The first of October marks the start of summer in selati so morning drive now starts at 5.30 rather than 6 - ouch!!

As we watched our first sunrise we were treated to a suicide bird showing off his mating display by diving headfirst until he is just inches from the ground - crazy creature!!

While looking for lions we were then given a special mission - to fight off the vultures & retrieve the remains of yesterday's kill to bring back to base for use as leopard bait.....so good news we might be able to see a leopard, bad news is that we had no tools & bin bags in which to cut the eland up & put it and no room on the truck once we had got that far.....luckily there were 3 volunteers who fancied a bit of amateur butchery & stepped up to physically rip it apart and tie it to the back of the truck....if only it would fit.......so there I was, having to hold what remained of its hind legs to make sure it didn't fall off the back of the truck......the glamorous side to being a Leo volunteer!

Back on lion patrol & it seemed out kitties had gone to chill on a coppie after their eventful day yesterday. We did see 2 rhino running through the bushes though and then a little bird chasing off a much larger kite which was an interesting sight!

So came home & made lunch & was just settling down to update blog when one of the guides got a call re another special mission - capturing giraffes!

So have you ever wondered how giraffes are herded? Well it's a bit like herding sheep - only instead of a sheep dog they use a helicopter & instead of a wooden pen it's a pen made with a series of 5m plastic curtains hung along wires!

One of the land owners had bought 20 giraffe from a neighbour for R8000 (around £530) each. The helicopter would pick a couple out and chase them towards the pen and then I (& others) had to run across the grass, through bushes pulling a plastic curtain along wires to enclose the giraffe before they could realise what was going on and run back out towards us. Once again I was face to face with a wild animal capable of killing me & my heart was pounding - again!! Esp as the giraffes did realise what was going on and would change towards us so there is literally only a few second window in which to close the curtains! The curtains would then force the giraffe onto a horse box style trailer ready for transport. My heart was racing as I heard there helicopter above & the shouts to my right so I knew the giraffe were heading my way....

Was again quite scary & have to admit the first time after pulling my curtain I then hid behind a tree as I could see the giraffe was running back towards me and after yesterday's elephant experience I didn't want to be trampled by a giraffe but knew a thin plastic curtain wasn't going to provide much protection - not that a half dead thin mopani tree would either! Luckily all was fine and the giraffe made their way into the trailer with only a little bit of fuss. Knowing they would have more leaves to eat at the new farm (less competition from other giraffes & less lions!!) hopefully makes any distress short term & worth while

Once we had 3 giraffe on board we travelled in a convoy down to the farm to watch their release - it really is a sight you don't see everyday even in Africa, a lorry with giraffe sticking their heads out the top of the trailer! And it was funny that as we passed under trees they kept trying to eat the leaves so I took that as a sign that they weren't too distressed by it all.

We went to watch them being released but by this point was pitch black so not sure if the giraffes liked their new home or not. There was another hairy moment when we had to drive across a concrete bridge which couldn't have been more than 6 foot wide to get to the farm, it was tight for our Jeep, for trailer with the giraffe in it looked impossible - in fact the trailer driver made the landowner drive it across!

There was also a further scare when the doors by on then trailer were unlocked & we could hear the giraffe kicking to be let out - only the bolts jammed & they couldn't get the doors to open. We all held our breath wondering if the giraffe would make a break for it while the farm staff tried to move the bolt! Luckily the bolt released & the giraffe were able to wander out into the night at a relaxed pace.

We then headed home & spotted a honey badger enroute. Seems the night drive had seen more than that - they managed to see mbhurri and crew eating a zebra, a leopard & more besides! Is always so much to see & do at selati!!