Singita: Morning Drive

What a drive! First we put ourselves in the path of these elephants. As you can see in the first picture, so did a brave bird. :-) The baby elephant was checking out the car. The others were completely unimpressed and went around us like the car was a rock. Then another giraffe sighting. Then the leopards, mother and son. We almost missed them! The ranger and tracker were looking for the leopard and following tracks near the staff village. They gave up, saying we'd check back later, and we drove away from the staff village on the main road. Then our fellow tourist in the back said, "Stop! Leopard! Wait! Stop! Leopard!" several times. And there were two gorgeous leopards that we followed for a while.






While following the leopard we noticed this snake skin hanging on some branches, still wet from dew. We found the buffalo herd and saw this calf getting a meal on the go! Then a sighting of a cheetah, who crosses through this lodge's area every 4-5 days. We spent the last hour walking back to the lodge through the bush, and saw this giraffe walking away from us. It's quite rare to even get a glimpse of them when on foot, so we were lucky.

Singita: Afternoon Drive

On the afternoon drive, first we watched some baboons playing on this cliff / wall. They were just climbing up and then rolling/falling down, having fun, they were hilarious to watch. Then my special request, hippos in the water. And as a grand finale, we found 2 of the 6 dominant male lions walking through the dark. They were gorgeous and reeked of power.

Singita: The Room

Today the nature channel brought us some new animals to view. First, some hippos basking in the sun across the river bank. Then, a baby crocodile sharing the mid-river islet with 2 Egyptian geese. The geese are bigger than the croc!

Singita: Morning Drive

Another morning drive worth getting up super early for! This kudu hid behind the screen of thorns, to me the picture looks like it's in a winter wonderland although that is not at all the case. A quick giraffe sighting, with this yellow-billed hornbill nearby. My interest in birds is starting to pick up. :-) Then a rhino, followed by a visit to a hyena den. We saw a few females and several cubs, the cubs were nursing for a while and then scampered about. They were as cute as possible given that were hyenas. Then more zebra, and another leopard! Straight from the leopard to two male lions, part of the coalition that runs this territory. Finishing up with more rhino.

Singita: Afternoon Drive

The afternoon drive was exciting! We had a great sighting of this gorgeous giraffe, then a few vervet monkeys, and this bluebird I could not identify even with my fancy African Bird Book. Which probably means it's a common bluebird, found everywhere! After that, we came across our very first sighting of a leopard. Spectacular!

Singita: The Room

At this point, I'm calling sitting on the patio "watching the nature channel." We had a great view of these impala across the river, then elephants crossing the river again, and one of the nyala that hang around the lodge came to visit. Then while we were taking pictures of the elephants, a goliath heron walked in front of them, trying to steal their light. Finally a couple of buffalo came to the river for a drink. Not a dull moment!

Singita: Morning Drive

Our first morning drive was filled with amazing sightings. We saw zebra a few times, several kudu including this sweet looking female. Then my hoped-for giraffes! Three of them, looking..... well, like awkward teenagers, all gangly and unlikely. Then a herd of buffalo streaming past us, a herd of impala showing off, and Jack's friends the elephants. It was fairly overwhelming.