This was our vehicle which can seat up to ten but our group was four for two safaris, three for one and just the two of us for the final safari.
We set off in search of lions. We were not far down the road when we saw a black rhino in our path. There was no time to take a photo, the rhino disappeared into the bush and we had to creep forward. The rhino, a young female, had disappeared.
As we drove, we passed a herd of zebra. So early in the morning, the light was not great for photos.
But we soon got closer. This is the male zebra, standing between us and his ladies. There were some young also.
George spotted a black backed jackal moving fast, so difficult to photograph.
There is two prides of lions in Shamwari, the southern and northern prides. We set off looking for the southern pride which was basking in the sun. The pride included a number of females and their cubs.
These cubs greeted each other as one passed.
This is a cub.
A species of heron has feeds on insects in the grass rather than fish.
We passed through some interesting scenery on our way around the reserve.
Here we say Dassies which we had seen on Table Mountain and on Boulders beach. George told us that the Dassie is the nearest living relative to the elephant. This is amazing considering the size difference!
This valley was full of spiders' webs
A panorama of part of the reserve from where we stopped for coffee.
We had parked on a ridge with a great view.
These bulbous plants are interesting in that the flowers come first and then afterwards the leaves appear.
This is a flower on a farmers bean tree - it is possible to make a sort of coffee with the beans.
Termite hills are everywhere
We came across the hippo that we had seen in the lake the previous day. George thought that he had been on land all night and by now would be very tired.
Here you can see his scars from the fight when he was ousted from the river.
These bucks were having a drink as we passed
By now it was time for breakfast and we were free to catch up with our sleep, blog or whatever before lunch, 2 hours later. The lunch was described as 'light', but with 3 courses, it was plenty for us. While we were in the dining room, a group of giraffes came to the waterhole just near the lodge.
How to drink water is clearly an engineering feat for a giraffe
Our next game drive was at 4pm. Having seen the black rhino in the morning, it was time to play 'hunt the rhino', but to no avail, she simply wasn't going to be found and eventually we gave up and started a new game, 'hunt the elephants'.
A scene we passed with giraffe, zebras and others.
Impala
A classic giraffe shot
More scenery on the way to the north of the park
As we were driving along, George spotted a puff adder in our path hidden by the bumps in the track. He managed to stop just in time but wasn't sure whether he had hurt it. The snake reared up to attack the jeep and then slithered away into the bushes. We saw it, but had no time to take a photo.
At last we found an elephant
He passed within a few feet of our jeep
Having found the elephants, we set off to find the northern pride of lions with which, the male had been seen.
Unfortunately, he had left the females and cubs the day before.
The cubs were looking particularly cute.
By now it was getting late and we had a way to go back to the lodge. We cut across a valley which was the quickest way home.
We passed distant springbok. George explained that some springbok in the herd have an excess of melanin and so are very dark. This is the opposite of albinos, who have a deficiency of melanin. They stand out in this photo.
On the same plain there were some Cape black wildebeests or gnus.
Impala catching the last rays of the sun
As we were driving along a narrow track, we met a rhino. He stood there and we sat there ....
There was nowhere for us to go, so George had to blow a whistle at it and it moved off the road. We proceeded cautiously!
There is a giraffe in this pic! Just vanishing behind the bush - it always takes a bit of fiddling to get the exposure right into the sun, and in that time it was gone.
When we got back, we ate another superb meal in the restaurant.
Pat and John on tour