At this moment we are in White River with a very old and good friend of Natalies - Tina Aponté and Eli. We leave for Johannesburg tomorrow. We chatted to a gallery this morning which was very positive in Casterbridge about my birds. Lets see what happens? There may be a chance that we go to Zambia for two nights on Wednesday? Who knows?

It has been a super trip so far - being back at Kirkman's Kamp was very special. Thank you Duncan, Catherine, Richard and Ndumiso and all the staff for making our trip so great. Richard, our ranger is training at present but will make a wonderful guide in the future. Great to see Steph and Marcus - what an adventure you have to look forward to!

We had some incredible sightings - a male leopard stalking some young waterbuck which at the last minute was thwarted by a breeding herd of elephant that picked up the scent of the predator and came crashing through the bush towards the leopard and us - a speedy departure for us all!

A male leopard looking intently at a group of waterbuck

It is amazing to me that you see a lot of White-fronted bee-eaters in the Kruger and then you don't see as many on Kirkmans which adjoins the park. This one that we found was basking in the glolden glow just before sunset! I missed an opportunity that a photographer dreams about - early one very cold (5°C) morning when the sun was just coming up and the mist heavy - that brilliant light we all know if you have been to the bushveld - there infront of our room on a branch were 10 Little Bee-eaters huddled together seeking warmth. The tiniest scrape of the door was enough to send them all zooting in every direction! Some profanities so early in the morning had to be the beginning of a great day!

White-fronted Bee-eater (Merops bullockoides)

On our second last drive - a bit panicked that we were not going to see the lttle cubs again, requested the ever patient Richard if we could please follow up on them. They were located by another vehicle on Kingston in a dry river bed - the two large males we had seen previously, 4 lionesses and the 3 cubs on a buffalo carcass. What more could we ask for? The males, being a coalition of two brothers - one being more dominant with the females and the other being more over the food would not let the lionesses get anywhere near the food that they had infact killed, but would let the cubs. There was some great interaction between the different relationships within this group of lions. This was the first time the cubs would have tried meat.

Two of the cubs overwhelmed by the smell of delicious buffalo

The bold little male cub in the glory of late afternoon sun

A lion cub getting a good clean

We were sitting at a water hole watching a hippo when we heard this wierd sound - could not quite make the scraping out so we went to investigate across the drainage line in an open area. There we found four rhino; a big male, a female and her old calf and then a sub-adult were running chasing each other - mock fighting, turning around and running in circles. All seemed very excited. They have a bounce, almost a trot to their step. It was something I have never witnessed before. It really is a huge armored tank of an animal that moves at incredible speeds. I wish more poachers got in their way!

Four over excited rhino together - mock fighting and chasing eachother.

The beginning of June has arrived - the month of my Botswana adventure. I can hardly believe it is at the end of this month. So much to prepare! Our drive this morning was quiet but awesome. Tracked a female leopard from the lodge this morning. No success.

My favorite Sycamore Fig in the area - est. 600-700 years old!

Ndumiso & Agnes making some delicious gluten free flapjacks

Yesterday was beautiful - we have moved from Duncan, the Lodge Manager's house into one of the suites - room 13 to be exact... one of the best rooms overlooking the rocky outcrop where the leopard was seen on the first day!

Here are some photographs that I took yesterday morning and evening drive. We were fortunate enough to see two big black maned lions on a small buffalo kill - the visual was not great hence no photographs were taken.

A young hare lying very still in the grass

Male Bateleur effortlessly gliding past

These incredible 'blue balls' below vary in intesity due to serotonin levels in the males I have heard. They pale as they lose their mating dominance  - very important to their status!

How 'blue' are these balls?

I went onto Kingston for the first time since Charlston was lost as a traversing area - really sad about it but Kingston really does have some wonderful open areas, drainage lines, and a track along the Sabi River. Stunning trees and an active hyena den that is well occupied with adults and varying ages of youngsters.

A little male hyena

As we returned last night from game drive there was a male and female leopard on the grass next to the swimming pool. The female then climbed the prominent marula tree outside the bar and lay down on the brnch while the male was below the camp in the bush being less relaxed. This was the same female that was 'sawwing' to attract a male a couple of days ago - see photo below. Many guests were standing on the verandah sipping on a glass of wine watching this unbelievable event.