This fresh morning we headed out before first light to go and enjoy a cup of coffee and a rusk at ‘Little Serengeti’ where we witnessed a stunning sunrise as the full moon set behind us. A bat-eared fox family watched us as they were foraging nearby.

After this we headed on with pitch-forks, pick-axes, pades, pangas (machetes) and gloves aboard in search of the alien prickly pear cactus to eradicate. The volunteers did very well at removing the whole plant, including all of its roots which is important to make sure that none of it will start growing again, even each thorn that drops has to be picked up. If they are not controlled these plants will take over and reduce available grazing for animals.

While on our drive of alien plant removal, we saw so much wildlife including large herds of plains zebra and gemsbok (oryx), as well as ground squirrel families and steenbok pairs. The birds of prey were also out early; a hovering black shouldered kite, an amazing black harrier and many steppe buzzards were spotted.

We then tracked and found the female cheetah Chilli, who was near the river line in the shade with a very full belly. The day ended with checking up on her mother Sibella and then the daily supplementary feeding of the buffalo, (they now come running for their food!). Overall it was an eventful day for our wildlife volunteers on Samara.