This morning us newbees were up early on the promise of a morning drive but the animals had gone into hiding & weren't giving off radio signals so it wasn't to be.

We had a tour of the house & signed our lives away re risk assessment indemnity (after reading was too scared to get out of bed & too scared to stay in it as well!). We had a brief tour of the grounds but were told basically don't go outside (other than onto the terrace) as the lions do come right up to the house!

The view from the terrace is pretty amazing, just miles of nothing! Is a pool but it doesnt have a filter & looks like fly soup at the mo! Is a small watering hole about 75m away but so far only seen birds & a small deer like animal.

We also heard about some of the trips we can do. The project are pretty relaxed if you want a day off doing duties & want to go to Kruger park for 2 days or down to Blythe canyon which is great. They'll even provide the guide!! Subject to availability (& how I cope with the bathroom & bunkbed situation) I may stay on a few more days so I can some trips rather than booking separately.

Around 3 we [finally] headed off in search of lions! First stop though was to collect wood for the fire. We then saw a steenbok, an impala, a mongoose & baboons :) we had a strong signal for the alpha male lion so we traced him to some bushes but he was no where to be seen :( we headed back to a clearing for a coffee [my chore for the day was tea & coffee making] and no sooner had they been poured & we heard a roar - daddy lion was awake! So back in the truck we got & headed back to the bush. Daddy lion took us on a bit of a chase through the bush before disappearing, so we stopped for coffee again.....and before we knew it we were ordered back onto the truck as the signal was so strong he was little more than metres away - and then there he was! We watched him have a drink for a few mins then he headed back into the bush. We drove on a little way but couldn't see him......Then the truck wouldn't restart....then we saw him....luckily he walked on by! Was a great sighting for our first trip out :)

finally on the way back to base we came across 3 giraffes :) who knows what tomorrow will bring!