Mahlatini Travel Blog

The BIG 5 in 2 Days

A quick coffee break and off to see my favourite sighting cheetah! Such a great sighting as she was just sitting on a termite hill looking for prey right in the middle of a clearing so got as close as 5m to her. Beautiful animal and such a bright coat though don’t think the warthog that she had spotted would think the same.

After lunch I travelled up to Simbambili Game lodge in the north but unfortunately the way the reserve is designed you have to leave through the southern gate and travel the whole way round to the northern but it’s not too bad at least the roads are good. My problem was that I had estimated a 90 min drive and 3.5 hours later I arrived. When travelling in these areas it definitely best to ask for local advice.

I was glad I made the trip as the game view I had at Simbambili Game Lodge was by far the best, though game viewing does have an element of luck. Great timing again I was just in time for lunch, this time I had elephants to watch in front of the lodge. Grant my guide came and sat with me and asked what I would like to see, chancing my arm I said leopard and cheetah but he just replied no problem! He didn’t disappoint at all, first thing we come across is a cheetah with a kill but unfortunately he was quite a distance in the bush and we decided to come back and track him later.

100 m down the road and we bump into a leopard! Unbelievable no.4 of the BIG 5! A young male just walking down the road looking for somewhere to lie down, we were able to go off road and follow him into the bush again only about 5m away from him. After I took about 1000 photographs we decided to head on and see what else we could find. One of the rarest sights is of wild dogs, no problem Grant found us a pack of 20!! This was an amazing sighting; people all over Sabi Sand were talking about it. They are not the most beautiful of animals but they are fun to watch. It really couldn’t get any better than this and it was time to head back to the lodge.

After the afternoons drive I was expecting the morning to be a little less exciting but even breakfast had great viewing. Right in front of Simbambili there is a watering hole and this morning there was a hippo and the lion pride! We had a quick breakfast and headed off to see the lion – no 5 of the BIG 5! Lots more sightings of zebra, elephant and buffalo throughout the morning and then just before we get back to the lodge we found two cheetah sunning themselves on the airstrip. A great end to my time in Sabi Sands.

All in all I was very lucky but with the help of some great rangers. A perfect start to my time in South Africa, the whole BIG 5 in two days!

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