Monday - Pilanesberg
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Safari day! We decided against the 5am tour, we thought having to get Ben up before 4am was a bit too much hassle so we opted for the 8am tour. We got up and it was very overcast - a good day for it, or so we thought! Our tour guide arrived at the hotel just before 8am and took us to Sun City, but there were no other passengers so once mum had signed the payment slip it was off into the park we went. Our guide told us that as it was 'a bit cold' some of the animals might be lying in the bush/tall grasses. We came upon some giraffes pretty quickly (they are glorious animals!) and the guide informed us that they've been known to kick lions up to 15m in the air. Pretty badass! Anyway we saw a fair few giraffes, a lot of wildebeest, hippo, weeny baby crocodile, guinea fowl, warthogs, impala, zebra and a young elephant. Unfortunately it was the only one and it had its bum toward us, it was quite hidden but I managed to spot it and tell the others. We also didn't see any big cats, waterbuffalo or rhino. I think we've plans to take a 'quick' drive thru tomorrow on our way back to Johannesberg.

We were back at the hotel for around about 11am but by the time Ciaran and mum went out and got supplies for noms it was around 12. We left again about 1ish to go to Predator World. At the entrance were two lion cubs who we later discovered had been seized from a house where they were apparently being kept as pets. Inside (although it was outside..) we saw emu, meerkats, lion cubs, a porcupine, just about managed to spot the leopards, lions, tigers, mountain lions, painted dogs, hyena, jackals, cheetahs, raccoons, lynx, marmosets and another little cat whose name I can't recall!

At the end of the tour they let us in with some lion cubs - a 6 month old male and two pale coloured 3 month old females (who apparently can't survive in the wild cos they can't camouflage themselves). The girls kept sneaking up behind us but weren't overly keen on being stroked but the male just loved it. At one point they got distracted by Ben running away (he wasn't in the enclosure!!) and tried to follow him a bit but on the way back to where they had been sitting, the male wrapped his front legs around Jenny and almost toppled her! It was awesome but you were very aware that these guys could hurt you VERY easily!

So that was that! Back into the curios for a wee nosey then we went back to the cars (spotting a mama duck with 14 babies on the way!). After this we went back to the hotel with plans of a quick nap and then onto Sun City to the wave pool and then dinner. Ciaran, Jenny and Ben managed to fall asleep but mum and I sat by the pool reading. We then decided that it was too late to go swimming and we'd just get sorted and have dinner. We ate in the hotel restaurant and the portions seemed pretty big but it wasn't really so great, then a wee drink by the pool. After this we decided it was time to retire so we came up to our room and played some cards with Ben and got our cases packed. Fairly early night and then we're driving back to Johannesberg tomorrow to get ready for our Cape Town jaunt.

It feels like we've been here for weeks and it's only been a few days. I imagine this is a good thing!