Day 7 - Safari Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve

4am start to arrive at the reserve at 5:45am with barely one eye open and Safari driver with Heather (aka Gogo) at the wheel we flew around the reserve at a very swift rate of knots trying to track the "big 5". I think they heard us coming and headed for cover in the morning.

After 12.5 hrs driving around the reserve, we saw 4 of the big 5: a group of lions feasting on an unlucky buffalo, an enormous elephant on the side of the road grazing on trees and shrubs (trying to fell the tree by ramming it) and which came within a metre of the van in a not-so-subtle display of dominance before Heather got the van started enough to lurch forward a few metres to avoid its tusks. Other members of the big 5 encountered included rhinos and buffaloes. Alas, no leopards today.

Also had close encounters with many giraffes, baboons and other monkeys, wildebeest, zebras, impala, eagles and many more exotic creatures. We managed to reach the gates of the reserve that evening 15 minutes after the gates were due to be locked (we were contemplating how to manage spending the night with the lions and other nocturnal predators)! Unanimously it was a long but exhilarating trip and loads of quality images were taken.