Johannesburg to Djuma Game Reserve, S. Africa 16 - 18 Mar 08

The Big Five

17 March 2008. Early morning game drive before breakfast. We spotted a leopard, which we followed for about an hour, a giraffe with a calf, wildebeest, kudus and impalas. Back at the Bush Camp, Angela saw several mongooses and in the evening a large spotted genet paid us a visit. On our evening drive, we saw several lionesses with their cubs and a sleepy male lion, as well as two elephants, a saddle-billed stork, a small spotted genet and a spotted eagle owl.

18 March 2008. Another early morning game drive before breakfast. We saw two male rhinos as well as hippos, impalas and kudus. Before lunch, we went on a bush walk and saw a colourful spider. During the evening game drive we spotted a leopard which had killed an aardvark (antbear). The leopard was only just visible, having just enjoyed a good meal, and was panting with the effort of digesting his food. To get us a better view of the animal, our guide imitated the sound of a hyena and the leopard promptly got up and carried the remains of the aardvark up a tree to prevent the ‘hyena’ from getting it. Shortly before we returned to camp, we came across a huge Cape buffalo and then the guide found a very well camouflaged chameleon on the branch of a tree.
Considering the height of the grass, the guides did an excellent job and Djuma is the only game reserve where we’ve seen all the Big Five, namely rhino, leopard, lion, buffalo and elephant.