Wow, what a month! We saw 3 kills during December and one close call. On the 18th of December the York pride was found drinking at Ngala dam. The spotted a group of wildebeest and impala close by and started stalking. They made a classic ambush and managed to chase the wildebeest into the waiting arms of Kokwana, the oldest lioness. The wildebeest ran straight towards Shaun’s car and the kill was made only 20 meters from his vehicle. We then sat in stunned silence as 17 lions fought, growled and devoured the wildebeest right next to our vehicles (see videos taken by rangers on Pondoro blog). Just after the morning safari on the 24th of December while everyone was enjoying breakfast, the peace and quiet were shattered by the grunting, growling and splashing of fighting hippos barely 20 meters from the breakfast buffet. A big bull was fighting with a female and her calf and he left with the female nurturing 2 huge gashes over her back. As if this was not enough excitement for one day we had the experience of a lifetime when a lioness chased a group of buffalo straight towards my vehicle on the afternoon safari. Having had the dubious honor of a lion chasing a buffalo into my car before, I did not take chances and made sure that I got out of the way. The thrill of buffalo stampeding right past your vehicle while being chased by a huge lioness must be way up there in terms of the 100 most exciting things to do for Christmas. Christmas day held more surprises as we saw the lions hunt and kill a kudu cow. The last day of the year brought us some cheetahs. We saw the mother hunting and killing an impala which is a very rare and lucky sight. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steven Hodges and co for visiting Bateleur Self Catering Camp for the 3rd time. Mona Nordin & Lisbet Ekberg for visiting Pondoro for the 3rd time.