TRAVELLING NORTH TO OLIFANTS

The entrance to Olifants Camp. The gates are locked at night.
Only SANParks Rangers can go out at night on safaris.
Electric fences surround the perimeter, keeping guests in the camp and animals out!

The kudu with its impressive horns. Every turn denotes
 approximately three years growth.

Giraffes everywhere! They are so funny to watch.
They have very long tongues, long dark eyelashes and comical faces.
A group of giraffes are called "a journey or a tower of giraffes".

Every zebra has a different pattern of black and white stripes.
They are beautiful. The babies are adorable.

We went out on a late night safari with the rangers and we spotted a leopard!
He was sleek, muscular and had the most gorgeous coat.
Leopards have "rosettes", not spots.

And as we were leaving the park, we saw our lions!! Four!!
Two big males and two lionesses. We watched them for quite a while (and so did some others.
There actually was a traffic jam in the bush!)
They were stalking impala.

They crossed directly in front of our vehicle! We were so excited.
The lions were oblivious to us.

Ryan took this photo. Now isn't that the image of Africa?
We were so excited and felt so blessed to have seen all of the "BIG 5" and more.
I call these "pinch me moments".