Serval Cat at Little Kwara.

Your days are made up of very early mornings, back around 10.30-11am for brunch. Then it is relaxing time (siesta) until 3.30pm which is high tea and then off on an activity. Back about 7.30-8pm for dinner. You don't seem to stay up too late as your wake up call will be at around 5.45am.

I tend to either read, watch birds or just relax and watch when it is siesta time, as I am always scared that I might miss out on something. Martin on the other hand sleeps whenever he can! So I guess I get really tired and need more recovery time after being on safari.

We had a fabulous time at Little Kwara and Keith & Lesley were great fun. The last night at sundowners we had Keith up in the trackers chair with the spotlight and Lesley was funny. She started dancing around in front of him, using arms and wings and jumping all over the show - the 'blue breasted roller' she announced!

It was truly incredible how quick the water moves when it is on the way down. The morning of the game walk we walked through an area which was bone dry and then later on the same day we drove through the same area and there was already about 3 inches or more of water!

On our last morning before flying to Lebala, we asked if we could go back and see if the leopard was at home with the cub and she was. We managed to see the cub and I got some nice pictures as well. So cute, suckling, playing with a cobweb in the house, and trying to make the hole bigger by digging around. It was lovely to just sit and watch - the Mum eventually came out of the 'house' and sat just outside in the sun.

We were flying to Lebala at around 11.15am so just time to get back for brunch and then off to the airstrip. Had quite a good flight across (takes about 40 minutes) and saw loads of ellies on the way. Not too many bumps either which is a bonus.

We arrived and were met by Spencer (guide) and P.D. (tracker). We were lucky as there weren't so many people staying and we had no one else in our vehicle until the last afternoon we were there.

Got to camp which has been totally revamped since I was there about 2 years or so ago. When we went for the afternoon game drive Spencer was asking what we had seen and what we hadn't yet - what we would like to see if at all possible. So of course the 'dogs' were mentioned!

Well it was decided to check our for wild dog tracks as there are a few packs that frequent the region and all the alpha females were pregnant and they all started to think about denning soon. They don't usually den in the Lebala region, but one can only hope.

We did find some tracks which belonged to the pack of 12 that were quite fresh. So we were told to buckle up and take care with our cameras. Once you actually find dogs the guides don't stop until the dogs do. We finally saw 2-3 dogs which was magic and then we were racing off following them. The 2-3 became 4-5 and then 6-7. We thought that they may be hunting so were following them - bumpy as hell and a bit like a roller coaster ride really.

After awhile we saw some more and then there was much excitement as they all went through the greetings to each other. Finally we managed to see the whole 12 including the alpha female. They all decided to lie down for a rest and catch up with each other - was just awesome! It was going to be a full moon that night and they would definitely be hunting.

We finally left them and moved away to try and find some nocturnal life as the sun was fast going down.