Leopard Mountain Game Lodge, October 2015

We decided to try out one of the KwaZulu-Natal Game Lodges which was within a day's drive from Richmond and after some internet searching booked into Leopard Mountain, a big 5 Game Lodge, for a couple of nights.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time there - excellent accommodation, an interesting and informative guide for our drives - and way too much food!!

The view from our chalet. we often saw nyalas grazing near the chalets.

Reception.

Inside our chalet.

The outside deck of our chalet.

The pool on the far side of the deck.

Getting ready for a drive. There are 2 drives each day - early morning and late afternoon/ evening.

Within a few minutes of our first drive we came across 3 very tired male lions. They weren't going to move so we had to back up and take another route.

There is one group of wild dogs at the Reserve. We saw them on 2 of our drives. Once we tried to follow them as they went hunting but weren't able to follow them very far as the dry conditions had resulted in no off-road driving in order to conserve the land. We did later see them with a kill that they'd made earlier in the day.

We were lucky enough to visit the Reserve while a couple of bull elephants were sparing for dominance. We watched them from a safe distance.

We saw plenty of birds, including these two raptors.

Wahlberg's Eagle.

Tawny Eagle.

Initially these 2 cheetah brothers were lying in the bushes and difficult to spot. After a short while they got up and moved off and we wer able to follow them for some time.

After the early morning drive we were taken back to the lodge for breakfast. Then we could choose to stay at the lodge or be taken to a nearby waterhole for an hour or so.

On our last drive we encountered 2 of the lions that we'd seen on our first drive.

A stop for drinks and snacks on a morning drive. The evening rest stop would be to watch the sunset.

Evening meals (5 courses available!) were served in a boma around an open fire.

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