I am sure everyone has figured out that the post attributed to me above was really Ngaire's as she reposted it under her name. I must not have been logged out from my last session.

This morning we had a great drive. Last night we were tracking a pride of lions for quite some time, but it became too dark to find them. The rangers and trackers had isolated the "block" of land where they thought they were, but the question was whether they would still be there today? This morning we went back to the area as our ranger (Duncan, who is also the manager of Leopard Hills) and his tracker Raymond were determined to find them. They as well as one of the other rangers and his tracker went into the area on foot as they had concluded that the lions had not exited the "block" during the night. Our tracker, who is superb, found fresh tracks, and they found the pride. Apparently, both men and lions saw each other at the same time. Of course, we were back in our jeeps wondering what was going on, and some were a bit skeptical. It's a little strange being in the jeeps unescorted knowing that a group of lions is nearby, but you sort of get used to it.

Duncan had thought that for the lions to have remained in the block overnight, they would have had a kill because he thought there were about a dozen mouths to feed. However, the pride apparently didn't make a kill, and when the rangers and trackers discovered them, they began to "move." It was also clear that they were in need of food, as some of the younger lions were fairly scrawny.

So we started following the group of 8 that they had actually found. It was interesting driving down the road behind this line of lions. (I've got pictures.) And we kept following them.

Then things got somewhat dramatic. We got down to a river bed and saw a couple of african antelope (I forget the exact type), and we thought they were done for. The lions were on one side of the river bed and the antelope on the other. Moreover, one of the dumb antelope went across to the side with the lions. But one of the lion youngsters "gave the lions away," and the antelopes took off. You become sort of ambivalent. While some of us weren't particularly interested in seeing the kill (though others were), it was easy to recognize that the lions were in need of food.

After the lions, we went to see Cape buffalo, and again got some great pictures. It was a beautiful morning.

As Ngaire mentioned, then we had a wonderful breakfast in the bush. As she also noted, we're after male lions this afternoon and maybe hyenas, so I can get a few more pictures "I missing." It will really be difficult to leave. I also second the notion that the rangers here are really exceptional, based on my limited experience. And for us, the most important aspect of these camps, is the tracking the game. At Leopard Hills, they really value the whole notion of tracking the animals and trying to "outsmart" them, which is not easy.

Don't know if I'll get to post again before we're back home, but we'll see.

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Eugene