All of these pictures were taken over two days. We made two separate expeditions into the park. The first day was more successful than the second, because this was the day of the cheetah kill, but both days were hugely enjoyable, thanks to our excellent guide and driver, Des, who knows everything about the park and its wildlife and loves to share it with people (yes, even family!). Thank you so much, Des.

On both days, we got up at 5.00am and were in the park by first light. The route we took on the first day was from Crocodile Bridge to Lower Sabie and it was in this area, early on day one, that we saw the cheetahs. On the second day, we took the same route initially, but then went on to Skukuza, following the line of the Sabie River.

It was Des who spotted the cheetah and her three cubs and took us to the point where he predicted she would kill one of the impala grazing nearby. He was right and we witnessed the rare event of a cheetah kill.

Above : The mother notices the impala and begins to stalk them

Above: After the kill, the mother called the cubs and they came running.
She sat up looking for other predators - hyenas, vultures - while the cubs ate.

Here is a selection of the many other animals we saw over the course of the two days.

Buffalo

A good shot of this elephant... we think this is one of the pictures that Des took

Playful baboons (mongooses in the background)

Lazy, self satisfied, hippos

Surprisingly, we didn't see too many giraffe or impala, which are both usually quite common

A lone kudu

A family of warthogs

Zebras and wildebeest

Guinea Fowl

Marshall Eagle

Fish Eagle

Above: About halfway between Lower Sabie and Skukuza, we stopped at the Nkuhlu Picnic Site. It overlooks the Sabie River and has no fence around it. Apparently there is a man with a gun (not in evidence) who will protect people from wild animals should the need arise. Luckily, the need did not arise, however, a cheeky vervet monkey grabbed Geoff's blueberry muffin, just as he was about it eat it. Geoff was not amused.

Our stop at Skukuza, where we visited the memorial (above) to one of Bruce's ancestors (we think).

Bruce was not too pleased to look up and see bats nesting in the roof as we drank our tea below.

The last part of the two day adventure was a rather exciting drive across the causeway, with the Crocodile River in flood, when we left on the second day. Our hopes of returning for a short visit to the park the following morning, before heading back to Benoni, were dashed because it rained heavily that night and we didn't care to risk another crossing.