2008 The Year of the Elephant and Cats
It is our second morning and I am awaken by the roar of a lion ; it sounds really close! We only found the tracks of this lion, but we had a very close encounter that afternoon on our Big 5 Game Drive. Not five minutes into the safari we were in the company of a young male and 2 females. No telephoto lens needed this day. Our safari ended with a very rare encounter with a serval hunting in the low grass. Our Big Five sightings are completed a few days later when we had both a daylight and night encounter with leopards. This was an unforgettable start to our wonderful five weeks in South Africa and Mozambique. Besides excellent game encounters, the stay was marked by dry weather with warm days followed by cool nights, and not a bug in sight.

Cheetahs are not common in the area, but we were lucky to see groups of transient male cheetahs on two different game drives. Like the lions and leopards, they did not let our presence disturb their rest. In Kruger, where we have encountered African wildcat in the past, we instead spotted a caracal and her kitten.

While cat sightings are always a lucky event, elephant encounters are expected in Kruger. The elephants reacted to the warm spell by seeking out the water holes which had been reduced to mud baths and the cool grass of the rivers. We spent our afternoons entertained by elephants eating a path to the river then splashing about. Others took luxurious mud baths while mud-caked babies and females tore down trees. Capturing one spraying itself with mud in the mid day sun was challenging, but we had plenty of time to observe, adjust settings and angles, and otherwise enjoy the elephants as they had fun.

All the guests went home with great photos, exciting stories, and the satisfaction of seeing all the signature animals of the bushveld plus some extremely high quality and rare encounters.

Morning Tea with Rhinoceros

Everyone in the vehicle is still thrilling from our encounter with the beautiful kudu and wondering what we will see next when the vehicle makes a right turn and suddenly is face to face with three rhinos in full run down the middle of the road. They do not have good eyesight and take a while (almost too long) to see us and divert into the trees. You never know what you will see next in the bush: anything is possible.

Now it is just after sunrise and we are heading out onto the private reserve to wait at the landing strip for the microlight pilot and the guest riding with him. When they land they will join us and lead us to where they spotted the herd of rhinos from air. We arrive at the landing strip only to find that three rhinos are grazing right on the strip. That was easy!

The rhinos are undisturbed as we use the vehicle to approach them upwind. The cameras are clicking as we watch the two older ones graze and the youngster lie down for a rest. Then I ask the guests if they would like to try a different angle – from on foot! We spend the next half hour or more slowly working our way around and closer to the group. Once or twice the rhinos hear a suspicious sound or catch a scent of someone and maneuver into a defensive stance: rear to rear each facing a different direction. After our memory cards are filled, we make our way back to the vehicle and leave our rhino friends to finish their breakfast while we go a short distance away to have our morning tea.

The thrill of being so close to this beautiful but dangerous animal did not leave me all day. That horn sure is big when you are looking up at it from only meters away! Encounters like this are a regular feature of our safari because the custodians of this private reserve are dedicated to giving a home to these endangered animals who need sanctuary.