16 March
AM
It was a bit gray, this morning, as a bank of clouds was passing overhead. We took a leisurely drive up the Vuyatela access road and then past Gowrie Gate. We came across the Manyeleti male lion, lying up on the boundary, just north of the gate. The wind was gushing, blowing his fluffy mane in every direction. Eventually, his hair was a complete mess, making him look truly wild! He would lift his head, as the wind blew, to smell whatever aromas the wind might bring his way. After leaving him, we took a drive along Longpole, where we bumped into the female cheetah, we'd seen yesterday. Her belly was still nice and full as she lay in the clearing, restfully. We also had a great sighting of a couple of elephant bulls on Sandy patch this morning, before making our way back to the lodge.

PM
We relocated the male lion, from this morning, lying up close to where we found him earlier. He was resting in the shade of a round-leaf teak. He was very alert, still sniffing the air and listening out for interesting sounds. A while later, we took a drive past Jordaan's Dam, where we bumped into the tow Sandy Patch lionesses. One of the girls was lying up in the sun, on the dam wall, while the other chose a shadier spot nearby. The two felines, posed for us like supermodels, as the late afternoon sun made their golden coats glow. In the distance, inside Manyeleti, there was a tree with a few vultures in it. The two lions kept watching the birds (Between moments of nodding off.) as they might be an indication of a nearby carcass, which they could probably go and pirate.

17 March
AM
We spent much time, this morning, watching some elephant bulls, moving about on Buffelshoek. The green grass is drying out now, so they are beginning to browse more, on leafy trees, instead. We then headed up to the Manyeleti boundary, near Jordaan's, where we'd seen all the vultures, yesterday. We left the vehicle, and went into the bush, on foot, to see if we could see what was attracting them. Unfortunately, we couldn't see anything, so we made our way back to the road. In the distance, we could see Jordaan's Dam, and outside of the water, was an enormous hippo bull. We immediately jumped into the vehicle, and made it just in time to see the bull before he splashed back into the dam. Once inside the water, he watched us with his beady, little eyes.

PM
We started our drive, with some hippo's, basking in the water at Sussen's Dam. There were also a great variety of birds milling about the water's edge. Egyptian geese, African jacanas, saddle-billed storks, a gray heron, were among the many that we saw. At dusk, we headed up to Milkberry, to join a sighting of a crash of six rhino. They had just finished drinking from Hyena Dam, and were heading back towards Kruger. It was a great sighting, as they were very relaxed and the setting sun cast the most beautiful light on them. After dark, we took a turn past Nkorho, where we came across a funny sighting. Three, young, side-striped jackal, were walking about with a young male impala. The impala was very relaxed with the three jackals, and it didn't look as though they were going to cause the impala any harm. The impala was calmly grazing, while the jackals sat or walked around him, closely. It was very strange!

18 March
AM
It was raining, this morning, as we headed out into the bush. We bundled ourselves up in our raingear, hoping that despite the cold, wet weather, that there might be some game about. Most of the animals remained under cover, except for a lovely group of old daga boys, on Galago Clearing. They were having a drink from the crib, and glared at us as we sat watching them. They didn't mind the rain, which was getting heavier by the minute. Eventually it got the better of us, and we started making our way back to the lodge.

PM
The weather had cleared by this afternoon, and it had become sunny and hot. We headed straight for Sussen's, where a rhino bull had been located. When we joined the sighting, the bull was walking along, grazing and marking his territory. As long as we kept our distance, he didn't mind us tagging along with him. It was our old friend, with the half ear, who is quite used to our company, by now. We also had some great elephant sightings, on Torchwood. One particular old bull was very relaxed with us, and we sat with him as the sun set. He was lazily feeding on leaves and flapping his ears. After dark, near Vuyatela, the resident gang of daga boys was leaving Gowrie Dam, to look for a place to bed down for the night. They snorted at us before stomping off into the night.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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