The elephants are staying close to camp. Lots of their favorite leaves line the sandy riverbed. All day safari was amazing. Gail and i got to ride with Ranger Bruce. We took off for Mala Mala's southernmost border in search of black rhino. (I digress .. wish I could embed sound - vervet monkeys pounding on our roof to get to the other trees. Where is Yosemite Sam when you need him?) The landscape and terrain are distinctly different from the north end. No rhinos to be found, lots of crashing through the bush. We circled north to rendevous with the other hippos and hipettes coffee hour. Leopards were our breakfast treat. From there, we tracked new birds on my checklist, lions, and slowly rode and stopped in the elephant herd for a good hour. That was magic. But wait - there is more. Group lunch on the edge of a sand river bed. The 3 second rule for picking up spilled food went right out the window; some lucky bird or small mammal got those remains of the day. Did i mention the homemade seasoned potato chips are divine? Time to get back to scouting new sightings. Bruce has found a hyena den recently. We went back to see if it was still in use. To say it was well concealed is an understatement. Lots of ducking and leaning to avoid branches and thorns resulted in a pinpoint accuracy. Den was not active: it reminds me how careful the wild animals must be to raise their young. Post sundowners and the action picked up - leaping leopards and vultures, Daddy Warbucks! A male leopard killed a maribou stork and was chomping on it as darkness overtook the sky. He could not resist trying to eat the wings. (I am a bird fan. That said, one less maribou stork in the world is OK by me). We got back to camp around 6 pm - missed the memo we were due in around 4. Kudos to Bruce for making two friends have one of the best safari drives ever. As we say in accounting, first out last in. Both of us had sea legs when we got out of the vehicle .. to go with the grins on our faces.

There is a copy of Rattray's business ledgers and in the library from the early to late 1900's. Fascinating reading. Conservation of leopard a d lion populations came up as early as 1950, resulting in restrictions for hunting parties.

For those of us who should eat less, move around more and lack motivation, consider a range rover safari. Gail's fit bit gave her credit for 32 flights of stairs and 4000 steps. She even earned a badge for an exceedingly large amount of exercise.