I left camp as the gates opened – I was curious to see what was happening at the carcass.
As much as I wanted to get there quickly, I had no option to stop for this.
It was impossible not to be in complete awe of this incredible beauty. I sat there and watched. 
As I approached Craig Lockhart, I realised there would be no lions at the carcass.
The pride had made their way to the waterhole during the night. Some had already moved towards the dunes. The young male was having a drink. Just look at that huge tummy!
Two of the females were watching him with interest.
He continued to drink.
I loved his beautiful golden eye.
The big male lion looked in our direction. The light wasn’t great for long distance photos, but there was no denying he was absolutely stunning.
When the young male eventually quenched his thirst, he made his way to the two lionesses who seemed quite happy to see him.
The one lioness then got up to have a last drink.
The male was sniffing at the sand where the lionesses were lying. I expected that huge tummy to explode any second!
After her drink the lioness had a looong stretch.
I noticed the humans were not the only ones watching the lions.
The sunlight started reaching over the dunes. The male lion looked at me.
Then they all got up and moved further away towards a few trees.
I decided to move on to the carcass – I wanted to see a very specific animal and was hoping this would be the day.
The scenery along the way was fantastic.
I was still approaching the carcass when I saw that my wish was going to come true. And it was going to be double the delight, because there were two.
One went to lie down in the shade, but the other stayed close to the carcass.
Spotted Hyenas have always been my second favourite mammal, and now it’s gorgeous cousin was as well.
They were rather skittish and retreated for a while. I focused my attention on the action at the carcass. The Jackals were still there in numbers.
A couple got a little bit over-excited.
One Brown Hyena started sneaking closer again.
I LOVED this face!
He finally got to the carcass and managed a small bite.
But then something spooked him and he was off in a flash.
The Jackals were joined by White-backed Vultures. the clouds created quite an atmosphere.
Vultures now arrived in numbers.
There was constant arguing. Between Jackals and Vultures.
And the White-backed Vultures argued non-stop with each other.
The Jackals continued to feast.
The Vultures would chase the Jackals from the top and then chase each other.
I wonder if this Jackal was worried about something being dropped on his head, because he almost got hold of the Vulture.
After spending a long time at the sighting I headed to 13th and 14 Boreholes.
I saw many, many groups of Giraffes that morning. The groups were all between 13 and 16 strong. 
Two were testing their strength against each other. I thought they were standing in a very precarious spot. If one of them slipped ….. But they seemed fine and gradually moved to level ground.
There was more stunning scenery along the way. I saw the faintest glimpse of a rainbow. I was falling more and more in love with this Park every minute I spent in it.
A pair of Namaqua Sandgrouse came to drink at 14th Borehole.
A Marico Flycatcher looked gorgeous against the clear blue sky.
I found the owls in the same tree as I drove back.
The arguments were still in full swing when I got back to the carcass.
As I drove back to camp I came across a Marico Flycatcher with a nice, fat, tasty (for him at least) grub.
There were more Gemsbok, Springbok, Blue Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest and Pale Chanting Goshawks along the way.
I went on a short drive after lunch.
The situation at the carcass was a little quieter. A Lappet-faced Vulture had however joined the party.
A Bateleur was soaring above.
I drove back to camp. Near Craig Lockhart other people pointed out something I had missed earlier when coming from the other side..
I also saw the young male when he got up from under the bush where he was sleeping.
You can see why these guys were easy to miss.
I had booked to go on a sunset drive and we found the lions again on the other side of the dune.
We continued into the red dunes. We saw lots and lots of Gemsbok and Giraffes. The red dunes were incredible. The animal sightings were on the slow side for a while. Then we had an unexpected sighting. As we drove over the crest of a dune, we startled a Kori Bustard, and it flew! It was only the second time I’d seen this, and even in the near dark it was an incredible sight.
Then we saw eyes. They belonged to one of my bucket list animals for the trip. At first it moved away, and I only had sightings through the binoculars as the spotlight followed him. Then he turned around and came back.
I only managed to grainy photos, but I was so incredibly happy. There were a few animals I really wanted to see on this trip, and a Cape Fox was one of them.
We were chatting that about the fact that we did not see Bat Eared Foxes on the drive. And then we saw one for all of 10 seconds just before camp.
It had been a really great sunset drive.