Cleanliness is godliness

Friday 9th September

Manyane, Pilanesberg, North West Province

We arrived in South Africa at 5am and headed to our hotel, where, due to a booking mix-up, we were put into the Presidential Suite.  No time to enjoy the opulence, however, as sleep was the only thing on the menu.

Suitably refreshed, we headed north to Pilanesberg, quickly re-learning how to drive like a local on the way.  We checked in to a pre-made tent in Manyane Rest Camp on the eastern edge of the reserve.  The tent was equipped with a Bible and a bar of soap - cleanliness literally next to godliness.

Lion, Pilanesberg

With just an hour until sunset, we wondered whether it was worth going for a drive or not, but I am glad we did.  After driving for about 20 minutes and seeing nothing, another driver flagged us down to alert us that there were three lions in the valley.

After a bit of searching, we spotted them - two females and a male majestically strolling into the sunset.  A better picture of Africa could not have been painted.