Lions and leopards and cheetahs - oh my!!!

Arrived at our final safari site - Renkero Tented Camp wednesday morning. Since they have internet our hosts have been very generous in letting us use their computers to communicate. After arriving, we unpacked, yes, ate again and then relaxed until tea time at 4. (I could get use to this-but know I shouldn't). After tea our driver Dixon and a spotter took us out into the Mara for our first game drive here. First animals to be seen - leopards. O.M.G. they are beautiful and let us come very close to them. You should know by now my next line - Paul has more amazing pictures. After leaving the leopards we went a short way and what do we stumble upon but a small pride of lions. There were 5 females and lots of cubs of various ages. What a bunch of goofballs. We stayed for about a half hour and just laughed at the way they played with each other, pretend stalking and jumping on each other's back or rolling around in the grass. Our guide tells us that this is normal behaviour when the 'dad' isn't aroung because he doesn't like the playing. Soon enough Dad made his appearance and promptly lay down in the grass near the pride. (I guess still far enough away for the cubs because they still kept at it). Next it was sundowner drinks by a riverbank where we were joined by lots of hippos. Some happy to see us and some not so happy, but all stayed in the water. Soon had to leave and head back to camp for dinner. Once again a wonderful meal and wonderful company. Stayed up a little later because we were enjoying the company so much. Jackson, one of the co-owners of the camp and our host here at the camp is the host of the BBC programme "Big Cats Live", and there's a crew from Disney Nature that's they've been hosting at another one of their camps doing a movie on Lions and ther cats, so they have quite a few interesting stories. So we didn't get to bed till 10 pm which is late out here in the bush. Have to be escorted to the tents and can not leave at night because of wildlife but their sounds can actually lull you to sleep.
Today we hit the jackpot once again. A female leopard and her three year old cubs were spotted stalking prey (or brunch, to them). They are also beautiful, moving with such grace and stealth it was breathtaking to watch until the other 8 land rovers showed up. We left to enjoy breakfast under an acacia tree and then off to see lots of zebra, gazelles, giraffe etc. We are now back at camp and enjoying lunch with a family of 9 that have just arrived. They are from Louisville, KY so I had to let them know that we are Rutgers fans. GO RU!! Off for some journal writing, looking at our pictures, possibly a nap and then we'll be off again. Hopefully we'll be able to write once more before the long journey home. Love to all - we miss you.
Note to kids - I have already thought of my next dream trip - ask me when we get home!
Thanks to all who left notes, love Sue and Paul.