Day One of the Safari, incredibly exciting and still not really sure what to expect. Checked in at the lodge around 1:00 and went to the room to relax before meeting up at 4:00 to go on our first game drive. Didn’t quite make it to 4:00 as we got a call around 3:30 asking if we could be ready to go soon as there had been a sighting of a cheetah. Didn’t really know if this was all part of the show, but obviously agreed to go along camera at the ready. We had been asked earlier what we wanted to see and gave a pretty general answer as to the main lions, particularly the Big 5:

• Buffalo
• Elephant
• Lion
• Leopard
• Rhinoceros

Named the Big 5 by hunters as being the most dangerous animals when injured, although the hippopotamus is the large animal responsible for killing more humans than any other animal.

Anyway, as you will see from the photos below, they delivered on the cheetah. Not only that, we also got to see three female lions eating the remains of a kudu (apparently killed by a leopard and stolen by the lions). Photo’d below are:

• Monkey
• Impala
• Wildebeest
• Elephant (Big 5)
• White Rhinoceros (Big 5)
• Giraffe
• Cheetah (rare about 1,000 left)
• Lion (Big 5)