Day Thirteen

When they come to bring our tea and coffee in the morning both Caroline and I start dreaming that we hear someone knocking and calling to us so we don't wakeup leaving the poor chap standing out in the cold yelling louder to get us up.

It was very cold this morning as we headed out to find The Dudley Riverbank female leopard and possibly her cub.  But, we stumbled on the Nottens 5/5 female leopard.  She is a remarkable 17 years and still looks pretty good.  We saw her stalk a bushbuck but the antelope spotted her first, alarmed then fled.

She won't live much longer as this is old for a leopard.  She'll find it more and more difficult to bring down kill and won't have the strength to take into a tree so it will more than likely be stolen.  She'll eventually starve to death.

The lodges won't interfere with the lives of the wildlife in anyway unless it's a manmade injury.

After a late breakfast we did a tour of the staff's village then Caroline got another massage.  We have a game drive tonight and we're hoping for one more before we fly to Johannesburg then home to the stars tomorrow night.

Apparently there is an eccentric couple that arrived today from England that spends six weeks here every year.  Good gosh o mighty. 

We are heading out tonight on our 16 hour flight.  It has been an amazing wild ride! Thanks for following along with us! 

Day Twelve

Londolozi has five separate camps and we are in the Granite Suites of which there are three rooms but there are only four of here us this week.

Erin wakes us at 6:00 with hot tea and coffee, we bundle up and are in the game truck by 6:30.  We head out looking for wildlife sometimes stopping for hot chocolate and back to breakfast between 9:30 and 10:00 depending on what we have come across.

There is a buffet set up of home cooked muffins, yogurt, cereals, juices, ect. all set out of just four of us.  Then take your order for the hot breakfast.

Downtime is until about 2:15 then back on the lounge deck for lunch.  We order our lunch at breakfast and have a choice of three dishes.

3:00 the four of us head back out for a game drive with our guide Jess and Jeffy our tracker.

It's interesting because Jeff is the son of Elmon who has tracked for John Varty (one of the owners of this family owned lodge).  Elmon was in the movie that Varty produced, wrote and stared in called Running Wild with Brooke Shields and Charlie Sheen.  He still works at Londolozi as a tracker.

After a stop for a sundowner we head back to the lodge for dinner.

Day 12 continued….

As we were crashing through the bush I saw a beautiful bird sitting on a branch not moving and Ithought it was fake but as we came abreast Jeff reached out and grabbed it like a cat.  We laughed till I nearly wet my pants.

We couldn't find the Dudley Riverbank leopard so we tracked the same cheetah we saw today.  We followed him but never saw him hunt. 

After a stop for a sundowner and a bush break we headed back to the lodge for dinner.

We had decided to have "a romantic dinner" poolside.  About 25 oil lanterns were lit and a beautiful table was set.  

The main chef, Anna, prepared the most awesome meal and brought it and sat with us for a short while.  Chicken, filet, and salmon among about 10 other delicious sides with a very good cabernet.  We will sleep well tonight.

Day Eleven

I have followed the Londolozi blog for about a year in which they share what's happening with the lion prides and leopards. It's like a soap opera and now I'm getting to meet the actors that I feel I've come to know and seeing the show live. 

The one animal I was hoping to see is the Camp Pan male.  He's a huge dominate leopard. Our tracker Jeff found him and we witnessed his bizarre behavior. He tolerated his submissive three year old son to be in his territory and we watched as they both sat on a warthog burrow waiting for the pig to come out.  The son showing his submission and Camp Pan displaying his dominance by rasping and chuffing. Very impressive. 

Today we followed the Young Tailless lioness and two cubs while she looked and called for her sister. They made two river crossings which is rarely seen.  It was action packed for about four hours and then we stopped for hot chocolate and tea. 

The lodge and our rooms are beyond amazing. 

We had a relatively mild game drive after a fantastic breakfast and lunch. Seeing a hyena sitting in mud, waterbuck and the usual.  We stopped for wine then headed home to a beautifully lit bomoa dinner all prepared for only four guests.  

The staff performed their traditional song and dance and we both agreed this day is a highlight.  Very, very special.