Morning coffee on the Savannah.

Two drives today with morning coffee served on the first, Gin & Tonic served on the second. All very civilised.
Our morning drive saw us checking out the herd of elephants again before a relaxed search for the female cheetah. We new where it was but couldn't spot it as it sheltered as the temperatures rose to the high 30's - eventually topping out at 41ºC. Too hot for us northern Europeans who had to retire to the (cold) swimming pool and the air conditioned lounge after a hot brunch on the veranda.
Our afternoon drive was much more successful in terms of bigger animals - rhinos, lions, elephants, giraffes and almost a hippo (we saw it's nose protruding above the water of Bushmans River in fading light). So we had seen "The Big Five" but as we relaxed in to life on the reserve, we were starting to realise that it wasn't really about "The Big Five"; it was about the landscape, it was about the way the animals  depended on each other, it was about the smaller animals and the birds and the snakes and the insects. It was about the history of the place. It was about how the Reserve was being managed for the future and whether there was going to be a future. We were starting to realise that as we learned more and more about the country, the Reserve and the animals, we were only just scratching the surface of a complex set of problems. Luckily, we didn't have to solve them on our first visit, so we settled for another wonderful meal on the veranda overlooking the reserve, with Giles the owner on hand to give a different perspective on who the South Africans were. His family had farmed in this area for 5 generations and his ancestors were the British who had forcibly taken the land from the indigenous people in the 1850's. Lovely person. Complex situation.
Interesting animal fact for the day:
Cheetahs can run at 90kph.

Night spent at Woodbury Tented Camp, Amakhala Game Reserve.