Leopard Mountain Game Lodge, October 2015We 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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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We saw plenty of birds, including these two raptors. |
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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. |
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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.
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On our last drive we encountered 2 of the lions that we'd seen on our first drive. |
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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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