Our last full day dawned and we were up and about early again. We headed for the far side of the reserve to try and find the hippos to start with. A beautiful drive took us down to the Kariega River as the sun rose. We saw an amazing variety of animals on route and were lucky to find a hippo wallowing alone in the water. We then stopped for coffee (with a dash of Amurula!) and hot chocolates before heading back to the lodge for breakfast.
On the way back in, we really hit the jackpot by finding the 2 male lions! They were fast asleep up against a bush with big fat tummies so had clearly got lucky hunting last night. The 2 four year old brothers were quite something and we were all in absolutely awe of them. They were complete unfazed by us and we got scarily close!
We watched them for as long as we could before we had to return to Settlers Drift, very late for breakfast!
After breakfast, we relaxed in the hot sun by the pool. I had a massage and Issy had a facial and we enjoyed the tranquility that the lodge and our lovely rooms offer before a light lunch.
After lunch we headed out to see if we could get a better look at the cheetahs. Working on a hunch, Michael took us to the far boundary of the reserve and to our amazement they were just sat in the sun on the track round the fenceline! We got as close as we dared and sat and watched them. Unbelievably, they then walked towards us and right past our truck. They were so close we could have touched them. They are incredibly graceful creatures and absolutely beautiful to look at.
We then headed back across the reserve to check up on the Male Lions. In the 8 hours since we saw them previously, they had managed to move about 20 feet to another sleeping spot! It’s amazing how relaxed they were and happy to sleep all day, safe in the knowledge that no one is going to bother them. We also saw a Caracle, a smaller feline predator that only comes out at night usually. It really was a day of spotting the ‘cats’ in the reserve.
As the sun set, we headed back to Settlers for an early dinner as we were heading out again later on a night drive. However, Michael had yet another surprise for us on our last evening. As we neared home, we saw some lights in a little opening in the trees. Quite amazingly, a table with drinks and chairs around a blazing fire had been set up for us. Michael produced a bottle of champagne and we all sat around the fire for half an hour or so, not quite believing how lucky we were!
When the darkness fell, we got back into the truck and headed home for dinner, then togged back up into our safari gear for our 9pm night drive. We were all shattered but keen to go out into the night. We headed back to the far side of the reserve to see if we could see the hippos out of the water. As it was dark, we had to go a lot slower and it really was a challenge to stay awake! In fact, Issy & Tessa had a proper sleep through most of it and the rest of us had a few minutes of shuteye as well!
It was much more peaceful than I expected and lots of the animals were lying down which really surprised me, particularly the prey animals who I thought would be on the move. We saw numerous hippos out of the water and a few km from the river grazing and then we went back to see if the Male Lions were out on the hunt. Incredibly they were still asleep in exactly the same place! They had slept there for at least 12 hours and probably more! Unbelievably lazy!!
We eventually got back to the Lodge, all utterly exhausted, at 1.15am and went straight to bed!!
The Perry’s Travel Blog 