25 August
PM
This afternoon was very hot as we left the camp, so we headed straight for the waterholes and were immediately rewarded with great sightings of 2 Elephant bulls, one of which had a huge pair of tusks. Another three elephant bulls were found in front of Nkorho and 1 on the Kruger Boundary.
A small breeding herd was found north of Jacobin feeding in the small riverbed.
Three sighting of Rhino (6 in total) were reported and all of them from the East of the Reserve.
2 Lionesses (Skuthane Pride) were found at Kudu Corner. Their bellies were full and made no attempt to move. They groomed for a while and flirted with the idea of moving a few times, only to flop back onto their sides and resume sleeping.
Also seen was a large Puff Adder, black-backed Jackal, Zebra, Hyaena, and an abundance of Birds.

26 August
AM
The drive started with a sighting of a very rare Reedbuck close to Djuma Camp.
There were three sightings of Elephant towards the centre of the reserve.
2 Lionesses (Sandy Patch Pride) were found at Tree House Dam. They moved through the woodland towards the main road but stopped a few hundred meters to the South of it where they lay down under a large Guarri bush.
1 Large male Rhino was found at rubbing post dam. He was grazing and scent marking his territory as he went.

PM
The afternoon drive started well, with good sightings of Elephant in all corners of the reserve. The hot conditions were perfect for Elephant viewing and many were found around the waterholes, where they were drinking, mud bathing etc.
A large herd of Buffalo were found in the North Rock area and were getting ready to bed down for the night on the clearing.
A female Leopard (White Cloth) was found at Kudu Corner. She was moving west on the firebreak where she was hunting to the south of Green Pan.
2 Lionesses (Sandy Patch Pride) were found moving to the west from Tree House Dam area and crossed out of Djuma Game reserve to the west a short while later.

27 August
AM
3 Rhino were found on Cheetah plains, 4 Rhino at Torchwood, 2 Rhino at Rubbing Post Dam and 4 at Jordaan's dam.
2 Lionesses (Skuthane Pride) were found at 3 Pans, where they both had full bellies and after a short drink went to lay down in the shade.
A large herd of Buffalo was found on Central road close to Cheetah Cutline.
A large male Lion was found at Jordaan's dam. He was laying down after which he moved a short distance to shad before "crashing" for the rest of the morning.
A group of 7 Elephant were found in the Mluwanini riverbed grazing there way towards torchwood.
A female Leopard (White Cloth) was found hunting in the First Rock area. She made a few failed attempts on Steenbok and a Duiker but without success.

PM
The evening drive started with sightings of Elephant throughout the reserve.
The 2 Skuthane Pride females were found at 3 Pans lying down and did not look as though they were going to move anywhere soon.
4 Rhino were found at Jordaan's dam and a short distance from them was a large male Lion (Manyeleti male) who was starting to wake up for his nights patrol. He watched the group of Rhino from a safe distance before getting mobile towards Galago Camp.
A rare sighting of an adult Serval happened near 2nd Rock.

28 August
PM
The evening drive started with great sightings of a small breeding herd of Elephant in the Mluwanini Riverbed. This Group of 5 Elephants including 2 young calves has been seen on the reserve for the past few weeks and have settled down around some of the permanent waterholes in the East of the reserve. There were also numerous sighting of bull Elephants seen throughout the reserve.
The same Hyaena that had killed a Waterbuck on the main road, in the Mluwanini riverbed was present at the kill sight, but was not seen eating until way after dark.
2 Female Lions (Skuthane Pride) were found at Rhino Pan and were sleeping when we found them. We decided to leave them for a short while and return later to see if they got active. We made a short loop to Nkorho pan where we found 3 Rhino (Cow, calf and big bull) just having finished a drink.
There was also a small group of male buffalo to the west of the pan waiting for the Rhino to finish drinking.
We returned to the Lion where we found them grooming and interacting with one another. They got up lazily and began moving north, stopping once in a while to listen for potential prey.

29 August
AM
We left the camp and located a large female Hyaena walking east down the main road. She looked to be walking with purpose so we followed her for sometime, hoping that she might perhaps lead us to a kill. She did not however, and lay down to rest just North of the Main Road.
A group of 12 male Buffalo were found grazing with Zebra and Wildebeest north of the Jacobin Open Area.
We saw a Side Striped Jackal on Cheetah Plains, along with a Black Bellied Bustard.
A large herd of Buffalo was found crossing the southern boundary just before the end of drive.

PM
We headed of and were immediately rewarded with a great sighting of Zebra, Wildebeest, Impala, Kudu and Baboons.
We then saw a large Rhino bull (half-ear) that was grazing along side Zebra and Impala.
There were 4 very playful Hippo at Buffelshoek Dam.
A herd of Buffalo bulls and a large Elephant bull was seen at Chris' Pan near Vuyatela drinking.
We had a brief sighting of a Civet and just before reaching camp were rewarded with a great sighting of a Serval kitten. The cat was very relaxed and although on its own had no fear of the vehicles and was watched from a short distance for 10 minutes.

30 August
AM
The morning's drive concentrated around two Leopards that were found to the west of Vuyatela.
The first to be found was Mafufanyane who was found walking and patrolling his territory towards the west for some time before laying down to rest near Sandy Patch. He lay there for sometime before a small Duiker caught his eye. He dashed off after it and killed it successfully with one swift bite to the head. He dragged the kill into the riverbed before beginning to feed.
The second Leopard to be found was a young female (one of Safari's female's cubs). She was found on the Vuyatela access road where she looked to be hunting. She had success with a Crested Francolin and devoured it in seconds.
A large Rhino Bull was also found at Sandy Patch.

PM
A large herd of Buffalo was found at Djuma Bush Lodge. The animals were milling around on the open area after they had finished all the water in our "Crib".
The large male Leopard was found in the same place as the morning where he later moved west after finishing his Duiker.
A very rare sighting of an Aardvark was had to all of our joy near 2nd Rock. These shy beasts can be plentiful in some areas but due to the predator density in ours, and the fact that they are extremely nocturnal and spend most of their time down burrows, feeding on Termites, it is a beast seldom seen in this part of the Kruger.
A small Serval Kitten was found near Bush Lodge on the old entrance road.

31 August
AM
Our morning started with Buffalo sightings at Torchwood Camp (5 Bulls) and a large Breeding herd at 2nd Rock.
8 Elephant bulls were seen bathing in Kobus' Dam. Several other sighting of bull Elephants were had thought the reserve.
A Rhino bull (Short Horn) was found resting in the shade of a Torchwood tree near Buffelshoek dam.
A large female Leopard (Beacon Female) and one of her cubs was found at Nyala dam resting a few hundred meters apart. The cub has relaxed magically to the presence of vehicles and she was viewed resting in a large Jacket Plum tree. The mother was resting in a Marula before spotting a young Duiker from her vantage point. She launched herself from her perch and pounced on the unsuspecting antelope and it was all over very quickly. She left it in the shade of a Magic Guarri bush, and went to rest a short distance away.

The Ranger's diary is updated weekly

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