Gerdine just sent through the many photos that Uyai took yesterday. They saw a leopard in the evening drive, at about half past 7. He was sitting right in the middle of an area we call the “Cotton Fields” and he was really relaxed, sitting there for several minutes observing the guests and showing himself in his full beauty and glory. I bet our guests took the most amazing shots, Uyai’s photo gives a good idea of the beautiful sighting. In recent weeks we have seen leopards more regularly, and I think this is down to several factors. One is that there seem to be just more of them around, and the other is that we have with two game drivers out there much better (and more) intelligence. The side effect of that is also that more and more of them are getting used to the presence of game drivers, and so as a result they show themselves. We see this with the cheetahs as well, who are now completely relaxed around game drivers. Over the years they will pass on this behavior to their offspring, so we will see further improvement from an excellent base already.
Dozens of other species were seen on both game drives, such as giraffes with their cute offspring …
… curious little mongoose …
… lots of wildebeest (also called “gnus”) with calves (they are in light brown color) …
… beautiful herd of zebras …
… the famous marabou stork (also called the undertaker bird, for obvious reasons) …
…. and again a jackal close-up …
… as well as nyala. This one has its back and mane hair staying up, to make himself look bigger. This is a means to impress an invading male competitor, and see him off. If he doesn’t leave, then fighting ensues. Like almost all antelopes, nyala herds usually consist of females and one dominant male who has to defend his herd by any means.
… 
They also saw a very cute-looking monkey, they never fail to cause laughs with their curiosity and funny behaviors. I even caught one once sitting on one of our upper deck sofas, having a nap and looking very happy. Well, these are comfortable sofas! Hilarious.
