Late rains during the season made the grass turn into a lush green carpet once again. Never before have I seen the bush looking so green and thick at this time of the year. This attracts lots of animals, buffalo and elephants especially, seem to be everywhere. Breeding herds of elephants are seen daily, sometimes up to 60 or more are seen together at a time. It has been a really good month for game viewing with all of the Big 5 spotted regularly. We enjoyed 40 elephant, 17 rhino and 30 lion sightings during the month which is superb in anyone’s books. The lions were seen feeding on warthog ( 6 May: see videos taken by rangers ), ( 17 May ), wildebeest and buffalo ( 27 May ). Shaun and his guests saw the lions killing a warthog on the 6th of May ( see videos taken by rangers on Pondoro blog ). The warthog actually ran into one of the vehicles during the chase and it was an amazing experience for all that were present. Rul, our master tracker, was also the first person to find the new 2 month old lion cubs. They were feeding on a kudu and Rul got some excellent video footage ( see videos taken by ranger on Pondoro blog ). Pondoro has finally decided to make the plunge and go for 5 star grading. The good news is that this had no effect on our prices and we continue to be excellent value for money. We also won a Diner’s Club Platinum Award for our wine list and we keep on striving to provide the best possible product and service in our price class. We have completed the 2 new chalets and Pondoro can now boast 8 chalets, sleeping 16 guests. This is still very small and exclusive so that the peacefulness and ambience of the bush is not lost on anyone. I have decided to make change and not to include photos taken during game drives in May, but to include photos of our vehicles with guests enjoying some fantastic sightings. I would like to take this opportunity to thank David Rekosh and co for visiting Pondoro for the 2nd time. Diana Plyley and family for visiting Pondoro for the 2nd time. Congratulations to Andrew Bath on celebrating his birthday on the 10th of May with us and to Bethany Gibbs for celebrating her 21 birthday at Pondoro with her family on the 31st of May.