We were awoken with the phone ringing at 5:30 AM. Back in the old days of staying in tented camps someone would come to our tent and call “knock knock” and bring a tray of coffee and orange juice to our tent. Not here. There is a telephone in our room (horrors), and all we get is a wakeup call as if we are staying in a motel.

Still, I had the opportunity to use the outdoor shower, and watch the sun gently brighten the bush outside our room.

At 6:00 we headed to the lounge where coffee and tea, and Joaz and David were waiting for us. It was time for our morning game drive, yay!

The 4 of us climbed into the safari vehicle and we headed off in search of Ravenscourt, an elderly male leopard, who was said to be not too far from the lodge.

It was a beautiful misty morning, and there was no sign of rain for once. We were surrounded by the sounds of birds greeting the day, and the smell of the bush filled the air. It was perfect.

After a very bumpy ride we were able to find him. I wish I could say that we tracked him using David’s superior tracking skills, but alas no. Another ranger had found him, and announced this on the radio, so all of the safari vehicles from the Sabi Sands game lodges were heading in his direction. We would not be alone looking at him.

By the time we got to see him he was on the ground, but later he jumped into a tree. We stayed looking at him for ages. He was a truly magnificent leopard, and as with all of the animals, it was hard to think about hunters wanting to shoot him for sport.

We left him alone to nap, and drove off to see another leopard and we followed him along the road. He stopped to eat some buffalo poop and smear it all over his face. Apparently leopards do this to confuse their prey into thinking he is an herbivorous buffalo and not a carnivorous leopard. Smart but rather disgusting.

After lunch we checked out the hide that is near to the dining area. It is accessed by an extremely rickety suspension bridge, and it is not pleasant walking there, but the hide has a great view of a small dam. We watched from the hide for a while, but there were no visitors alas.

It was time to try the plunge pool. We have never had a plunge pool before, and I was anxious to give it a go. The pool has an unobstructed view of the surrounding bush, and no sooner had I plunged in than some nyala came by, followed by some impala, and then a lone wildebeest. Wow, I can go game viewing from the cool of my pool. Maybe plunge pools aren’t such a bad idea at all. I stayed in there floating rather than plunging until it was time for our afternoon drive.

As we set off for our afternoon game drive we were dismayed to find out that there were to be 8 people in our vehicle. Although the safari vehicles could take 10 people, this never happens at a reasonable lodge. Usually there are 4 to 6 people. That way everyone gets to see the game, and your preferences for what you want to do on the drive are more easily met.

The extra 4 passengers hindered the views, and what’s more this was to be their first game drive ever. We were not happy as the lodge clearly had another vehicle and guides that they were not using.

As it turned out the 4 interlopers were very nice, and it was great to see how excited they became when they saw what we thought were rather mundane sightings. All in all, it worked out well and didn’t really detract from our experience.

Our first sighting was a puff adder. Not a good snake to encounter when you are out on a bush walk, but lovely to look at from the safety of your vehicle as long as it doesn’t want to slither on board. It didn’t.

The game drive was interesting, and we saw elephants, so my day was made. All in all I think it was a great experience for the additional passengers, and we had a good time too. Maybe 8 in a vehicle isn’t so bad after all.

We had our sundowners way after the sun had gone down. We were parked by a dam where there were several hippos. Luckily none decided to go walkabout where we were standing.

On our drive back to the lodge we came across an eagle owl.

Dinner tonight was on the lawn – lit by lamps and candles, all very romantic. I thought I would try the plunge pool again after dinner, but it was rather too cold for my liking, so I gave it a miss and parted the mosquito netting to get into our very comfy large bed, looking forward to our drive tomorrow.

It is really a miracle that here we are in the bush, and there is wifi. Except at the moment it’s not working. Alas, uploading photos and then this post has been a challenge – I may have to wait until we are at the airport on Friday before I can post again 🙁