Day 4

This morning began super early!  We got a wakeup call at 5:00 am for our 6:30 am morning game drive.  After last nights thrilling leopard chase, we weren't sure if today could top it.  Right away though, our tracker found a herd of elephants.  We pretty much drove through the herd - they were all around us.  REALLY CLOSE!  Dave and I sat in the front row of the vehicle yesterday and thought today we would try the very back row - so we were super close to these elephants.  It was pretty crazy!  There were a few baby elephants in the herd, so I wasn't sure if they would become aggressively protective of them or not.  Luckily, they were pretty calm and didn't mind us getting so close.

We also saw a Zebra and male waterbucks.  Apparently the running joke with the male waterbuck is that they sat on a toilet with wet paint :)

Further into the reserve, we came upon a large herd of water buffalo near a water hole.  There were so many of them!  We got pretty close to them so were were able to snap a few good shots of them.

We stopped at another watering hole that was empty and got out to stretch our legs.  Our tracker Colin, guided us around the watering hole and showed us how to identify different animal tracks.

We came across a few warthogs as well.  Thomas said it was very rare to catch them looking at you because most of the time by the time you take the picture - they are running away from you!  Luckily Dave was quick to take the pictures!

This would be our last game drive with Thomas and Colin so we quickly took a picture with them before leaving for our next camp - The River Lodge.

The River Lodge is a completely different experience.  It's definitely more luxurious and hotel-y.  The room is absolutely gorgeous and no bugs, frogs, lizards, or cobras in the room - YAY!  It does feel a little less cozy though.  Back at the Buffalo Camp, there were really only a few groups there so everyone hung out and chatted with each other.  Here at the River Lodge - everyone pretty much keeps to themselves.

Right after check-in, Dave and I made our way to the Wellness Centre where we had our couples massage.  It was amazing!  We had our massage in a room that had floor to ceiling windows with a view of a watering hole with a Hippo in it!  Too bad we didn't have our camera with us…


Our evening drive with our new ranger, John, gave us our first sighting of a White Rhino.  We got pretty close to it - it was huge!  We also drove around for quite some time tracking a pack of 4 lionesses - unfortunately, we could not find them.  Here's a pic of the Rhino though!

Tomorrow morning, we have another morning game drive ... so off to bed!