15 April PM
We had a wonderful drive this afternoon; we saw a lioness with her two young cubs feeding on a zebra. The lioness looked rather exhausted while her cubs romped beside her. Vultures were waiting in nearby trees, hoping for any scraps that the lions would leave behind. We left the family before dark to protect them from hyenas and give them some peace. A large male lion was near Vuyatela's dam, the Baboons had spotted him first and were calling loudly. We bumped into a few large Elephants on the road as well as spotting two Buffalo males walking through the grass.
A family of Hippo was resting in the dam, one of which has a young and very cute calf. The Impala were out in force and a bit nervous. We saw a Brown Snake Eagle and a Marabou Stork.

16 April
AM
Another special sighting today as we saw the Lioness from the night before gently carrying her cub by the scruff of his neck. It is hard to imagine such a powerful predator gently transporting her cub in her jaws. The cub was happily swaying from side to side. We also tracked and found a pride of 8 lionesses lying in the grass getting a slow start to the morning. We caught a herd of Buffalo with their calves walking away from a dam after their morning drink. Elephants were feeding on the side of the road.
A Gymnogene searched through the trees for food, and a herd of Impala and Wildebeest grazed on the grass. We saw some Nyala, Waterbuck and Zebra. Another Marabou Stork flew overhead while we watched some Hippo at the dam.

PM
We set out on a cool evening and saw a herd of Buffalo as well as two male Elephant feeding on the trees. A herd of Impala grazed by the dam and we saw a lot of Kudu in the bush. We stopped for drinks and watched an Elephant playing in the water id the dam while a hippo grunted in the middle of the dam, annoyed at the disturbance. We saw Genet and a white tailed mongoose as well as a Duiker.

17 April
AM
A foggy morning greeted us as we set out this morning. We followed the tracks of a pride of lion but unfortunately did not find them. We did however find a large herd of Buffalo that we followed through the bush. We also watched a group of 5 Hippo while we had our coffee and watched as a female Bateleur flew overhead.
We spotted an Ostrich near the airstrip, which was great, as they do not often come to this area; he was a large male with beautiful black plumage. We saw a young Kudu with a large male as well as Nyala and Bushbuck.

PM
What an amazing drive! We spotted two leopard, a mother and son, they tried to chase a hyena off that was sticking close to them in case they made a kill. The young leopard started up toward the hyena and growled so the hyena took off in the other direction but did not go far. We also saw a herd of Buffalo and Hippo's as well as a male Ostrich. We watched as two African Hawk Eagles went for a Franklin that was then taken from them by a Black Backed Jackal. He had a wonderful meal! We heard the leopard and the Jackal calling this evening and watched a beautiful sunset.

18 April
AM
It was a misty morning as we headed out toward Cheetah Plains. There we found a herd of Zebra and a Kori Bustard, the largest flying bird. We also spotted some Wildebeest on the plain. We found two large male Lions walking towards Galago Camp, they strolled down the road and rested in the shade of the trees.
We saw a lot of birds, Crested Barbet, Glossy Starling, Parrots, Blue Waxbills, Grey Louries, White-backed Vulture and Bee-Eaters. A Vervet Monkey checked us out from the trees and we watched a big Hippo while we had our morning coffee.

PM
Today we saw ground Hornbill. There was a group of about 6 birds foraging through the firebreak. We also spotted Elephant, which we got quite close to. Buffalos were grazing in the bushes and Impala and Wildebeest were nearby.

There were many birds to be seen this afternoon including a Bateleur, Giant Eagle Owl, Barred Owl, Yellow billed and red billed and Grey Hornbill, Jacana, Grey Heron and lots of Franklins. We saw a Scrub Hare running in front of the vehicle and a White Tailed Mongoose. We headed home feeling very relaxed and content.

19 April
AM
We tracked a lioness into thick bush and watched as her two cubs suckled and fell asleep as soon as their bellies were full. We saw a herd of Buffalo in amongst the bushes. There were quite a few Steenbok around as well as Zebra and Impala. A Jackal was making the Wildebeest a bit uneasy, but they chased it off. Two male Impalas had a bit of a tousle in the open area, locking horns, and chasing each other.

PM
We rushed to see a Cheetah having a drink at a large waterhole and followed her until the sun set. A herd of Buffalo was heading for the same waterhole and we watched as the dominant males scratched their horns against the trees. We had a rare sighting of Reedbuck. We saw Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Kudu, Zebra, Wildebeest and Impala. We saw an African Wild Cat hunting in the grass.

20 April
AM
Today we saw two Leopards, Kinky tail and his mother. We also saw three Hyenas running back to their den. Zebra, Impala and Wildebeest grazed in the early morning sunlight. At Buffelshoek dam 5 Elephants and a herd of Buffalo having a drink greeted us. As we watched a hippo ran down from the trees and splashed into the water. We also saw a crocodile on the waters edge.
We spotted two Fish Eagles and heard them calling over the water. A family of Bushbuck crossed the road in front of us and we saw Kudu drinking at a waterhole. We saw a variety of birds including a Mosque Swallow, Hornbills, Shelly's Franklin and a Grey Heron.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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