We were up before the wake up call doing last minute packing before our final game drive at Waterbuck. I also got a small bag ready for a quick swim pre breakfast and before leaving.
After coffee we set off hoping for another leopard sighting as the guides knew where she was albeit she was in deep difficult bush.
The elephants had just passed through the area above our camp leaving a tree across the road in their wake. We found them and watched them for a while including an old female with a floppy ear - she had broken the cartilage through years of pushing through thick bush. As we continued we made space for a large bull elephant we saw coming down the same road we wanted to go up - he took precedence and although seemingly ambling slowly he didn't half eat up the distance - finally he walked off behind us towards the herd we had just left.
Next we looked for the leopard firstly from the river bed but eventually, in discussion with another lodge, it was agreed the sighting was best going up through thick bush - which required the trackers to do some pruning so we weren't continually smacked in the face by acacia! Only room for one vehicle at a time - when we got in they were all the leopards were lying flat - we only saw one cub which walked up the slope of the termite mound to join its mum on the top - the other was nowhere to be seen but thought to be in the tree somewhere. It was good for Kim and Ionna to realise that not all leopard sightings are perfect and sometimes all you get are fleeting glimpses of spots! We then made our way to the dam for coffee, muffins and wildlife watching -hippos, buffalo and grey heron - all against the backdrop of the Drakensberg mountains - a perfect finale to our big 5 country experience.
Enroute back to the lodge we saw dwarf mongoose and a puff back shrike. My plan for a swim quick shower and breakfast, watched by vervet monkeys, worked. We left at 1020,met Becky at the gate at 1030 and continued enroute back to Black Leopard camp for our finale.
We had a couple of stops to buy mangos, wooden souvenirs for Kim and snacks.
When we finally arrived at the pub by the Black Leopard entrance we were reunited with Dillon and had a toasted sandwich while waiting for another couple.
We had to race back to the lodge again as big black clouds were amassing. This time we made it to our tent and were able to snuggle down for a snooze while a massive thunderstorm let rip.
We ventured back to the lodge for dinner at 7pm - thankfully it was now dry and a starlit sky was emerging. After dinner the multi talented Dillon got put his guitar and sang. This nicely filled the gap until I had to return to the tent to put on and collect the warm things for our night drive with Becky - we set off at 10.00pm and returned at 01.00am. Needless to say we were tired when we got back and quickly fell to sleep aided by the mid drive offering of Amarula and coffee. It was a lovely experience nonetheless we saw - genet, a grasshopper finely balanced on a twig,a a fiery necked night jar (today's photo) and a sleeping brown hooded kingfisher.