Well the day did not disappoint. We were ON THE ROAD a little before 6.00am. At first no tracks in the area we saw them last night but the Rangers systematically fanned out from that point. Then we found some tracks as did another vehicle. That allowed them to pinpoint where they would probably be. It is truly amazing how they do this tracking. We found the lions close to the road.

What a sight. 12 Cubs all fairly young with some around 12 weeks old. There were three female lions with the Cubs. Included in the group was a three month old WHITE lion. Not an albino but a genetic strand that is rare but found most often in the timbavati area. I have always hoped to see a white lion in the wild when visiting kings camp or royal malewane. The ranger we had said it was the first time he had seen a white lion and he is a senior ranger. I was so thrilled even better than wild dogs.

The sighting was incredible. Cubs everywhere trying to climb trees, playing with mom and the other Cubs. While we were watching them the ranger in the other vehicle was waving like crazy. They had sent their tracker into the bush looking for the lions and he was walking right into the pride. We think the lions were looking at him as they were all alert looking in that direction, but the tracker had not spotted them. The ranger immediately left to rescue the tracker. The way these guides both Rangers and trackers walk into the bush knowing there are lions in the area always amazes me. This is how the lions are often found.

The lions started moving and the Cubs were so active. Frankly the scene cannot be described. For the first time ever I wished we had a video maybe someone else has one. Ken took 566 photos. Going to take him a while to deal with that many pictures. We had about 30 minutes with them and had to leave to let other vehicles into the sighting.

We headed to a beautiful lake with birds, hippos, and huge crocodiles. Two Egyptian geese were on a little island. We thought one was dead and the other one was pecking to get it back to life. There was zero movement on the "dead" bird. The Ranger said they were mating but we all thought no way it would lay that still if it was alive. Then suddenly they both flew off together. We decided she was playing dead hoping for an end to the action.

After a refreshing coffee break we started to slowly return to the lodge. On the way we saw a black backed jacket, plus many other animals. It was like grand central station at one point with animals everywhere.

Then if the morning had not been exciting enough we got a call of a leopard in the area that was hunting. Again the looking for tracks figuring out where the leopard could be. The found tracks and knew they had the leopard. We found a young female leopard that had just killed a big male Impala. It must have happened just a few minutes before we arrived. The leopard started eating at the rear of the impala and as soon as anything that had an odor was out she buried the evidence to protect the kill from behind detected. Then she dragged it around to hide it better and left, we were surprised she left. The ranger said she wanted to move off so if hyenas or lions came she would be far enough away to escape. The impala was too big to take up a tree she would have to open it up first and get out all the organs before she could take it up a tree. Perhaps she was too tired and wanted to rest as that takes a lot of energy. This was a different leopard than we saw last night.

Right at the lodge we saw a really large and dark giraffe. Probably pretty old and he did not move off at all we were really close.

Gobbling down some delicious eggs Benedict was a fitting end to a glorious morning. This afternoon we are going to try the lions again, check the impala carcass, and visit an active hyena den. I love being on safari each day is so different and exciting.

We have had three outstanding Rangers here so will be sorry to say goodbye the tomorrow as we leave for Royal Malewane.

By the way Zebra people it was cold this morning I had stopped taking my fleece and gloves. Big mistake thank goodness they had blankets. Weather can change on a dime and it is hot this afternoon. Big temperature changes