Our trip is coming to and end and this would be our last drive. It will be about 30 minutes shorter than normal since we have to go pack for our afternoon flight. The sky was cloudy and hazy this morning, not ideal for photography. JJ started out the day by looking for the buffalo, assuming the lions wouldn't be far behind them. Along the way, my wife spotted a hyena off in the distance and we closed the distance to find it eating a leg of some unidentified animal, likely an impala or nyala.
The drive continued on in search of the buffalo and my lion spotting skills from the previous night are still on point. I spotted the pride of lions in the grass walking toward the road.
They were tracking the buffalo through the dense brush. All I could think about was my poor beaten and battered arm taking more abuse from the trees. Before I could finish my thought, the lions were off and so were we.
As usual, JJ tracked them through the brush and we got our beat down from the trees. The lions moved slower than the wild dogs, so we were able to keep up a bit easier, as they would often stop to assess their surroundings.
They moved deeper into the thick bush, so we gave up our pursuit and made our way back to the road. As we drove through the reserve, we all looked for anything we could see. I could tell by the area, we were in rhino country, so I was on the lookout. As the dense area of trees and bushes whizzed by us, I shouted to JJ, "Umm, rhinos!?". Almost instantly I regretted my statement. I was pretty sure I saw a gray blob with rhino like ears, but I didn't want to be wrong since JJ had to stop the vehicle, reverse to the area I spotted them, and confirm the sighting. But I stuck with my decision and said that I saw not one, but two, rhinos far in the distance through the thick bush. My spotters, aka eyes, did not fail me.
Not only did I spot two rhinos, I found one with an intact horn.
Amongst various rhino protection measures, horn trimming has been found to be the only statistically significant factor in reduced poaching. Many of the rhinos on this reserve and near Kruger National Park have had their horns removed.
After our rhino sighting, JJ wanted to show us one more leopard before we left South Africa. We headed back to the main river where some of our best sightings have occurred. As we drove the river side, my wife spotted the leopard. It was the female, Picadilly. Ironically the first leopard we saw on our trip will be our last.
Picadilly laid in the grass for a short time before standing up, stretching, and walking toward the river.
JJ was hopeful she would cross the river and we would be able to see it. There had been at least two previous occasions where he thought we would see a crossing that we ultimately couldn't see. She slowly and methodically crossed the river, taking an unbelievably long time to make her way across.
Not only did we get to see her cross, she even jumped to a nearby rock.
This was our last sighting of the day, and an absolutely fantastic way to end our trip. Of course we saw a few other animals throughout the day. I posted some of those photos below.
