5 September
AM
It was a gloriously sunny morning, despite the icy nip in the air. You could tell the game was waiting for he sun to rise before venturing out. They thought it was a much better idea to stay in thicker bush to stay warm. When the sun did eventually start to warm the bush, the general game started making their way out into the open. After that, we saw a menagerie of species, just about everywhere. Everything from kudu to warthogs were out and about, either grazing or heading towards water. At Twin Dams, we've been seeing a family group of Bateleur Eagles. The male, female and juvenile are often perched atop a branch in a dead tree, warming themselves in the sun, or watching for prey. As we made our way back to Vuyatela, we stopped to watch a pair of hippos that have been in Gowrie Dam for the past few days.

PM
W made our way over to the Kruger Boundary, this afternoon, where we joined a herd of elephants near Milkberry. The group of about 15 elephants were meandering along, feeding. An older bull had managed to catch up with them. He was walking from female to female; hoping one would be receptive to him. Unfortunately, they didn't seem too interested in him, but he was pretty persistent with them. There were several young calves in the group, who stayed close to their mothers as they crossed the road ahead of us. One of the Manyeleti male lions and a Sandy Patch lioness were lying up at Khaya Manzi. There has been so much mating going on between these two groups of lions, that there must be cubs on the way at some time. After dark, we were very lucky to have two separate sightings of genets. One was sitting atop a log, hunting something in the grass, and the other darted across the road in our headlights.

6 September
AM
This morning, the sky was overcast and a chilly breeze was blowing. We headed onto Buffelshoek, where we spotted the cheetah mom and her four cubs, near Tortoise Dam. Mom was on the prowl, as the three youngsters tagged along. There was a herd of impala, nearby, which she had spotted and was approaching stealthily. Suddenly, the cubs could no longer contain themselves. They went chasing after the buck and unfortunately ruined the hunt for mom. She went running after the cubs and decided to give the impala a go anyways. She chased after them, and disappeared into the bush. The three cubs climbed onto a termite mound and waited patiently for their mom to call them. When she did, we followed the cubs to her location. She didn't manage to catch an impala, but seemed determined to keep trying. The four cats then carried on their way, in search of other prey. Later in the morning, Kaalkol female, the leopard, was spotted near Bush Lodge and a big herd of elephants were spotted on Central Road.

PM
There was no shortage of excitement, once again, as we set out on our afternoon drive. At Twin Dams, we bumped into a small herd of elephants. They were a bit shy, and headed down into the drainage line. When we managed to make our way into the riverbed, we realised that there were also some dagga boys, lying up in the sand. The elephants took off into the bush, so we sat with the buff as they lay ruminating and glaring at us. We then received a call that a rhino bull was spotted at Green Pan, so we rushed off to join the sighting. When we got there, the bull was walking through the bush, on his way back to Kruger. He had just finished drinking from the pan. After leaving him, we came across the male leopard 3 Spot. He is beginning to look quite old and is losing a bit of body condition. He's still one of the best looking leopards around though! He was walking along, scent marking. We followed him for as long as we could before calling it a night and making our way back to Vuyatela.

7 September
AM
The mornings have been consistently cloudy and cold, and this morning was no exception. There are cold weather fronts across South Africa at the moment, but hopefully they'll have passed over us soon. We headed into Manyeleti, where we spent most of the morning watching groups of elephant bulls, scattered all over the place. There was also plenty of general game about, despite the chill in the air. Later in the morning, we headed to Bushbuck Dam, where the cheetah mom and her three cubs were. Mom was on the prowl, as usual, as the cubs chased each other about, playfully.

PM
This afternoon, after watching some dagga boys in the Mlowati, we came across the three Sandy Patch lionesses at Buffelshoek Dam. They were lying up right next to the water. Their bellies were fat and round, and they breathed heavily as they slept, trying to digest whatever they had eaten. We sat with them until the sun dipped below the horizon. They had made no sign that they were about to move anywhere, so we left them to their slumber. The female leopard, Kaalkol, was creeping about in the drainage line, at Bush Lodge. The calling monkeys had warned of her presence, so some of the staff at the lodge called us to come and have a look. There was also a huge herd of elephants at Kudu Corner at about the same time.

8 September
AM
This morning, we headed back to Buffelshoek dam, to locate the lionesses from yesterday. We didn't locate the girls and sat watching a group of hippos in the water. As we did, the two male lions from Manyeleti came walking along. It seemed that they too were looking for the girls. They were also very full and looked as though they were exerting themselves very much as they strolled down the road, lazily. After having a drink at the dam, the two lions collapsed in a heap, in the shade, and went to sleep. We then found out that the Sandy Patch lionesses weren't too far away, lying up on Jack's Road. We went and watched them for a bit, before carrying on with our drive. We stopped for our morning coffee at Second Rock, to enjoy the view as well as warming ourselves in the sun. In the distance we spotted some impala running off, followed closely by a cheetah. What a view while you have your morning coffee! Afterwards, we went to try an relocate the cheetah, but had no luck.

PM
This two Manyeleti male lions hadn't moved an inch since this morning. They were still asleep, in the shade near Buffelshoek Dam. The lionesses had moved on. They had probably caught wind of the two males, from whom they were probably trying to take a break. Next, we spotted a pair of elephant bulls on Central road. They were feeding, slothfully, in the gentle afternoon sun. We then heard that there was a buffalo carcass at Annette's Dam, so we went to investigate. When we got there, there were four hyenas milling about, as well as a young male leopard, up in a tree. The leopard was very nervous about the hyenas, which outnumbered him four to one. He then took off into the bush, while the hyenas munched on the buff.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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