Leopard cub

Last night walking back to our tented rooms after dinner with our escort, the sweeping beam from his torch revealed a leopard right near our room! The lodge is not fenced, and so the need for escorts after dark is a camp rule and it was proven necessary last night! Luckily the leopard just walked on. 

Early this morning when we got to the game vehicle, our ranger told us that the leopard we saw last night was probably the female who had hidden her cub yesterday while she went out hunting. The tracker immediately picked up her spoor and we tried to track her. The ranger and tracker are so skilled, our wonderful sightings have all been a credit to them. The ranger then switched off the vehicle as he explained they listen for the sounds of certain birds and animals who give warning sounds if a predator is nearby. Within minutes we heard a kudu barking and so we headed off in that direction, and amazingly the tracker found signs of the cub lying very well hidden in long dry grass. As we moved our position we saw the female was lying next to her cub, so well hidden we would never have spotted them without the tracker and ranger following the signs of their presence. They were quite relaxed with the vehicle stopping right next to them. They are used to the sound and shape of the vehicle but any sudden movement or noise from us would have caused them to become nervous and their behaviour to become unpredictable. People forget that these animals are wild, they tolerate the vehicles but that is all, if one stood up in the vehicle or stepped out of the vehicle….I managed to get a shot of the cub when it sat up, but the long grasses were waving in the wind obscuring a clear view. 

After that we found a large herd of elephants. I have decided that elephants are the most dangerous animals for tourists on safari as they too can tolerate a vehicle nearby but if you get just a little too close a young bull will always challenge and threaten, and if you don’t back off you could get the entire herd turning on you and that outcome would not be a safe or pleasant one!

Back at the lodge we had our last delicious breakfast, then packed up and at 11am we were collected by the transfer vehicle to move to our next game lodge. It was sad to say goodbye to the wonderful staff, especially Andre our ranger and Thomas our tracker. It was a most memorable experience, one we will remember forever. 

We had a 2.5 hour road transfer to our next location, Dulini River Lodge. The road went through many villages and the roads were mainly dirt roads, very bumpy and dusty. By the time we arrived at Dulini our bones had had a good shaking! It was so bumpy I could not even read my book on the journey.

Dulini is beyond our expectations - the rooms are so beautifully decorated and luxurious, there are only 6 rooms in this lodge, each room has a private heated plunge pool, the bathroom has an indoor shower, bath and outdoor shower. There is also a larger pool at the gym.  

We had a late lunch and then it was time for our game drive. We found a large herd of elephant with a few young ones - one of the baby elephants was so funny as it was trying to challenge us, waving it's big ears and making noises as it waved it's trunk at us, but then he would scurry back to stand next to the matriarch of the herd. (see extra). We visited a hyena den but the puppies were feeding and hiding in the long grass so we did not see them clearly. We saw rhinos, and a pair of them were casually sauntering down the road so we had to wait for them to go their way before we could pass with the vehicle. I do think they look so cute from behind!(see extra). We stopped for sundowners and watched the sun set, and then drove back to the lodge. I decided instead of evening drinks I wanted a run on the treadmill in the gym, which felt good after sitting for most of the day. I joined the others in time for supper which was so delicious, a four course tasting menu that was beautifully presented.

Now off to bed as another early 5.40am start tomorrow morning.

Apologies for the lack of journal comments, it is just too busy and we are on the go all the time.