I got back from my leave cycle on Thursday and the past four days has been great in the bush. The first night we went out to find the elephants who were hiding in the bush. As the sun set with our drink stop we heard the familiar sound of hyenas calling and of a male lion roaring far in the distance. The next morning we went out to look for buffalo and found a rhino on the way back. The general game viewing was great. From that afternoon it got more and more exciting as we were lucky enough to find a lioness and her one and a half year old cubs relaxing under a tree. We also found a white tailed mongoose drinking and a baby porcupine with its mother. The next morning we went out to go and look for the elephants and found the herd next to the road eating a variable bush willow. The baby elephant was very in a very playful mood and started mock charging his older fellow elephants, running up and down until he could run no more! We later heard that another game ranger had found a lion male chasing a leopard up a tree. We made our way there to have a look and after waiting patiently at the top of the tree the male lion eventually got thirsty and the leopard made its escape. So in the last four days we were lucky enough to see the big 5 twice, as well as African wild cat, white tailed mongoose, baby porcupine, a male lion roaring at the land cruiser and the most incredible general game ever.

Story by Frikkie Kotze, River Lodge Ranger