9/12- we didn't have to leave the hotel until 10:40 this morning so we had a nice leisurely morning. We had about an hour and a half flight to Johannesburg and then we transferred to a nearby hangar for a private chartered flight to Madikwe. The plane was very nice. We've flown on quite a few small planes since we've been here and this one is by far the best. For a small plane it is very roomy and they gave us snack boxes and a variety of drinks. The flight is about 50 minutes. Our guide and tracker ( Kenneth and Sam) pick us up at the airstrip and then we spend about 10 minutes chasing Impala off the runway so that the plane can take off again. We arrive at Mateya Lodge and are given the introduction and brought to our room. This is quite a different feel from Botswana. It is beautiful and very luxurious. The room is huge, the bathroom is out of this world (here I go with the bathroom thing again). Really though, we have an amazing double shower in addition to a spectacular outside shower area. We have a huge patio area with our own pool and a great view. We are a pretty long walk from the main lodge, very private and remote. They say the entire property is fenced so we don't have to worry about the wild animals like at the other camps. So we don't have to be escorted throughout the property. The animals are close though, you can see the elephants and hear a lot of other animals. The suite is enclosed unlike the camps in Botswana. There are only five other people here, and only five suites total. They have us set up for a private dinner in the wine cellar. The wine cellar was very impressive with 8,000 bottles and the dinner was very good. I had the eland which is a large antelope and very good. I just hope I don't see one tomorrow on our game drive. Our guide is waking us up at 5:30 tomorrow morning and we are back on our crazy schedule for awhile. 

9/13- it was cold this morning. Driving along in the open vehicles and feeling the cold wind I wish I had worn my fleece. I did decide to utilize the blanket they have on the vehicle but even that didn't keep me as warm as I would have liked. It was a pretty uneventful morning game drive with mainly elephant, Impala, baboon, and zebra. We were trying to find the leopard that had been spotted in the area with a kill. About two hours into the drive we stopped for coffee in a nice open area. All of the guides have a very nice picnic type setup on their vehicles that they stock with coffee supplies and snacks for the morning and wine and beer and snacks for the afternoon. While we had our coffee we got a lesson in identifying tracks. It is quite a skill that these guides and trackers have acquired. On the way back to the lodge we found the area where the leopard had been by seeing a crow that had a chunk of the impala kill in a tree. Kenneth stops the vehicle, grabs his rifle and runs off into the bushes with Sam leaving us alone in the vehicle. Larry and I are just sitting there wondering what in the world is happening. About 20 yards from where we were, the guide turns to us and quietly says "this is where the kill happened" and points to the ground. From there, with the rifle raised, he and the tracker stalk through the brush. We lost sight of them after about five minutes. I thought they would come right back. So here we are in this open vehicle out in the wild of Africa without our guide. A group of zebra came by and checked on us but moved on. About a half hour went by and we were trying to decide how long we wait and what we should do if they don't come back. We decided we could probably figure out how to use the radio to contact someone and tell them to come and get us. Of course we had no idea where we were. Finally they came out of the brush very quickly from behind us. Kenneth was breathing fast and said his adrenaline was pumping. They had found the leopard and he was dragging the impala and being followed by a hyena. These guys are nuts! We come back to the lodge for lunch and decide we will go back out this afternoon to try to find the leopard again. This afternoon we went out and decided to just explore instead of seeking out the leopard. There are some caves in a kind of remote area that we decided to go to and on the way there came across a grumpy elephant. It was a group of elephants including a female that apparently has been causing some problems. As soon as they saw us she decided to charge. Our guide saw the signs immediately and started backing up quickly as he whistled, yelled, and clapped. This didn't really deter her and we turned off the path so there were some trees and shrubs between her and our vehicle. She was still focused on us and luckily we were able to get to another trail and get out of there quickly. There isn't much that is more frightening than a charging elephant. There was another truck just down our path that had tried to pass her with the same outcome and had decided to wait until she moved on. She has a reputation in the area and no one is willing to take their chances with her. So we continued on to the caves with a few detours to follow tracks, one of them taking us throughout some pretty rough territory where we were sure the Land Cruiser was stuck. Somehow we got out and made it to the caves. I decided not to go in the caves and stayed at the vehicle with Sam the tracker and Larry went to the caves with Kenneth. He decided not to go inside when he got there and saw they were filled with bats. I wasn't so worried about bats, but maybe the leopard or lion or other unknown creature that may be resting in there. It wasn't much more safe back at the vehicle where we had to watch out for buffalo and lions and who knows what else. Our guide went in the cave and brought out pieces of pottery that are hundreds of years old. Back at the vehicle we decided to relax a bit and had a glass of wine as it was after 5:00. Kenneth was doing bird calls and there were birds that were actually answering him. It was pretty impressive. He realized that he had left his "far lookers" or binoculars as we call them up by the cave so had to go back to get them. While he was up there he saw a herd of buffalo and some rhino a little ways off so we set out to find them. About 15 minutes into our search, he stops to study some tracks and next thing we know once again he grabs his rifle and he and Sam are stalking down the path after a group of lions. They disappear into the brush leaving us in the vehicle again wondering what in the world we should do. These guys are absolutely crazy! About 15 minutes later they come back and we are relieved. Before we got to Africa I would have said the scariest thing to encounter in the wild would be a lion or a leopard. Now that I know better the scariest things are buffalo, elephant, and rhinos. In the water the hippos are by far the scariest. And we just happened to be following buffalo and rhino when our crazy guide left us alone to see if he could find some lions. Anyway, we are off again when we see a brown hyena. The spotted hyena is fairly common but the brown hyena is very rare so this was very special. We followed him a little bit thinking he might be going to a kill but he went into some thick brush and we couldn't follow him. Next we came upon a jackal that had just caught a scrub hare. It stayed within about 10 feet of us to eat his kill while his mate watched on and he wouldn't share with her. By now the sun had set and it was completely dark. We turned around to head back to the lodge which was about 30 minutes away. Whatever insecurities you have out here during the day, they are multiplied by about 100 once it is dark. So Sam sits out in the front of the vehicle and scans a flashlight back and forth while we drive. We came across elephants, Impala, a large herd of wildebeest, and a herd of buffalo. We got back to the lodge at about 7:15 just in time for dinner. We had a wonderful dinner with our guide and shared some great stories. 

9/14- there is never a dull moment around here. Kenneth wakes us up at 5:30 and after coffee we are off. The goal is to find white rhinos since we haven't seen any yet. Once again there is a diversion when Kenneth spots some fresh lion tracks. We drive a bit and then he stops, grabs the gun and he and Sam are off again. They come back after about 15 minutes with another guide with a gun and head in the other direction. I ask as they go off if he is sure we're safe here. I get a "yeah, yeah" in response. I ask what we are supposed to do if the lions or buffalo or the grumpy elephant show up while they are gone and he says "enjoy it and take pictures". And then they disappear.....for about 45 minutes! I'm certainly glad this is not our first safari experience. At least we have learned to be a little more comfortable around the wild animals but it is still a little unnerving. The lions are on a rhino kill. The rhino had been killed by poachers a few days ago and now the predators were moving in. They have a serious poaching problem here and even have an anti-poaching group to try to catch them. The area where the rhino is has been closed off until they finish their investigation and when we finally get clearance to go there we get word that the lions have moved on. Just then we see two white rhinos on the trail ahead of us. We follow them and get quite close. About five minutes later we come across three more white rhino. This time a very large male and two females. We move in close and the male decides to charge us. It caught all of us off guard because the white rhino is not usually aggressive. The black rhino is the one you have to be very careful around. So Kenneth whistles, yells and claps while backing up and the rhino stopped and turned around. That gets your heart beating fast! So we've accomplished our goal and seen five white rhino this morning. We head back to the lodge for breakfast and to warm up...it was cold again this morning. After a midday rest we go out for our afternoon game drive. We immediately see a herd of springbok which are so beautiful. Next we stop to watch some elephants. Not just any elephants though, the dominant male is HUGE! He is by far the biggest elephant we have seen. We get very close and some of the younger ones become very curious and start getting a little mischievous. It's a lot of fun to watch. We have to leave quickly when a large female comes in to check out the situation and we aren't too sure of her mood. Next we run into the temperamental elephant and her group. We aren't sure if we can pass without being charged and I have to admit I was quite scared. We sit and wait while Kenneth assesses the situation and then decides to drive very fast by her. I really don't like that elephant! We decide to drive to a new area and on the way run into two white rhino walking down our path. They won't move so we follow them for about thirty minutes. It is so much fun to watch them, they are very prehistoric looking. We get to a water hole and the animals are just starting to show up for the evening, it is about 5:15 or so. We see 6-8 more rhinos including a mother and baby about two months old. There is a steady stream of elephants coming in and watching the interaction is very interesting. A jackal stays on the edge just watching. The sunset is spectacular. We decide to find an open area and have a glass of wine and watch the sunset. While we are enjoying our wine we hear the roar of lions. When we leave it is dark out but we set off for the lodge and hope we see the lions on the way there. Sam is up front scanning with his flashlight and he first finds red hartebeest which we haven't seen yet. We come to a path running perpendicular to us and Kenneth stops when he and Sam think they see something down it. We back up and turn down the path and sure enough there is a huge male lion laying in the grass. We park right next to him and watch. Kenneth says "get ready" so I get my camera ready and next thing we know he is roaring like crazy. I got it all on video and it is amazing! I didn't think anything could top the mating leopards that we saw but this was just as good. Wow! We need to get back to the lodge since its getting late. We're almost there when we see a genet. Actually two genets in two different spots. We've never seen one of these either. This has been an amazing day! The other guests have checked out and we are the only ones at the entire lodge. They have dinner set up for us at the fire pit area. It's a huge sunken fire pit with surrounding seating. There is a great view of the watering hole and we watch a steady stream of elephant come and go while we have dinner. Great entertainment!