This was my second trip to Tshukudu. I had enjoyed it so much the previous year that I felt that I simply had to go back.
Shortly after arrival we were off on a game drive. You don't often see hippos out of the water but this was late afternoon and it was cooling down quite quickly.	This little fella was no more than a few months old and the significance of seeing him only dawned on us much later in the day - but that's another story.

What can I say ... giraffe. Graceful, elegant and just a little bit shy. I didn't have the 300mm lens on this trip but this one was obligingly close.	We found this guy in one of the lion enclosures. Last I heard Tshukudu had something over 50 lions in it's breeding programme. It could me more now.	Impala ... probably the most common variety of antelope in Africa. Still a beautiful creature that is an importnat part of the the food-chain - both up and down.

During the direv we also came upon these buffalo and ...	... after observing them for a while we spotted this little fella
Savannah. A tame cheetah ... well, as tame as they get. She hunts for herself but seems to enjoy the company of humans.	We got off the ruck to pet her. Like any cat she loves attention. On the left is Heather but I don't remember who the others were.
Tshukudu has a fairly extensive lion breeding programme. On this trip we were given a glimpse of it. This lioness looks like she's sleeping but I wasn't planning to take any chances.	In a proper breeding programme each group of animals has at least an acre of enclosed space, usually more. He was keen to investigate so we decided to stay in the truck. Prudent, we thought.
End of another tough day in Africa ... ;-)	After the game drive, a few beers and a braai.
Tshukudu is amazing. We usually go for three days, leaving early Friday and returning Sunday after a leasurely breakfast. Game walks are always in the morning because it is cooler...	Strolling to the waterhole in the company of a pair of lionesses and Thabo. The 'walk with lions' is something few other reserves can offer. Tshukudu can because of its lion breeding programme.
This is a king cheetah. When they were first discovered the consensus was that it was a cross between a cheetah and another cat. That turned out not to be the case. Check out:  http://www.lionking.org/~kubo/Kwayera.html/	In this photo this baby is only about six months old. Essentially that makes him a kitten and, llike any kitten, he was very playful - as you Chris found (below). He was also number four of the "little" Big 5 we saw that day - but I can't find a pic of the baby elephant :-(
This lion cub (number 5) was only a few months old ... not part of the breeding programme ... yet. He was an orphan.	This is Chris ... finding out just how playful a leopard cub can be.