28 July
PM
The afternoon started with a "flurry" of fantastic game sightings. The first was a rear view of a warthog family shooting off into the long grass, with the tails pointing characteristically towards the heavens.
A short way down the road we saw a large Elephant bull with on of his tusks broken off close to the base. We left him feeding on grass in beautiful afternoon light.
A large White Rhino bull was spotted north of Kudu Corner but was slightly nervous of the vehicles to start with. Not wanting to disturb him we kept our distance and were rewarded with a great sighting when he stepped into a clearing for all to see.
Just before dark a call came in over the two-way radio to say that a female Cheetah had been spotted in the North Rock area. We arrived at the sighting to see her perched high on a termite mound. She got off and walked slowly toward the edge of an open area and it was clear to see that she had eaten recently by a bulge in her stomach. We left her with the sun slowly fading and left her for her nights rest.
A large herd of Buffalo was found South of Sussen's dam moving to the South.

29 July
AM
This morning's drive was very exciting for a group of guests aboard one of the vehicles of Djuma who after a long track found two Black Rhinos. While Black Rhinos do occur in the Kruger park it is rare to see them. We have spotted the tracks in the past few years but the last confirmed sighting in this area was in 1998. Seven years later these two Rhinos are an amazing find and whilst unfortunate that not all the vehicles got to see them it is promising that they are moving into the area as their tracks suggest.
A group (also known as a "crash") of 4 Rhinos was found at Vuyatela dam, and were followed for some time to the north.
1 Male Lion was found close to Wildebeest clearing and was followed to the Northern boundary before crossing to the reserve to the North of Djuma.
3 Elephant were found in the Brown Ivory area feeding on a host of different plants.
The hyaena den was active with cubs playing around the den. No adults were present.

PM
The afternoon's drive was quiet from a large game point of view but there was plenty of general game to view.
The Greenhorn trees are fruiting and are attracting large groups of Kudu to the area. We viewed them chewing on the prized fruit at a number of locations. We saw herds of Zebra and Impala too, and Duiker and Steenbok before stopping for a sundowner at Sussens whilst being closely watched by the resident Crocodile.
After dark we saw two separate African Wild Cats, Bushbabies and numerous owls.

30 July
AM
The crisp cool air of a Lowveld morning moved passed our faces as we headed out this morning making the transition between sleep and wake an easy one!
Our first sighting was a herd of Zebras drinking from Graveyard pan. To the East of them we found a large Elephant bull in "Muskth" feeding on some raisin bush. Keeping our distance we got some lovely shots of him in the morning light before leaving him to his breakfast.
We then found a pair of black backed Jackals drinking at Kudu Corner with a woolly-necked stalk watching at a safe distance.
Baboons, Zebra, Wildebeest, Impala were all seen before we spotted a Giraffe staring strangely toward Cheetah Plain Pan. As we got closer we found what he was staring at. First we saw one ... then two..... and soon it became clear that there were 8 lions spread out all over the open area. It was the 5 Lionesses and three sub-adults of the Styx Pride. We watched as they came together from being all split up to eventually lying under the same Guarri bush in the shade. They all looked well fed.
A female Cheetah was found drinking at three in a row pan before moving South East for some time and eventually crossing our boundary to the South.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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