24 March
AM
It was still raining, when we headed into the bush, this morning. Despite the downpour, we had great sightings of general game, including a journey of about 10 giraffe on the Manyeleti Boundary. They seemed to really enjoy the wet weather as they walked about, gracefully, feeding on leaves with their long, blue tongues. We also came across two really impressive leopard tortoises. They were absolutely huge, as they ambled down the road, with their patterned shells glistening as the rain soaked them.

PM
We had a spectacular drive, this afternoon, and managed to come across all of the big five! We started with the young, male leopard, Ncila, at Bush lodge. He was lying up at first, and then headed to the crib for a drink of water. We then headed past Twin Dams, where tow elephant bulls were tromping through the bush on their way to the water. At Nyala Dam, one of the Sandy Patch lionesses was drinking at the dam, and then took off into a nearby Drainage line. Next, it was off to Khaya Manzi, for a sighting of a lovely male rhino. We topped off our spectacular afternoon with a few daga boys on Dolerite Road. By that point, we were exhausted from all the excitement, and headed back to the lodge to enjoy a dinner under the stars.

25 March
AM
After leaving Vuyatela, we sat at the dam for some time, watching the impala, zebra, wildebeest, baboons, waterbuck, and Nyala, that were milling about in the early morning sunshine. We then decided to scratch about on Torchwood, curious to see what we might find. The birding was fabulous, as always, keeping us very busy as we spotted and identified more species than we can remember. A female giraffe, and her young calf were browsing close to First Rock. The youngster was very curious about us and stared at us with its enormous brown eyes. We also came across a few daga boys, who had just finished drinking at Paradise Beach, and were heading towards the drainage line, before it got too hot. We then headed to Second Rock; where we had a cup of coffee with a view, before making our way, slowly back to camp. Along the way, we had lovely general game sightings.

PM
During the course of the day, we'd had numerous visitors to the dam in front of Vuyatela. Elephants, buffalo, giraffe, and antelope of every shape and form had come for a drink. Eventually, we had to pull ourselves away and head out on drive. At Nyala Dam, we bumped into one of the Sandy Patch lionesses. We have been seeing this female here regularly, and she is very pregnant! We believe that she has found a spot in a nearby drainage line, where she will give birth to her cubs. We followed her from the water, and into the bush, where she revealed to us that she's killed a female kudu. The carcass, which was stashed under a bush, was a splendid feast for the soon-to-be mother. Next, we headed into Manyeleti, where we were lucky to come across more lions. This pride of 13 females, 2 males and several cubs, were lying up on Rhino Shortcut. One didn't really know where to look, as there were lions everywhere. The females weren't very relaxed, and moved off to a distance they were comfortable with. The males on the other hand didn't mind us at all, and nodded off lazily as the sunset.

26 March
AM
We started our morning drive with a lovely pair of elephant bulls, up on Longpole. They were walking quietly through the bush, munching on mouthfuls of juicy shrubbery. We went to see what had happened to the Sandy patch lioness and her kill, but found that hyenas had stolen it, during the night. At least she'd had a good feast before giving it up to the sneaky scavengers. Shortly afterwards, at Jordaan's Dam, we came across a young male leopard. He was dodging and diving through the bush, making it a formidable task to keep up with him. We managed for some time, until another vehicle took over from us. A few daga boys were also seen this morning, wallowing in a small pan near Bush Lodge.

PM
We had a splendid leopard sighting this afternoon, close to Bush Lodge. The young male, Nyala, was lying up at the base of a termite mound. He looked relaxed, but was still very alert as he twitched his whiskers and swatted his tail at some bothersome flies. He became mobile after a while, and headed towards the crib for a drink. He then headed towards the Braai Site, listening attentively to the sounds of the bush. At the same time, a beautiful, full red moon was rising, above the horizon. It was so striking that we were completely distracted from watching the leopard and couldn't help watching the fiery-red sphere sailing over the treetops. After dark, we had some great sightings of chameleons and owls, as we made our way back to the lodge. Later, as we sat eating our dinner on the deck at Vuyatela, the moon was now high in the sky, bathing us in a silvery-blue light and in the distance we could hear lions calling, intermingled with the other sounds of the bush at night. What a magical evening!

27 March
AM
This morning, we headed straight for Triple M Junction, to join a sighting of our old friend, the leopard, Safari Female. She spends most of her time in the west now, tending to her cubs. We managed to get a quick glimpse of the cubs, but they darted off into the bush. Mom was much more relaxed as she lay in the shade, grooming herself. After leaving her, we headed to Treehouse Dam, where an old daga boy was having a soak in the water. After dark, we came across an elephant bull, near Buffelshoek Dam. There are fewer elephants around at the moment, as the marulas are finished fruiting, and the elephants are slowly heading back towards the north for better feeding.

PM
A young male leopard was stalking through the bush, near the southern end of Cheetah Cutline. We managed to join the sighting, after navigating our way through some dense bush and through a rather precarious drainage line. Once inside, we got a great visual of the youngster, who we believe to be Kaalkol's cub. He was playfully stalking some francolins, when he took off into the drainage line and disappeared. We then headed to Nyala Dam, where a herd of elephants were having a drink. They were almost silent as they drank at the water's edge. The setting sun provided a beautiful backdrop for the picturesque scene. After dark, a male rhino was spotted at Big Dam at the same time another young, male leopard was spotted at Jordaan's Dam. A short while later, another leopard was seen at Milkberry.

28 March
AM
This morning was cloudy and cool, with a soft breeze blowing. We headed straight for Torchwood Camp, to join a sighting of the male leopard, Pink Nose. He was lying up on the dam wall at Paradise Beach. We sat on the other side of the water, watching him, but he took no notice of us. His belly was nice and full and he was enjoying the nice, cool weather. A woodland's Kingfisher, perched on a branch close to him, would swoop down to the water, every now and then, making a tremendous splash as it hit the water's surface, before returning to it's perch. We sat with the cat for ages; waiting to see if he would become a little more active, but eventually we gave up and guessed tat he would probably spend most of the morning sleeping.

PM
This afternoon, a tremendous storm was blowing in, as immense black clouds were looming and thunder was booming in the distance. We first headed to Sydney's Dam, where a large herd of buffalo had crossed over from Manyeleti to drink. A lone elephant bull was also amongst them. Next, we rejoined the leopard, Pink Nose, who was now a lot more active than this morning; He was walking along, towards Second Rock, sniffing about and scent marking. It looked as though he was on the trail of a female, as he was concentrating very hard as he smelled clumps of grass and tree trunks. We'd also seen the tracks of a female in the area, so he was trying very hard to find her.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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