We have 2 nights accommodation at Pretoriuskop and so we decided today we would take it easy.  We still got up for an early morning game drive and left at sunrise (6am). To start with the drive did not yield much but then suddenly we started to see Rhino and ended up seeing 10 Rhino in about 30 minutes. At that point we had seen more Rhino than we had seen Impala!  It included a sighting of a crash of six Rhino together. That means Michael and I have seen 13 Rhino so far (and the rest of them have seen 11). You wouldn’t say that they were being continually hunted and that over 400 have been killed this year in the Kruger Park alone.  The rest of the game drive didn’t yield much except that we added Klipspringer, Duiker and Reedbuck to our list of animals (and Mongoose). We also added a few more birds to the list and including the evening game drive we are now up to 60 trippers but unfortunately no lifers yet.

We came back for a late breakfast and then spent the day in the camp.  Some reading, some sleeping, some watching of Ryder Cup Golf (the wonders of modern technology and being able to watch Supersport through my cellphone). Lunch and then some more reading, some sleeping, more watching of golf and Michael and Chloe did some Maths exam questions/papers (both are writing Maths exam shortly after we get back).

At 3:30pm we headed out for another drive.  The temperature had risen considerably over the day and when we headed out it was 30 degrees again.  Not a lot of game to be seen but we did finally add Wildebeest to the list of animals seen.  It amazingly took us over 2 days to see our first Wildebeest.  We did have some really close sightings (separately) of Kudu, Giraffe and Buffalo (right next to the road and they were bothered by us at all).  But it was a no predator day even though some people we spoke to at the camp said they had seen Wild Dog and a cheetah was spotted on the same road we had driven in the morning.  It is all a matter of timing though and we clearly didn’t have it today.  It was a very relaxing day though and that is probably what we all needed.

The mandatory braai to end off the evening with some good company and good wine (I made sure they brought it from Cape Town). We bought some Impala Chops from the shop today and gave those a try on the braai.  They were a little tough but quite tasty. Seemed fitting to eat Impala in the Kruger Park. We are staying a family unit (3 bedrooms) and interestingly we discovered (courtesy of the plaque outside) that they were originally built for the Royal visit in the 1940’s from King Edward.  They were especially mosquito proofed for their visit (I assume that meant they put up mosquito nets over the doors and windows). Not particularly luxurious for a King but we are content with it.

Until tomorrow …. P, H, M, C and the In Laws