The Big Five, the Cute Five and the Tasty Five

The first four of the celebrated "Big Five" African animals - elephant, buffalo, rhino and lion are relatively easy to spot, but that damn elusive leopard .. it's like getting a poker hand with the one paying card missing. Though we did see the bridge where one (I'm guessing very complacent) Ranger used to sit in the evenings and have a smoke until one night when he was taken by a leopard and dragged off to the river bed. His guide tracked them in the dark and killed the animal but the man was toast .. so I guess not seeing a leopard is better than seeing one too closely ...

The Cute Five caused much debate but I settled on hippo, giraffe, zebra, impala and hyena. A tad controversial but hyena edged out monkey due to:

a. sighting two baby hyena trying to eat a tortoise and

b. an unfortunate incident involving an open window on the truck, a family of opportunistic monkeys and a fresh supply of snacks.

The Tasty Five is a work in progress, so far it includes warthog (great sausages), ostrich and kudu (I'm addicted to their biltong). However, there is a possibility of some fluidity between catagories depending on what turns up on the braai...