We have had quite the busy day at King's Camp. Following last night's dinner's swan theme
,

we were up and at 'em promptly at 5:30 am for another glorious day.

We had our coffee and spent time with our not-so-wild dog, Jake, a middle-aged chocolate labrador. He really behaves well when he thinks someone is willing to share bread products. His performance was rewarded as he scored half of a breakfast muffin. On to the range rover, where Patrick was ominously dressed in a hat, jacket, fleece vest and neck gaitor. It was going to be cold.

We visited first with a giant eagle owl. It quickly went on the wing, where it disturbed every medium bird in sight. They all put out the distress call. Starlings and warblers arrived en masse, restricting the eagle owl to the lowest branches of the tree. We carried on, and found out our lion pride was back in the area. We made our way over to find the mothers and two sets of cubs in low grass near a tree. The grandmother and the two males were no where to be found. We enjoyed another incredibly cute cub=based activity session. All of the smallest cubs tackled the tree at some point or another. One crashed into milk-induced sleep stupor a in the highest "V" of the tree, and the other took on all comers who tried to take a higher vantage point. Given that 8 brothers are going to have to either cooperate or take each other on, it was a study in behavioral training.

After we left our lions, we went for a much-needed coffee and biology break. Patrick correctly deduced none of us were about to go out for a bush walk after breakfast. Instead, he built it into our coffee break. We found an antique clay pot used to harvest termites for food from the late 19th century; a horned baboon spider den (a/k/a tarantula) and two or three burrowing scorpion hide outs. All this, and hot chocolates for the majority of our team. Evidently there's a ready market for trafficking horned baboon spiders and various scorpions both at home and abroad. Following our breakfast, we did more bird sightings and headed back to camp. Breakfast was a quick affair and naps followed for all involved.

we reconvened at lunchtime, as about 10 elephants passed through the watering hole at camp. Two of them were happy to drink and bathe themselves; the rest passed along in the background. A mother bushbuck and her fawn used this for cover, grazing along the electric fence. Meanwhile, an African fish eagle was calling from a dead tree top on the opposite side of the river. It was a magical afternoon.

We geared up for our afternoon drive, meeting newcomers Rory and Karen from South Africa as we waited to hop onto our rovers. Patrick introduced our new mascot, Swan E, a lively 10 year old horned baboon spider, to our ride. She was comfortably ensconced in a glass jar with air holes. Off we went to on our exploration. We found a second breeding herd of cape buffaloes. They were skittish, but not as much as the ones from the prior day. We carried on, looking for either our lions or the wild dogs. Alas, it was fruitless. We stopped for our coffee as the setting sun burned itself into the horizon.

We were clearing out when we heard those low lion growls. Aha! Lions on the move. Jump in the rover and get ready to find what's going on. We headed up to the northern border. Low and behold, thanks to the spotlight we found the two males. They are very comfortable with each other, and were alternating their security search for male lions who were trying to cut into their territory with the ever-present opportunities for a low-risk meal. The two Timbavati brothers were eyeing a third, sizeable breeding herd of cape buffalo. The only thing bigger than the herd of buffalo was the contingent of flies that accompany their every move.

Patrick gives us the required safety briefing. he's never needed the gun. Cape Buffalo should stampede AWAY from the vehicle. We are in a tight spot. If by chance the buffalo get confused and run for the rover .. HANG ON AND DO NOT FALL OUT OF THE VEHICLE. One implied outcome is do not gag, ingest, inhale or otherwise internalize the swarm of flies when the buffalo herd flees from the lions.

All righty then .. and the sweep of the spotlight shows the two brothers going in for the kill. One jumped the buffalo while the other went in underneath to knock its legs out from under it. Those cape buffalo had no idea what had happened. Douse the lights .. lots of snorting, hooves under foot and .. inquiring minds want to know! did they get the kill or not?

Sad but true, the under and over strategy failed. The brothers headed off into nearby grass, where they greeted each other and rested. One of the dugger boys (an elderly cape buffalo) headed up within striking distance, while the herd headed into the open plains less than a kilometer from the Timbavati sort-of hungry boys.

Wow! did that get the adreline running or what. The herd was once again oblivious to the lion threat, settling itself into the grass for a sleep (?!). Did they think the dugger boy would take one for the team?

Meanwhile, the queen (meaning the ruthless one) of the hyenas was out with her henchdog. They had picked up on the attempted strike, and figured 12 hungry hyenas would have some benefit from a possible lion/buffalo encounter. All they care is one or the other party becomes tomorrow's meal.

It was clear we were the last vehicle on exploration, so we headed back to camp. tomorrow we hope to find out who (if anyone) wound up as dinner. We were greeted with a lovely farewell room decoration and dinner under the stars. We gathered at the bar, where we were invited to be part of the German TV documentary programing. Just think .. we didn't have to sing, and we may very well be German Idol 2011. What was that Andy Warhol said about 15 seconds of fame?

5:30 will be here soon, and we'll be winging our way to Vuyatela around 11:30 tomorrow. We both really liked King's Camp the first time we were here, and we like it even better this time. It's less formal and enjoys a premier location for animal sightings in the Timbavati in our humble opinions. It will be tough to leave our renewed acquaintances in King's Camp. We are looking forward to our next adventure with our fellow adventurers Michele, Don, Grant and Dena.