Safari, part 2

And on to Saturday.

As soon as you get to Johannesburg airport, you start hearing about the big 5 (lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard). Personally, I'd give up the buffalo and leopard for giraffes and hippos, but the big 5 is the big 5.

Saturday our quest to see the big 5 continued when I got up early to do a morning game drive. The game drive started at 7 and continued until almost 10. We saw buffalo, lions, zebra, elephants, and rhinos.

I have to say that Africa has some of the oddest herbivores around - the rhino, elephant, and giraffe are all very improbably animals.

After the morning safari, I took a nap and then sat out on my deck to watch the water hole. That day there were kudu, wildebeast, impalas, and zebras at the water hole.

After lunch and more animal watching, we went off on the second game drive of the day at 3:30. This time, we saw giraffe, rhino, 2 sets of lions (with a kill), some jackals, a brown hyena, and grouse. On our way back to camp after dark, we saw elephants and buffalo at the water hole by the lodge.

The day ended with dinner in the boma. It was very nice - the food was good, and there were fires around to keep everyone warm.