We're having quite the adventure this trip. It started over at Federal Air. We learned there were 9 bound for Singita and 3 for Leopard Hills. By my calculation, this meant a completely full Caravan. I would have to jockey for my preferred back seat position. No worries. Fifteen years in New Jersey prepares one for such contingencies.

The Caravan fired up its engines, and amazingly our luggage did NOT head in that direction. Instead, we got the Ferrari equivalent of the Federal Air fleet. All from ROAR know that of which I speak. The Beechcraft 1900, so plenty of room to stretch out. We did the Singita runway inspection, dropped off our companions and met the third party headed to Leopard Hills. AHA! We were bringing Shane the Head Chef home. The pilot said it was 3 minutes to Leopard Hills. I got my watch out to verify. Well, it was 2 minutes to taxi and turn, then another minute to do a post take-off runway inspection, three minutes to the next runway, one to complete the runway inspection of the Leopard Hills/Ulusana strip, and another two minutes to land.

What should appear to our tired eyes but two gorgeous guys and a Range Rover. I thought "This must be Hannes". Sure enough, Hannes and Evert were our welcoming party. We sent regards to Hannis from Freddie, Pat, Milt, Jason, Pam and Jim. Upon arrival, we headed over to Room 7 and then back for a light lunch. The salads here are simply spectacular. The other ranking chef, Izanne, was manning the kitchen single-handedly. Quite literally - her left arm is in a cast, stretching beyond her elbow. She learns today if they can shorten the cast. I can't imagine chopping food with one hand in a cast.

Off on our range rover, we met Gary. Debbie, he was relieved to learn your daughter is specializing in international wildlife preservation law. He hadn't appreciated that from your descriptions :D ;) Anyway, he's still available. We joined a delightful couple from northern Germany and another from London. Geoff is an avid photographer. He's using a Nikon D3 whilst Gary has the new Canon D50. Battle of the big lens is on!

Sightings have been magnificent. Some of the lionesses are in heat, so there's been focus on the family rather than focus on food for the Simbas of Leopard Hills. I have spoken with Marius about locating the surviving male from Pride 2. Fingers crossed we will find him. Today featured a Hippo Pond Match. The ranking male chased off the interloper. They came fully out of the pond for some great photos. We also re-experienced the great Singita invisible wall for other game rovers. Two male leopards were dusting it up over a territorial dispute. Unfortunately, they held it on the Singita side of the divide. No chance to get any closer to the action. We met Duncan and Louise before they left on holiday last night. Last night was a leopard lioness and the burning beautiful African sunset. My camera decided to malfunction late in the drive. Despondent did not begin to describe my mood. Gary and Gary figured out a makeshift repair this morning; but I stayed in last night and caught up on much needed sleep. We used to call that 'attitude adjustment' I woke up my usual happy self today. Whew!

Today's wonderful surprise was seeing two lion cubs (about 2 months old - they still have the blue eyes) with their mother and her sister. I shot a short video of their play - and am hoping it comes out OK. This very nearly morphed into a full on early morning lion kill, as a Nyala doe and buck wandered into the danger zone. A vervet monkey sitting atop a tree let out the warning call, and the cubs kept running under the lionness' feet. Breakfast will have to wait for the lion ladies. The sweetest moment was watching the cubs suckle their mother.

It was waterfowl morning. A duck match started off, with two rival families dusting it up in the hippo pond. A big croc slid into the water, but no ducklings went missing on this go-round. A majestic African fish owl soared in, took its rightful place atop a gorgeous tree, and surveyed the options. It took a leisurely fly over to another promising location.

Food has been quite good and the staff is so congenial and accommodating. We feel right at home here, and are so very glad we found a way to stay for five nights. I'm taking one for the team, ladies, and will test the spa treatments and report back. Tough duty, but someone has to do it. ;)

The rest of the guests get here in about 2-1/2 hours time. Can't wait to see them.

Pleasure, No. 7 RM

Sound like you had a great day.

May the battle of the lens continue.

Susan

Ahhh, so there with you in the RR, bouncing along, w/ princess amenities in tow!

Great report! I can't wait to hear more and see some of the pix. Have a GREAT safari!

Andrea & Len
(wishing we had booked LION too)

No 7

So did you get the 1900D model? It has a "stand-up cabin" which most people can walk upright. Glad to hear you had two runway inspections, if only Mark was along for the ride....

Ready for a good time
[IMG]

Proud mama and cub


Nursing cubs


Duck fight

Gary defending the Canon side


Oscar supporting the TITS sundowner program


Burning, beautiful sunset


Vanquished hippo

Hornbill 1, praying mantis 0


A contact sport ..


Gabar's Goshawk


Leopardess waiting for sundown and impala for dinner


Pleasure, No. 7

Amazing photos, Anne! Thanks for posting them. Keep having fun and please keep reporting to us!

I think the praying mantis are sort like the Washington Generals....

Hey, BP!

Great photos! Thanks for sharing. Continue to enjoy your wonderful trip.

More Photos from LION:


Lilac Breasted Roller


Hippos


Little Bee Eater


Elephants in Unison


Shadows of Ken, Ngaire, and Mary Ellen Riding an Elephant


Sunrise in the Bush

I am going to leave the story telling to Anne, she does such a wonderful job so just a quick note from me on the highlights.

Leopard Hills has not disappointed. We saw the big five in the first 2 game drives. Wonderful sightings. LION – mating lion, 2 month old cubs, a large male right next to the land rover. ELEPHANT – everywhere, right in the middle of a huge herd, mock charged by 3 year old males, a one month old baby. RHINO – mud baths, a rhino with a 40 inch horn, and a baby. LEOPARD, Anne and Gary got a wonderful sighting the day before we arrived and we saw a leopard and followed her for some time. CAPE BUFFALO we were in a herd of about 300 buffalos, fighting bulls, great experience. We have also seen an impala chasing off two interlopers, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest having a little disagreement. Great action. What is great here is that the three rangers are so wonderful it really makes NO difference who you have as your ranger. I have been out with Marius and Hannis, two peas in a pod and Anne and Gary went out with Gary and loved him too. They are all wonderful with photography with great off roading to get the perfect light for the cameras.

Food has been better than I remember as well, actually outstanding. PERFECT weather, not too hot or to cold and wonderful bright sunny days, life is good in the bush.

Well after Gary and Ken's photos, I'm feeling a bit intimidated to post, but I did just update our blog through lunch yesterday. We did see a beautiful brother and sister lion (but I don't know how to import the photos here, so you'd have to go to my blog to see them). Also, we had some interesting lunch guests yesterday--again, if interested, see the blog.

Yesterday afternoon, which I haven't written up yet, we had an interesting encounter with a small herd of elephant. And then today, we saw our first leopard this trip. We have also seen large herd of buffalo.

It's about time for lunch, so perhaps I'll get a little further on the blog before the afternoon game drive. Speaking of food, ours has not been wonderful. There have been a couple of good dishes, but we really misbehaved last night at dinner--mostly because of the food quality. I kept wondering if we would have been better behaved if Ngaire had been around. Gail, who has been fighting a cold, skipped dinner, so I had no one to rein me in.

We did have a pleasant bush breakfast this morning, though we were starving because we had spent so much time tracking the leopard.

I did have some pretty good spinach canneloni for lunch, and Gail had a good Greek salad. Now we're trying to organize our packing for our quick flight to Leopard Hills tomorrow.

---------------

Eugene

We love the pictures and the posts-keep them coming! Glad you are having such a wonderful time. Memories of ROAR2!

The pictures! The posts! Your making us long for a safari in South Africa. Thanks to all of the talented photographers and reporters. Keep it coming.

Sounds and looks like a wonderful time. I am soaking it all up!!!

We're waiting for our cars to Lion Sands and making room for Eugene, Gail et al to keep the Leopard Hills bush boys on their toes.

We finished yesterday's drives with the biggest of the six male lion coalition calling for his brothers. Mating was done, he was hungry and it was time to get back to the guy way of life. He must have named them individually, as he roared over and over again. We had a delightful boma dinner.

Hannes is the man for the wine recommendations, Eugene. He has yet to steer us wrong. As we headed back to our rooms, the lion was keeping up the pressure on his brothers to knock it off with the girls and show up!

This morning had action upon action, of the animal and human variety. We woke to another roaring session, but it sounded like there were two lions calling to each other. Gary, having won the Best in Group - Tracker in Training Seminar (BIG TITS) yesterday, was ready to defend his title. He grabbed the First Class section; Mary Ellen and Jim rode Business and Ngaire and Ken filled up the Economy row. We came across a perfect sunrise. Marius, Hannes and Ranger Gary were game hunting, so they split up and headed after three possible leads.

The radio was active, and then - wham! - the reunion of the two male lions who'd been roaring. They jumped and did the chest bump. Any of you ever seen someone dance "The Worm"? The dance is a copy of these male lions' greetings. the two boys hit the ground, whipped over on their backs, and did a synchronized dust bath, keeping the beat with their feet. Then they rolled over again and started grooming themselves. We were in the golden sunlight hour and got good shots. The junior brother started to move out quickly.

Marius thought the junior guy was heading to the lioness with the two cubs. Family reunion? Cub killing? Only time would tell. We went crashing and thrashing through the bush. It was the total guy kind of a game ride. Time to back up and get the logs out from under the truck's drive train. Such fun!

Meanwhile, Hannes is closing in on a leopard sighting. We lose the track of the lioness and decide to back up Hannes. Ranger Gary, meanwhile, sees the senior brother hear something and bound through the bush. He bounds behind Simba.

Simba arrives at the intersection of Hannes and Ranger Gary to find the leopardess with a fresh, full sized impala kill. Simba bounds over to the leopardess, who knows she's either going to give up the kill or make breakfast a two-course meal for Simba. Simba sets on the impala for his meal. Once again .. the female does the stalk and kill, and the male grabs the prey.

Hannes tracks the leopardess, whose confidence has slumped. She pounces after a mongoose, missing it by millimeters. She ambles through the bush and finds a dead tree. Knowing her star quality rating depends on it, she dutiful leaps on to the branch so we can get our photos. She sees something else that may substitute for her breakfast, and off she goes.

We circle back to Simba and his much-diminshed impala. I got some wonderful video of his breakfast dining technique. Suffice it to say it's highly efficient but would garner much disapproval from Aunt Francis, a devotee of Emily Post and her etiquette standards.

We had a full morning, but were pressing on at it was our last game drive. We searched and searched for our favorite sighting. Around the bend, near the dam at Ulusaba, we came across our perfect kill .. Hannes and Oscar having coffee, amarula and muffins. Mmmmmmm...

Gary and Ngaire, being unaware of local custom, must have been inspired by Simba. They each took one side of a muffin and deftly tore it in two. They simultaneously ate their share of the muffin in one synchronized, smooth motion. Umm .. that's the African wedding custom. No matter .. Ken and I will reclaim them after their muffin stupor subsides.

Not wanting to give our bush boys any slack, I reminded Marius there had been no new species checked off on the sighting list. He went a bit bonkers. I decided to write in the rare sighting of the olive-backed spitting ranger bush boy. No problem .. it was as unusual as the sighting yesterday of a pair of drab bicycle-toting poaching patrol buck.

Marius was bound and determined, though, to find something on the checklist. We settled for the water thick knee bird. As we rounded the bend to Leopard Hills, we saw another lilac breasted roller. We missed the first two shots as he flew from tree to tree. He grabbed and managed to consume a full grasshopper. That's about as generous a breakfast for the bird as Simba's stolen impala was for the lion.

Jim, our photo coach, helped us synchronize our shots. We got the grand slam of truck photography: all four of us got crystal clear shots of the lilac breasted roller on the wing. Thanks to Jim's efforts, we got all the various parts of the wing beat - gary, ken, mary ellen and anne.

What else could one want for a morning game drive?

Breakfast .. amidst super fine weather. I have so thoroughly enjoyed Leopard Hills and the five day stay. Looking forward to Lion Sands and a whole new checklist, along with undiscovered new species to add to the list.

Pleasure, No. 7

What a wonderful writer you are

I felt like I was watching a movie

What a fantastic commentary on the trip and beautiful photographs. Almost makes me want to go.....almost.
Lynn

Fantastic! I have GOT to make this trip. Since I am booked for the rest of 2009, I am looking at 2010. Any opinions on best time of year gratefully recieved.
--------------------
Helen

It sure sounds like you're having a fantastic time....keep enjoying and keep posting !

To all contributors: Your reports and photographs are superb! Just magic! Maybe one day!! Thanks and keep up the good work. Lee

What fun reading the posts. Feel like we're back in the bush..

The photos as usual are super but the one of the hippo in the water just cracks me up. The other one involved Mary Ellen, Jim and Ngaire and Andre in the High Plains of Samara. The landscape is so different from what we saw on ROAR.

Carry on!

Cheers! Ray & Penny
“Remember the past, dream of tomorrow, and live for today.”

Lions in the sand .. of course! It must be Lion Sands.

Helen - best time of year? Anytime between April and September here in South Africa. Personal opinion? Either April or September.

Remember the old show "Time Tunnel"? Felt like we hit the way back machine to Singita Boulders. The ambiance here is so, so similar. Room design a bit different; lodge only for six rooms so it's a smaller group.

It wouldn't be a group trip without at least a few unexpected twists and turns. One of our company, thankfully, has shaken off tourista and is back in the hunt. As you ladies know from ROAR and ROAR 2, making the morning game drive and one's usual beauty routine are mutually exclusive. We wound up this morning with 4 ladies and 6 gents. The gents were hoping we'd agree to the PITS vs. the TITS vehicle line-ups. The TITS challenged the PITS (photographers in training section) to a photo duel. TITS would vote and yes, it's an election where our votes can be 'influenced' with bling and other sparkly things.

Brandon, our ranger rover who is leading the fashion wave over here, was quick to volunteer for the TITS group. He's getting shorts and gaiters going as the only way to distinguish oneself as both a ranger and a fashionista. He's got the youth and legs to pull the look off. He's become our BRA - Big Ranger in Action. Can't have that many TITS without a BRA, doncha know?

I could write for months about all our conversation. We were in stitches as well as seeing wonderful game. Wonderful bits were: hosting capability in a ranger is very important, and he is one of the hosting legends when it comes to range rovers. I completely concur with that assessment. When the PITS swung by us at the Southern Pride lions in the sand viewing, the guys wanted to know what photos we were taking. Brandon smiled, laughed and simply said "Me .. OF COURSE!!"

Trevor has been here a considerable time, and therefore has the newest range rover in the group. He was trash talking with Brandon as much as Brandon was dishing it back at him.

We enjoyed the Southern Pride's personal introduction yesterday. Seventeen strong, they weaved their way along the road and amongst our vehicles. This morning, they had all obviously enjoyed a substantial meal last night. The cubs' bellies were full to bursting.

More later - computer time exceeded.

Pleasure, Malachite RM

Thanks Anne! Hanging on every word. Dont think DH would require too much persuading but no one could resist after reading your posts. Party on!
---------------
Helen

Your wonderful narrative brings back wonderful memories and alot of envy. Ready to go again. How about after TUT and than do seg 5 back home. Any takers??

Toasting the TITS & the PITS with a cup of hot choc w/ Amar. this morning :) I want a BRA like yours! :banana:

I'm sorry I meant Nile not TUT. THe March2010 Nile Egypt cruise.

I'm sorry I've fallen down on the job, but we needs some sea days in the "bush." There is essentially no downtime to work on the blog, and unfortunately, the Internet at Leopard Hills as been more dicey than that at Kings Camp.

Nevertheless, things are great here at LH. I don't think we've had as many spectacular sightings that the first group had but we've had some interesting ones. One male leopard was stalking another yesterday, but unfortunately, we couldn't get a shot of them together.

We've seen a lot of "flat cats"--lions or leopards flat on the ground snoozing. We saw a female leopard finishing off her impala kill. On our way five baboons high up in a tree were having a fit near the sight.

I've managed to take more bird photos than on our previous visit, including a lilac breasted roller, even if mine isn't eating anything. I did get a "banana" bird eating a praying mantis, though.

The food here is been excellent, considerably better than Kings Camp. I won't go into any detail now. I had a great massage yesterday--and very reasonable.

We've seen a lot of elephants, and were in the middle of a huge herd today. Right now most of our group is off at the elephant ride, which is more than an hour away.

I just had a tutorial from Ron Litteken, who showed me some tips on working on photos. He was interersted in seeing the basic tools available in iPhoto, which he though was fairly impressive for basic software.

And finally, it seems that Gail's record is safe in terms of medical events--she was dozing on the chaise on our verandah and was bitten several times by a scorpion. Apparently, she thinks the critter got trapped in her shirt, which resulted in the multiple bites. Fortunately, the medical consultant was on premises--he's married to one of the staff--and circulates around the area. He thought she would be fine with just some topical ointment, but was certainly ready to give her an injection, if needed.

Well, we're going to try to rest up before lunch and get ready for this afternoon's game drive.

-----------------

Eugene

Oh no! Eugene, please tell Gail for all of us we wish her a speedy recovery. We got a lecture about scorpions. Those with the big pettipaws (like lobster claws) and small tails are not too dangerous; those with the small claws and big tails are more worrisome. Ngaire flew to the phone and got further details. Gail is doing well, no pain, no signs of residual problems and is bound and determined to enjoy a top-notch afternoon game drive. WHEW!

We're working on the safari dictionary (based on our experiences) for those who may be new to safari or simply wanting to brush up their safari skills. Eugene, I'm adding your entry as well. Fortunately for all of us, we have a fully qualified librarian to help us with our definitions and reference points. Feel free to submit any others. So far we've got the following entries:

A pity: losing your camera

A great pity: losing your camera with a memory card full of photos

African safari photo shots: Those digital or film images of guests' safari memories. See 'butt shots' and 'flat cats' for more information

Bliss: morning muffins at Leopard Hills or King's camp, especially if shared with a friend. See "Pacifier" for additional information

Butt shots: Most mega pixels or film expended to record the memorable instances of one's African safari - animal or otherwise.

Fashion accessory: gaiters to complete the safari short, bush shirt and hiking boots ensemble.

Flash photography: What happens when the sun goes up, the range rover occupants remove enough layers to bring skin into play and the cameras go off

Flat cats: large felines sleeping, dozing or otherwise inert on and off for up to 18 hours per day. See "african safari photo shots" for more details

Guest service: Breaking off a stick for retrieving a camera. See 'Inopportune' for further information.

Hippo inspection: Finding an uncooperative, victorious hippo blocking your path to a beautiful bush dinner location. Bonus points if said hippo is bloody from recent battle with vanquished members of equal or lesser species. See "Trevor .." for further information.

Idiots: those who voluntarily get out of bed before 6 am

Inopportune: dropping your camera within 5 meters of a feeding lion.

Italian lover strategy: The general description for male animal or insect behavior which results in stealth, cunning and other trickery to woo and cover the female of the species without being eaten alive during or afterwards. Preferred strategy for metrosexuals.

Mamma Pooch: Mama Sup, armed with Mudman cards and a voracious group of Pooch players.

Metrosexual: rangers with a broad view, hair gel and a stash of Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton bedroom slippers for lounging between shifts

Normal: those who get out of bed at 7:30 am

Pacifier: morning coffee stop of coffee, hot chocolate and amarula cream in equal portions, coupled with "bliss".

Runway inspection: the process of sweeping a bush airstrip of its giraffe, impala or other wayward animals who mistakenly assume they have free passage when a Caravan comes in for a landing. See 'hippo inspection' for range rover equivalent.

Trevor .. Trevor .. come in Trevor: Response to 'hippo inspection' when said hippo has no intention of making way to said bush dinner

Village visit: activity between drives guaranteed to produce the best game sightings of one's entire trip, along with seeing the local tribe and enjoying a brief glance of village life, shopping opportunities and the children working at school.

We went to see the sleep-out in the treehouse between drives. Thinking this may satiate my quest for experiencing lots of what a safari has to offer, I was toying with a dinner and sleep in the bush. Tempting .. but having the two umbrellas in the stand and nothing but mosquito net on the bed resting on the floor gave me cause for pause. So lovely, though. Honeymooners should file this idea for future reference. Along the path, we saw a breeding herd of elephants. A seven and five month old were hard at play, trying to test out their trunks on one another. I sure hope my video of that episode is a good one.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a rare sighting of a month old hippo. The darling came up onto the beach so we could see Mamma's beautiful baby in all his/her wet splendor. That was a simply breathtaking sighting. This all happened within 100 feet of the matriarch of the elephant breeding herd we saw earlier in the day. Thankfully, it threatened neither hippo nor elephant matriach.

Lion Sands is simply remarkable. Love this place! The bush dinner was all set up with lanterns in the trees, the candles in paper bags (can't remember the name right now) marking the path and a roaring bonfire to light our way. Slow cooked springbok was divine; the kingclip fish was the best Ngaire has had for the entire trip. We had about 5 choices to sample for mains, along with side dishes and sweets. We simply laughed and laughed through dinner, and all the way home on our jeep. Any wonder no animals were to be found on the way back?
Stars alight, we made our escorted march back to Malachie. A picture-perfect view of the constellation "Scorpio" was centered in our bedroom window. A full-on star show is available from the comfort of your own 8' wide bed, or you can draw blinds for a deeper sleep. Finding your partner on the other side of the bed? Priceless. Email may be required.


Today, we are all trying to identify the bird life around our rooms. We've got probably wire-tailed (or barn) swallows nesting in our open courtyard. The pair of African fish eagles shows up each day around 12:30 pm for their song and dance show. We're all still trying for the grey/taupe backed birds with the olive green/drab yellow bellies. Haven't made a positive ID as of yet.

More vervet monkeys hanging out on our room's rooftop. Be gone, you little beasties! You may not share my treasure trove of shiny or tasty things.

Time for a light lunch and more flash photography

Pleasure, Malachite RM

Oh Anne, the baby hippo! Paper bag lights are Luminaria in So Cal/Mexico, not sure if same in Africa.
------------
Helen

I am loving these reports and pictures -

More Photos From LION:


Wildebeest Sparing.


Impala Sparing.


Two Brothers at Leopard Hills in Early Morning Sun - What a Difference Light Makes to a Photo.


The Dominant Male Lion.


Lilac Breasted Roller Catching a Grasshopper. She Caught it, Threw it into the Air to Reposition for Swallowing. I Took the Photo During the Process. The Photo was Cropped Down for Better Viewing but not Altered in any Other Way.


Busy Taking Photos at Leopard Hills. Marius (Ranger), Mary Ellen, Gary, Paul, Jim, Anne, & Susan.


Group Shot at a Leopard Hills Sundowner. Gary, Anne, Ken, Mary Ellen, Jim, Susan, Paul, Ngaire, Rusty, Sue, Betty, Mike.


Female Rhino with one Long Horn.

The Leopard that had her Kill Taken from her by a Lion.


Another Beautiful Sunset


Mother & Baby at Lion Sands.


After a Nice Drink of Water.


Juice (Tracker) & Trevor (Ranger) at Lion Sands.


Susan & Ngaire on the Sabi River at Lion Sands.

I think that the bird catching the grasshopper must be photoshopped ;) either that or Ken is the best photog ever!!!

DITTO what Karen says!!!!!!!!

These photographs are spectacular. What kind of camera are you using?

My dream vacation is a Safari and I'm hoping to do one in 2010.

Forgive me - but was "LION" related to a RSSC cruise that ended in Africa? I'm a bit confused...

... confused - but absolutely mesmerized by these amazing photographs and the postings are just terrific.

Thanks!

Amazing photo's! Love that lion's fluffy lips and the bird pix is worthy of an award :app: