We had fantastic rains during April. In total we had 178mm which is the 3rd most that I have recorded here since my arrival 13 years ago. Highlights during the month was seeing the cubs of the York pride playing around a baby giraffe carcass during the morning drive on the 11th of April. They were jumping in and out of trees providing fabulous photo opportunities. That afternoon turned out to be very special as we saw the lions chasing and playing with a big rhino bull. The game started pretty serious when the 3 sub adult males joined in the fun, but turned into a game for the cubs when the young males gave up. The York pride were found in some pretty thick bush on the 17th of April and in my haste to get to the lions I lost a blanket. The lions were quick to spot the missing blanket and we spent a hilarious few minutes as they fought over the treasured item. On the morning of the 20th of April guests enjoyed an amazing sighting when we found the York pride close to the Olifants river on the Rome 2 section. A troop of baboons stumbled into them and as alarm calls rang out, the one year old cubs ran over to investigate. A deadly game of cat and mouse started as the lion cubs awkwardly jumped into the various trees that hosted the baboons. The terrified baboons retreated to the topmost branches while throwing insults at the intruders. Just as the cubs began to tire of the game and started to move away some baboons lost their nerves and made the big mistake of trying to make a run for it. One female with a baby on her back descended from a tree next to the vehicle and made a dash to the next one. It became a race between her and a young female cub. As she jumped for safety to the lowest branch the lioness leaped and plucked her from the air. In the tangled mix of bodies a miracle happened when the baby managed to escape and run to freedom. I really hope that he survives. ( see videos taken by guests on Pondoro blog ) During the evening game drive on the 26th of April I enjoyed one of my most special moments in the bush. We came across a big male leopard very close to a breeding herd of around 200 buffalo. He was hunting and decided to have a closer look at the buffalo to see if there was any very young calves around. It was incredible to be right in the middle of a herd of buffalo totally oblivious to the presence of a leopard in their midst. Several times he got to within meters of a cow and her calf only to bail out again. It must be the only animal in the world capable of stalking around inside a herd of buffalo. He was eventually found out and a big bull’s horns thudded into a tree stem next to the car a moment after the leopard vanished into thin air. We then found him again calmly drinking water from a puddle barely 20 meters from there. We also saw lions feeding on waterbuck, giraffe and zebra during the month. The Big 5 were seen regularly including some spectacular leopard sightings. We also were lucky enough to witness a kudu fight during the evening safari and we even got some photos of this rarely seen incident. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Christo Steyn and co for visiting Bateleur Self Catering Campfor the 3rd time. Dr Guenther & Ms Jutta Merkel for visiting Pondoro for the 2nd time. Christine Kelting & Thomas for visiting Pondoro for the 2nd time.