14 May
AM
Today we saw a handsome male Lion at the Buffalo carcass. He was a rogue male and was therefore a bit skittish and on his guard but we gat a good look at him. We also found ourselves in the middle of a huge herd of Buffalo that were just getting up from their evenings rest as we arrived. We spotted a small Crocodile lying in the water and a Hippo at a different water hole. We saw a large number of Kudu and two male Impala having a fight over a female. We saw a herd of Zebra and a few lone Wildebeest as well as a lot of great birds like Hooded and White Backed Vultures, Barbets and Helmeted Shrikes. We also saw a Jacana and his chick at a water hole.

PM
Tonight we saw a Rhino near Kudu Corner; he had a very sharp horn and was covered in mud. We were lucky to see him as he was very nervous at first but stopped running after a while and posed for some photos. We also saw a Black Backed Jackal, Impala, Zebra and Wildebeest. A Civet came to investigate us as we had sundowners and we saw a leopard just off MMM road.

15 May
AM
Today we saw a large herd of Buffalo near the Kruger Boundary. We followed them for quite a while and saw a Yellow-Billed Oxpecker, which is rare in this area, on a Buffalo's back. We saw a group of Zebra with their young as well as a few Wildebeest. We saw a Black Backed Jackal being dived at by a Plover trying to protect its nest, the Jackal made a hasty retreat! We spotted a crocodile in a nearby dam as well as Waterbuck, Kudu, Impala and a lot of Duiker. The Buffalo kill was still in the bush near camp but the Vultures (Hooded, White-Backed and Lappet faced) were making short work of picking the bones!

PM
This evening we saw a huge Bull Elephant at Kudu Corner, he had enormous tusks and draped his trunk over them so that it would not touch the ground. A large herd of Buffalo was having a drink at the dam; there must have been about 300 - quite a sight! We spotted Zebra, Wildebeest, Impala and Kudu as well as a male Waterbuck with wonderful long horns. We were lucky to see a Serval searching through the grass for his dinner. We saw two Grey Heron flying overhead as well as Blue Waxbills, Hornbills, Helmeted Bush Shrike and Jacana.

16 May
AM
This morning we saw Hippo in two dams around Djuma, we also spotted three Rhino, a calf, male and female. They were very relaxed and let us have a good look at them. We bumped into a herd of buffalo lying in the grass and we saw a lot of Zebra, Wildebeest and Impala. Two large Warthogs were grazing with the herd of Impala but ran off with their tails in the air as we started the engine. Two Giraffe came down to drink at the waterhole where we stopped for coffee. We also saw Duiker and Kudu this morning, which was great.

PM
This evening we found a female Leopard called White Cloth in Torchwood. She was stalking some Impala but gave up as a Hyena was lurking around and would have stolen her kill away from her. We also saw a bull Elephant eating on the side of the road and we caught up with the herd of Buffalo that we had seen this morning. We saw a White Tailed Mongoose near Galago camp and a very large Puff Adder that rolled along the road rather than slithered because he was so round. We saw a lot of Scrub Hares, Nightjars and Duiker and saw a very tiny Bush Baby leaping from tree to tree and then across the road in front of us.

17 May
AM
This morning we saw three Lionesses lying on second rock, they were lying in the shade of a tree and looked like they were settling in to spend the day there. We caught up with the herd of Buffalo again they were lying in a tight group waiting for the mist to clear before they got up for the day. We saw Kudu, Impala, Wildebeest and Duiker. A large group of Zebra came down to the Torchwood waterhole to have a quick drink. We saw an African Hawk Eagle sitting up in a tree and a Spotted Hyena loped along the road in front of us. A large male Giraffe was grazing by the side of the road which we watched for a while, another great morning drive.

PM
This evening we headed for the Manyeleti where we saw Buffalo, Kudu and Impala. We saw an African Wild Cat and her two kittens. We checked to see if we could find the lionesses in Djuma but they had moved off into thick bush. We did see Warthog, Wildebeest, Waterbuck and a few Duikers. We saw Red Billed Wood Hoopoes, Starlings and a Gymnogene.

18 May
AM
This morning we saw two large male Lions lying in the grass, we watched them for a while and then moved on to find the rest of the pride - there were seven females and a young cub, which followed behind them and was very cute. The females tried to make a kill but were unsuccessful. We saw Buffalo and an Elephant this morning as well as Zebra, Impala, Warthog, Steenbok. We also found a mother Cheetah with her two young adult cubs on the dam wall and watched as they raced into the bush. We watched as a huge Black Mamba slithered across the road in front of the vehicle.

PM
Tonight we found the male Lions again and the pride of females, it was great to watch the cub suckling from its mother. We also saw three Hyena puppies suckling from their mother outside their den near Gowrie Main, they were very vocal as if they were having a good chat to one another. We spotted Zebra, Impala, Warthog, Steenbok and Wildebeest as well as a beautiful Eagle Owl and a Hyena walking down the road. we watched a Bushbaby leaping from tree to tree as we made our way back to camp.

19 May
AM
This morning we saw a Rhino and her calf, they were very skittish and we did not watch them for long. We found a huge herd of Buffalo drinking at Buffelshoek Dam, the Hippo that live there looked a bit put out and were snorting and blowing bubbles in the middle of the dam. We saw some Zebra, Impala and Warthog grazing together near Cheetah Plains. We saw a lot of Franklins this morning as well as a Black Shouldered Kite and an African Wood Hoopoe.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

ARCHIVES