We just arrived at Leopard Hills and I am jumping on the internet before we get busy again.

Kings Camp did a wonderful job and the personal touches at Kings Camp are always so special. I am sure Eugene will report in on the camp. The attention to detail is quite amazing and they do some things that even Singita does not do. The food by the way was better than I had anticipated it would be. All in all a great two days.

The sightings were wonderful, lots of babies. Nice thing about this time of the year (same time as ROAR 2)

Two adorable little elephants about 3 months old (we will post pictures) one vehicle saw a baby elephant that was only about two days old. We all saw young lion cubs. (Picture coming later) Our vehicle also saw a baby hyena.

Of course each vehicle saw different things. A couple of vehicles already have the big five, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo, leopard and lion. Some are missing the Cape Buffalo and some are missing the Rhino. I am sure we will complete the big five here at Leopard Hills. Everyone saw the Leopard and that is the hardest thing to find.

The leopard was a young female and she was "on the move" so it was not just a leopard in a tree at a distance. Each vehicle was able to come in while the leopard was moving and climbing up and down trees. It was really a wonderful experience for everyone. Eugene got a head shot that is as good as the one Ken has, fantastic. Eugene is an excellent photographer, be sure to check out his pictures when he posts them on his return.

The last evening and the last morning it turned a little cold and windy and so the sightings suffered a little. There was a sighting most of the vehicles saw of the large rhino, one of the best I have ever seen. Some saw more lions, giraffe and other game.

The last night it started storming with thunderstorms and we were concerned we might not be able to make the 15 minute flight to Leopard Hills. However, it did clear up but there was some low cloud so we had to fly low. This was wonderful. We all saw game from the flight and just loved the whole experience.

It is now sunny at Leopard Hills and we look forward to experiencing some new game drives, guides a new camp experience.

Onto the final stage of the trip, hope it feels like it lasts forever!!!!

Ngaire,

This makes me feel a combination of de'ja vu and sadness. I'm feeling left out of another trip of a lifetime but I'll always have the memories, right? Waiting for the pictures :)

Wow!! This trip sounds beyond belief. I must admit I jumped a bit when I scrolled onto the shark photo. Yikes!!

I hope the rest of the trip is just as fantastic.

I know what you mean Suzie - I get chills whenever Ngaire talks about what she's seen on safair! Can't wait for the photos!

Thanks Ngaire! Ohhhhh, the anticipation...how are we all going to wait two whole years?!

Thank Ngaire for the wonderful reports.

Nancy

Just can't wait to read your reports Ngaire. I would LOVE to have seen the babies...looking forward to all the pictures! ROAR 2 can't come soon enough!

Hi everyone. Ngaire turned the keyboard over to me yesterday, and I wrote a long report and the server went down. Today, I'm composing in WordPad, so I can save it first.

King's Camp was wonderful. The rooms were great, the food was excellent, and the service was also very good. Most importantly, we saw lots of animals: Lions (M&F), a leopard (I have a gorgeous picture), zebras, water buffalo, giraffes, impala and numerous other similar antelopes, lots of elephants, dozens of types of birds, a rhino, warthogs, and I'm sure more.

Yesterday, we took the short plane trip over to Leopard Hills. The place is gorgeous. We are less than 100 km from King's Camp, but it is much greener here. (I've taken pictures of our "rooms" at both Camps.) Yesterday, as I think Ngaire told you, we had an amazing experience in the evening when we saw a female leopard and her two cubs (I think they were about 1 1/2 years old). Mom had killed an impala yesterday, and dragged it up in a tree, and the three of them were going to be around it until they were through with it. They weren't actually eating while we were there. The ranger said it is very rare to see three leopards at a sighting. I found it very difficult to get good shots at night, but have a few that may be okay; we'll see what Ken ends up with. We also went to a place overlooking a huge watering hole and saw a huge crock on the bank and hippos in the water--though they were very far away. Glad I have a 12x zoom.

I have been really happy with my Panasonic FZ-20 (and I see they just came out with an FZ-50!). For those, who don't want to deal with an SLR, this camera is hard to beat.

Meanwhiile, our room here is very high up and there is a large watering hole not too far away. The view is spectacular. We've seen warthogs out there, wildabeasts (sp?), antelope, and today a herd of elephants came buy to splash around and drink and then move on. You can see all this from the bathtub!

The food here is been very, very good. At the BOMA last night we had sort of a Mongolian pot stir fry where you picked your ingredients, including ostrich and/or chicken. Also, ribs and oxtail stew, as well as numerous vegetables. (Drank too much wine without knowing it and suffered this morning. Sounds like being on a ship.)

Today we stalked another leopard, and we have some great shots. It took a long time to track her down after the initial sighting. I think this afternoon we're going to be looking for a large pride of lions. I still don't have great shots of a male lion, and some of us have yet to see hyenas, though they're all around.

Well, we're off to lunch soon. Several couples, including Ken and Ngaire, went on a helicopter excursion to a canyon, which was postponed earlier. Again, I intend to write a more detailed, chronological report some time when I'm back. I really don't want to go to work. I just want to work on my pictures and the report.

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Eugene

Eugene, what a great report. It sure sounds like a wonderful trip with so many great animal sitings and such perfect lodging. I can only imagine sitting in the tub while watching the elephants splash around outside. Thanks for the report, can't wait to see your pictures.

Eugene-
Glad to hear how happy you are with your camera. I have the FZ-30 and have been debating the pros and cons of switching back to a Digital SLR again. Can't wait to see your pictures! Thanks for the reports.

Ditto what Marcie said, Eugene! I got goose bumps when I read about seeing elephants splash around from your own bathtub!!! I cannot WAIT to see your pictures and read your full report upon completion.

Deleted post that I put under Dreps name instead of mine.

Good news for the ROARERS.

Remember the two small leopard cubs most of us saw. One was brave and one was timid. These are the same two cubs that we saw here at Leopard Hills. So now we know they survived and are thriving. They are still the same personalities. While we were watching the mother the male cub came out in full view and the timid female cub stayed somewhat hidden. Of course they are quite large by now as it is 6 months later.

The rogue male lions that hit Singita and send the prides scattering are still here also. Tonight our Land Rover is going on the hunt for them and some of the other TUSK people have already seen them.

It is so nice to come back and remember what was happening at Singita and see the continuation of that now. Leopard Hills and Singita are right next door to each other so the animals roam back and forth across the dividing road.

Been a great trip. Wonderful weather except for one day in Cape Town but even then it did not rain heavily, just drizzly and overcase.

Leopard Hills has been great and we have three really great rangers here. The food has been excellent and last nights dinner was great. Today we had the BUSH breakfast that was nicely done and tonight a BOMA with local village entertainers.

Everyone has seen the big five but Eugene has not seen Hyena yet so we are going to look for that also. Many have seen them from their decks.

Hard to believe we have only one night left on safari, then a night in Johannesburg and then back to reality. You get so removed from everything out here and I do enjoy that so much. Here at Leopard Hills they put the news headlines on the tables at breakfast. Like the news letter you get on the ships. I opened it up and all it is a recap of all the bombings, hyjackings, etc etc in the world. Today I did not touch it.

Off for a short break and to start the awful packing process, then lunch and then my second to last game drive. Wish us male lions and hyenas

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

Thanks for the posts, Eugene and Ngaire. Your trips is fascinating and I can hardly wait for ROAR 2.

Eugene, I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix, DMC-FZ7. It's probably not as advanced as your Panasonic but is plenty for me. So far I'm happy with it on auto-setting. I have two years to learn about F-stops!

Hope you saw the male lions and Eugene's hyena.

Two more wonderful reports from the bush! Thank you so much, Ngaire and Eugene - we wish you were staying there longer, almost as much as you do! Loved following along with you on your adventure!!!!

Great game drive tonight.

We had a herd of elephants - probably about 50 animals. They were exhibiting behaviour, males were running, having skirmishes, mothers protecting babies gave us a mock charge. Very exciting all with the back drop of a gorgeous sunset.

Then we found 2 male lions, lazy and sleeping. We left those and then found a beautiful male lion with a nice mane and followed him as he was on the move. These are all part of the rouge male lions that were causing the problems at Singita in April. He finally stopped and gave us two sessions of roaring. They are so loud when they roar as some of the ROAR group knows. It is a powerful sound.

Tomorrow our last game drive --- over way too soon!!!

Oh, how wonderful to hear that roar! Gives me chills.
And it must have been amazing to see so many elephants. I'm just closing my eyes & remembering those sunsets & the roar....so glad that the leopard cubs survived & are 6 months old now! I bet it was magical seeing them again.
These reports are wonderful. Thanks, Ngaire & Eugene.

Just about to leave Leopard Hills. This mornings game drive was one of the best I have ever had BUT I am going to leave it to Eugene to post as he writes so much better than I do. We are all leaving on a big high as everyone in the group experienced the same incredible adventure this morning.

Not sure if I mentioned this above but a lady told me in Johannesburg that she was not going to go on ANY game drives at all. She was here because her husband wanted her to come but not to expect her to participate. A lovely person just afraid of the whole concept of safari and being close to dangerous animals. After seeing an elephant from her room on arrival she got a little interested and said she would do just the first game drive. From that point on she went on every game drive and is coming back to Africa again. That made the trip for me I am so happy for her and her husband just keeps hugging me. He is elated.

This has been a great stay. Last night they did a boma with a troop from a local village. They were so professional, had matching burnt orange costumes - incredible voices is was quite magical. Duncan the manager at Leopard Hills was telling us how one local man pulled this group together from his village and have taken them to this height of professionalism. They should do a CD and take their show on the road but they only do it for a handful of camps. They started at Leopard Hills so Duncan was quite proud of them and telling us how much they had developed to where they are now.

So off to Johannesburg, one night there and then home again, with more great African memories in my head!!!

Have some time before we depart for the airport to go back to JNB. We're staying 2 nights at the Westcliff and going with Ngaire and Ken to the cheetah and wild dog research center tomorrow morning before they leave tomorrow evening. Others who are not departing until tomorrow are also staying at the Westcliff and a group are going to dinner together.

Hard to believe but this morning's drive out did all the rest!! We had come upon 2 male lions and a lioness after sunset last night, and they had all just eaten--it was believed that they had taken down a buffalo. They were just sleeping it off, so it wasn't that interesting and also very difficult to take pictures because of the darkness. Earlier we had seen a huge herd of elephants, and it was somewhat dramatic. It was just as the sun was setting, and there was a beautiful sunset last night. They were clearly agitated and in fact a big female charged us and apparently she or another had charged one of the other jeeps several times. We weren't exactly sure what was going on. I can't even remember what else we saw, but I must get to today. Oh, we came across another male lion and he was pretty impressive, and he roared for us, which was an experience. I also remember that we came across a beautiful giraffe in a river bed eating, and the lighting was particularly nice.

Since I hadn't really gotten a good shot of a male lion, Duncan (our ranger), decided to head off to find the largest in the area because tracks had been seen yesterday. While driving down the road we passed a jeep from one of the other lodges going in the opposite direction, and Duncan greeted the ranger on that one. We continued down the road and only went about 100 feet and there was a female leopard sitting on top of a termite mound right by the road (maybe 20 feet from the road, if that). Duncan and Raymond (our tracker) had a good time ribbing the other ranger and tracker since they just passed it by. Well, we forgot about the lion for the time being and started following her. She was a beauty. (I think we've seen 6-7 different leopards, which is pretty amazing.)

Anyway, we soon heard that one of our other jeeps had found the male lion not far from where we were. Moreover, the lion was heading our way (also toward the leopard). So we continued following the leopard, knowing that the lion was still approaching. Finally, the leopard figured out that the lion was not far, and we got to see her head up a tree right in front of us. The nearer the lion approached, the higher up the tree she climbed. It was nerve wracking because obviously the branches are less sturdy the higher you get. I think the pictures will be pretty amazing. The lion went right by the tree, but there was no way he good climb as high up as she was, and we really didn't want him to. (I think one of the TUSKers got a picture of the lion and the leopard in one shot, but we were too close.) That is, it would have been okay if he tried, but we didn't want to see him really get her. There was no question he knew she was there, but since he couldn't get to her, he just continued on. He didn't even roar. He was magnificent to look at, and we've all got lots of pictures. We stayed with him for awhile, but eventually we left the scene with the leopard still up the tree and the lion sitting around not far away.

We then came upon two big rhinos in a clearing, and they were very near another of our jeeps. It almost looked like one was going to charge, but I don't think he really was. Have a neat picture, though. Also, it was interesting to watch them graze in tandem.

We continued on and stopped for morning coffee, chocolate, tea, and chocolate muffins. Pretty terrific.

Then we started off again, and came upon the youngsters from the pride of lions we had seen yesterday. Apparently, the mothers had gone off to hunt. I think they had learned their lesson after one of the cubs "screwed things up yesterday. By the way, the antelope that were almost a meal were nyalas.

Off we continued and then came upon some tracks from a large male leopard. It was starting to get late, but Duncan and one of the other rangers and both trackers spent considerable time trying to find him. They saw that he had been on a termite mound probably looking for warthogs (and we actually saw a couple in the area), but we didn't find him. Duncan concluded that earlier in the morning he must have been right below the lodge, and he had probably been by the waterhole we see from the deck outside our room while we were on the game drive. That's okay, while I would have loved to have seen him, I wouldn't have traded our experience with the lion and the leopard for anything. (It leaves something for our next trip to Africa! And, I still haven't seen a hyena either.) Duncan said many rangers who would have worked on a daily basis for 5 years would not have seen the lion-leopard scenario we witnessed today.

What a agreat end to our time at the game parks. No wonder all you ROARers signed up for ROAR2. Well, I better see about finishing packing.

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Eugene

This is wonderful. No one can imagine the exhileration of seeing one of these animals...never mind two or more...in the wild and right near you.

The Westcliff was lovely. Some comments. We had a late night flight and they let us keep the room until 8pm. Don't be afraid to ask. They arranged a full day city tour and tour of SOWETO for us. It was wonderful and very reasonable. We are glad we did it. The food at the hotel is very good. There is a wonderful crafts market at a mall nearby. It is worth going to.

I am at the London airport waiting for my next flight home.

What a great trip this was, it actually went smoother than ROAR as with a few tweaks here and there it made things much easier. Particularly as it relates to baggage. Next time I am going to do a few things slightly differently to make it even more efficient. Learn something new everytime.

Update for Roarers looking at options.
I love these two camps, Kings Camp and Leopard Hills. Great warm staff and really nice people. I asked the members of the group which camp they would chose knowing that Kings Camp is about 50% of the cost of Leopard Hills. It was difficult to get an answer. If the price was the same then Leopard Hills won out but with the value Kings Camp offers then there was a problem making that choice. YOu really cant go wrong either way. So much depends on luck - what the animals are doing - which ranger you are assigned - and the weather. We only had 2 nights at Kings Camp and 3 nights at Leopard Hills. Our last two game drives at Leopard Hills really "took the cake" as to our safari experiences so these are fresh in everyone minds.

Kings camps rooms are great, large with a nice bathroom, but lack the big glass window looking on to the bush, and no plunge pool, BUT they have this wonderful Victorian era furniture which is how safari camps used to be. Kind of an old time romantic feel. Mowed grass areas - just like the safari camps of old. Not many stairs here only up to the hide where you watch the animals. Lots of little personal touches that just keep on coming and coming that make you feel so at home - a very personal experience. Excellent food.

Leopard Hills has the big glass windows in the rooms looking onto the bush as Singita had. Rooms about the same size as Kings Camp just a different configuration. Food here is the same as at Kings camp - excellent. Leopard Hills is built more as a new safari lodge in the trees it has a completely different feel. Stairs here for those who are stair challenged. Either walk up a flat incline then about 10 steps to the dining deck area or up about 20 steps from the bottom to a up hill ramp and a few steps in between. The only area that you need to climb stairs is to the dining room, pool and deck area. The boma, library (internet) rooms and reception are all on ground level.

Johannesburg
We spent a night at the Westcliff. As Sedona said it is a lovely hotel, with big rooms and reasonably priced. The only hassle is that it is built on a hillside and you have to walk a bunch of stairs to get to reception or wait for a shuttle. Not the end of the world but a slight inconvenience. Sedona you are right the food was really excellent.

We also visited the Grace, kind of a "downscale" version of the Cape Grace. Rooms similiar to the Cape Grace but darker colors and more floral. A boutique hotel did not totally ring my chimes. It was nice that is was attached to a full shopping mall you can reach without going outside.

I also checked out a hotel called the SAXON, now this is THE place. Only 24 beautiful suites - and I mean suites the standard rooms would be a suite anywhere else, a spa that is spectacular with many treatments and covers are a large area. Not sure of pricing but this IS THE PLACE for sure.

We went to the Wild Dog/Cheetah center. I absolutely loved this program. I learned so much more about both these animals and after seeing the wild dogs for the first time and some of their behavior it is now the MOST important thing on my travel list to do --- see wild dogs in the wild. They use a safari type truck and drive you through the compounds so the cheetahs and dogs are free to move around in a good sized area so you are not looking through a fence. They are being fed of course but the way those dogs interact and eat - a wow experience. They are hyperactive dogs - like dogs on cocaine! Total excitment and activity non stop. This is where they are breeding dogs to release in capativity to packs in the wild to improve the gene pool of the packs. The wild dog packs in Madikwe come from this research center. I left there pretty pumped. I would advise this for anyone with time in Johannesburg.

It was not cheap as it takes about an hour and a half to get there and the program last three hours (driver has to wait) and the a one and a half hour trip back. So it was about 6 hours in total with the van and with four of us including admission it was $124 each. I think the entrance fee is around $25. Most of the cost is in the van and driver at about $400. Even a taxi costs about $50 an hour or $300 for six hours so you could save about $100 doing it with a taxi and that would be a $50 savings per couple but then you would have three jammed up in the back for a three hour transfer. In Johannesburg I prefer a car and driver arranged through a tour company over a taxi.

Nearly all the properties have electric wire high fences. A little disconcerting. Our driver told us that in the 80's there were a lot of burgularies mostly by immigrants so insurance companies would not insure unless the home owner had these high fences with electric wiring. They must have a global positioning system on their car as well to get insurance. This driver was saying these high fences were not as critical now that this is a remnant from the past. Not sure if that is accurate but it made me feel better anyway.

Ken is working on trying to upload pictures. We may or may not get these up before our boarding call -- giving it a try.

Here are Ken's photos:

One for the ROARERS - COME TODAY IT IS SUNNY!

Mother and baby walking in step.

How cute is this - showing off his fuzzy white underbelly.

Gail, Eugene, Ngaire - coffee stop

One of 6 leopards we saw, great tooth shot.

Female Rhino with a gigantic horn. Never seen anything like that before.

The stalk. This is the Lion that sensed or smelled the Leopard and started coming towards the Leopard. This shot was taken as the Lion looked up into the tree to see the Leopard on the highest branch.

This is the Leopard in the tree looking down at the Lion.
We were too close to get both Leopard and Lion in the same picture. We were within feet of the base of the tree.

Hi Ngaire,

Spectacular photos and wonderful trip reports! Ken's photos always leave me in awe of his expertise and "Keene" eye!

Greatly enjoyed Eugene's trip reports, as well! Thank you!

Safe journey home for all!

Ken's photos are his best yet! Your reports are making me "wish my life away". I'm ready to skip 2007 and go straight to 2008 and ROAR 2. Alan's going to get tired of hearing me rave about all of this! Safe travels home. You are a traveling wonder (and my idol :) ).

WOW! Terrific photos! Thanks!!!!

Thanks, Ngaire. Sounds like special experiences at each camp; definitely can't go wrong at any of them. (This is going to be so hard waiting for 2008....!!)
TRULY MAGNIFICENT PHOTOS, KEN! You're the best!!

Once again, chills running up and down my spine! Wonderful descriptions Ngaire, and superb photographs Ken.

Since we might have an extra day to spend in Johannesburg, I found the website for the Saxon. Looks wonderful.

The Saxon

I agree with Andrea...chills!! What camera is it that Ken uses? Is that the Rebel?

Holy cow...what incredible pictures. Ken could work for National Geographic!!

Yes, Ken is quite a wonderful photographer. He used a Rebel on MUSH with a magnificient lens. His best equipment for photography is his steady hand and a great EYE for composition and light!