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This trip was the last opportunity we had to
go to a Game Reserve before leaving South Africa.
A friend at the local travel agency recommended a camp called Nottens, which
was accessible via paved roads ... which was important since we had to take the
Mini Cooper.
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Approaching you can definitely tell this
place is in the bush
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We stayed in a spacious
private chalet with a nice garden.
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No electricity ... so there were many candles
& lanterns.
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Our deck was new, very big and private.
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We had a nice undisturbed view of a grassy
area & waterhole.
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The lodge has a series of nicely kept sand
paths.
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The main meeting & eating area also had
good game viewing.
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We were able to relax at the pool, but it was
too cool to swim.
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The terrain of the area was very flat with
scattered trees.
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You could see the Blyde Canyon hills in the
distance.
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Our Ranger, Joe, was able to answer any
question asked.
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On our first drive we got to see...
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... the elusive leopard.
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What a profile!
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He sat up nicely for us ...
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... and gave us a bored look.
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Then he settled back down.
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The giraffe are normally curious, but these
just walked away.
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The impala also didn't seem to want their
picture taken.
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This Blue Heron stayed around, but the lighting was not good.
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The tracker then saw some movement in the
grass...
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... a pride of lions were taking their
afternoon nap.
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This young male was cute and the only one who
cared about us.
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At sunset you could see mtns ...
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... and the sky went to purple ...
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... and then to a brilliant orange.
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The next morning a Kudu ...
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... herd greeted us.
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Beautiful and nice horns!
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A leopard then came strolling ...
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... down the road ... wow!
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Then a little one joined her.
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He wanted to play but his Mom ignored him and
kept on walking; we were surprised she didn't seem worried about us.
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The baby was very cute! 
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This was a very special sighting ... a mother
and child during the day time ... thanks Nottens!
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As we traveled we could hear a low rumbling
noise.
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We came upon a herd of about 200
buffalo.
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They were noisily grazing as the moved along.
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We stopped the vehicle and they passed right
by us.
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This guy had the biggest horns and wasn't too
happy with us.
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This one came the closest, but only to get
some green grass.
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There were quite a few calves, but they
stayed with mom.
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This one was a little bigger and curious, but
still not brave.
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Tick birds helped keep the skin of the Buffalo
free from ticks.
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This Buffalo must really have had a tick
problem ....
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... or was just a convinient place for the
birds to meet.
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As we headed back towards the lodge we ran
into the lion pride again.
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They all were quite a bit more alert; maybe
because they were getting hungry.
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Mom seemed quite cozy with this
youngster.
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At the end of the trip we were greeted by the
warthogs.
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We enjoyed our last visit to a game reserve
during this tour.
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We hope that someday we can return to find more animals...
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