Great (But Grim) End

Lake panic again and only 0.5°C, plenty of mist slowly rising off the lake and with the hot air expelled by the Hippos it was a very atmospheric setting. Early shots concentrated on trying to capture the mood of the place, deliberately under-exposing to capture the golden early morning light. Some nice ‘silhouette type’ shots of the Hippos and Darters as they warmed up. Lots of action again on and below the surface, this is no place to be a fish with a host of skillful predators always on the lookout. Shots were taken of Herons, Darters and Kingfishers all with their catches. Missed a number of shots of the Fish Eagles taking their prey but there’s one last chance to capture these birds in action.
The afternoon saw us head south on the southerly Skukuza loop and around the Stevenson-Hamilton memorial. There was little to see in terms of game but we did stumble upon a Koorhan and a Hammerkop.
The late afternoon drive took us towards the Olifants waterhole where on the return leg we came across three lionesses chewing on a Leopard Tortoise by the side of the road. It was our lucky day with the vehicles in front jockeying for position the Lionesses got up and walked to the side of our car before lying back down again. We spent a good ten minutes watching and photographing their attempts to open up the Tortoise before having to leave to get back to camp on time.
The evening finished with a meal in the Selati restaurant in camp, a re-used railway station complete with steam train and carriage, a good meal and a great setting.