waking up in the pilanesberg

Wake up call in the Pilanesberg National Park was at 05:30 for our second and last safari drive. Lex, our bush guide, told us that the earlier we were out in the wild the greater the odds of spotting one of the Big Five Game. And indeed he was right!

After almost one hour of cruising around in a chilly south african spring dawn, here we find ourselves in close encounter with the King...!! The Lion King, having just finished breakfast, was having his morning walk around the lake, closely followed by his companion the Lionness! Obviously Murphy's Law No.1 came into force, and the battery on my compact digital camera decided to run dry just in time when His Majesty was crossing the road rignt in front of us. Using an old trick I learned at university, I quickly took out the battery and rubbed it in my hands under the morning sun, and managed to be back in shooting mode less than 10 seconds later...

On the way back to Tshukudu Lodge, I decided that I needed to buy a new camera, probably a Nikon Digital SLR, with a good tele-objective lense, and comeback to Pilanesberg later in November with my beautiful Elsa, for some serious wildlife photography.

Next post, we will talk about fast food in the bush... stay tuned!