quickly & the hyena did attempt to climb the tree & got a few feet off the ground which Shaun said he’d never seen before. Eventually the mum returned & climbed the tree which was amazing to watch, the cub was growling, she carried on higher into the tree & then turned around on the branch & eventually settled down to give herself a wash, she was so beautiful.
There were also a large amount of vultures around, waiting for their turn at the bones. We headed off to have our evening drink, Richard a G&T & I had Amarillo & ice which is rather like Baileys.
We headed back to the lodge, via a track that wasn’t used very often & was rather winding, Richard & I were in the front & Shaun the guide ducked but didn’t say anything (usually we get warnings of branches etc) & then Richard was hit in the head by a night jar bird, no damage just a bit of a shock, Shaun did apologise & said he had a choice to duck or get hit himself!! We’ll forgive him as he was driving. We then discovered the reason for the track as we were taken to a location where our dinner was set up in the bush, it was a fairly open area & again a lovely clear night so we were able to see the stars & watch the moon rise, magical, the moon has been a full moon, which Lucy & Shaun called a wolf moon. Shaun again joined us & we sat as a group for dinner, the tables had lanterns. A guard was available to accompany us to the toilet & also on hyena watch, we actually saw a hyena making its way closer to the dining area as we drove back to the Lodge. It was a buffet with help yourself salad for entree, a bbq for main including Kadu which I had & was lovely & Richard had chicken Peri Peri & boerewors sausage, with pumpkin wedges, mixed vegetables & pap with a tomato sauce. Richard was really excited as it was sticky toffee pudding for dessert.