(22) Last evening drive in Phinda :(

We were about to head out for our LAST evening drive at Phinda, and we heard 2 very loud thumps onto our little cabin.  I have been trying to tell Garth every night that something has been jumping onto our roof and walking around but he didn't believe me!  Now I have proof!  It was these little monkeys - the same ones who stole our bread off the table at breakfast!

This momma was just chillin, and grooming herself...

But then she started to notice me coming out of the room and taking photos of her...

This was a yawn, but look at those teeth!

Then...she saw me!  I'm telling you, being chased by a monkey is kind of terrifying!!  

I didn't think I could close the screen door fast enough!  She was trying to come at me through the screen!  She was not impressed with me!

After a little excitement to start the afternoon off, we headed out!  Dumi is on the left and Thulani is on the right...

First things first...we headed to where the lions were yesterday. We were hoping the male lions would have found them and been there getting a bite to eat, but it was still just the females there...

We even saw some more white rhino!  They were in the field by the lions and were heading over to get a drink from the watering hole!  They even brought their little baby!

He is so little you can barely see him through the tall grass!

How cool to see 2 of the Big 5 in one place?!

The Rhino could either smell or hear the lions so they headed out...

Just like we left them yesterday :)

I need to work on my growl face...

Big kitty going for a drink...

Oh hey!

Posing for the cameras...

Then she went to the wildebeest for some early dinner.  It looks like she is growling, but she is just yawning.  They are so tired, its pretty comical.  They can barely move because they have eaten so much!

You have to be really quiet and not make any sudden movements, or we would have been a snack!

yum...

We left them alone to eat and headed out...we saw some baby baboons along the way!

There was a lot of chatter on the radio and we finally found out that one of the other trucks had found the LEOPARD!!  Dumi was flying through the reserve trying to find where they were at!  Along the way, we thought we spotted them, but it was another cheetah!  She was scoping out a heard of wildebeest...

With her 2 furry babies!  

And then....we FINALLY SAW A LEOPARD!!

What a way to end the trip on top!!!

(21) Last Day At Phinda, Morning Game Drive

This is our last morning game drive at Phinda because we are heading back to the States in the morning.  We are both getting a little depressed thinking about leaving Africa.  It has been such an amazing experience and we have both fallen in love with everything about this continent - well at least the southern parts of it - we are already planning where we want to go next!

Right off the bat, Dumi and Thulani are on the hunt for the leopard.  We were all getting really excited that we may actually see one since every single ranger and tracker were working together to find it!  It was a hot few minutes on the CB Radio!

Dumi was walking through the bush - alone - so Thulani pulled around to pick him up down the road.  These guys are crazy!  I would not be able to hold it together and walk around - especially if I knew there was a BIG cat in the area!!  We asked Dumi if he had any encounters with lions while he was out walking around, and he laughed and said "many" *gulp* He said you just can't run, and you need to yell and make loud noises and they will lose interest and leave you alone.  I guess it's worked so far?!  

This dang leopard is messing with us!

On the hunt for the leopard, we found a big group of giraffes and when we got closer, we saw they were hanging out with zebras, warthogs and wildebeest.  It was like a real life Lion King!  ;)

There were a lot of young knuckleheads who were flailing their necks around and hitting each other with them!

I was maybe a little too excited when I saw the baby giraffe!  Is he not the cutest?!  

We decided this was a great spot to stop for our morning coffee (which turned into spiked coffee) break!  We sure are going to miss this...

The crew at coffee break...

*Om Nom Nom*

Scoping us out...

Plotting against the Zebra...

Back at their shenanigans...

This photo is inspired by the Abbey Road shot...I call it "Safari Road"

Garth checking out the game...

I'm obsessed with this baby giraffe!  Dumi said he thinks he's only a few weeks old!

Time to leave!  Look at how little he is compared to his momma!

These are the ridiculous thorns we have to doge when we are out on the roads, or when Dumi takes us deep into the wilderness when closing in on something he's been tracking.  I also found out that the giraffes LOVE this stuff!  Can you imagine having to maneuver around those spikes to get something to eat?!

We have seen a lot of bones from old kills, or when animals die of old age but this one was pretty awesome!  We wanted to take it home, but we weren't sure if they would let us through customs with it :/

 While I was lollygagging and taking some photos of bones, Dumi and Thulane spotted a BLACK RHINO!!  

This is a male black rhino...

They have terrible eyesight so he can't really see us, but he can probably smell us or hear all of us giggling and scrambling to change camera lenses in the truck.  He definitely knows we are there and is trying to scope us out!  

Well we didn't get to see the leopard again, but I'll call this game drive a win anyways!!  The giraffes, zebras and warthog were awesome and seeing a black rhino just made it that much better!  

(20) Phinda Day 3, Evening Drive

Dumi and Thulani were on a mission to find some lions they had heard were in the area.  This was the first time Dumi took his rifle with him...and Thualni had his stick haha. 

Sure enough, they found them! Still not sure how Dumi saw them from so far away, but you can see the white of one of the lions bellies!

There were 3 of them chillin on the bank of a watering hole.  They were taking a nap after a big meal!  You can see some blood on their faces...

They are passed out!

They got up one at a time and went to lay around their kill.  I think they were being protective of it when we drove up, but they never showed any aggression   towards us, or any other truck!

This is seriously the biggest lion I've ever seen!  She is massive!  I don't think her sister is happy she woke her up...

Big kitty went to lay in the grass.  It was pretty amazing how they just disappear in the tall grass - also a little scary that they can be anywhere and we just don't see them!

Sister is trying to stay awake...

But she just...

Can't...

Keep her eyes open!  

Then she finally gets up and heads into the grass as well...

But didn't make it far...

The last girl woke up and decided to head out there as well...

This is a bit gross, but this is what they are all walking to lay closer to.  They killed a wildebeest earlier that day.  They will stick around until the whole thing is gone!

We left them alone - mostly because we couldn't see them anymore in the grass!  We headed out to see if we could find the leopard again...just some more paw prints...

And a wildebeest....

Dumi and Thulani surprised us!  We drove to this spot and had a few drinks and appetizers! 

All while we enjoyed the beautiful South African sunset!

We stayed out for a little longer than we expected because we all couldn't get over how bright the stars and milky was was!  We were even spotting satellites!  I have never seen the stars so bright!!  We even got to see scorpio and the southern cross!

On the ride back to camp, we spotted a porcupine...

It's a little blurry because he was really hustling through the bushes to get away from us!