Kruger National Park Day 2

So we set out at 6 am after getting up at 5:30 and drove around looking for the tail end of the night animals, who were just finishing hunting before going to bed.

We caught sight of a male Lion right away, who was walking fairly slow, and once we got close enough, you could see why. When he turned so he walked away and we could see his profile, it was obvious that he had killed something the night before. His large belly was slung so low to the ground, that it almost touched. He was in no hurry to get anywhere, and just sauntered along, seemingly content with how full he was.
As was the case yesterday, there were plenty of Impala and Wildebeest around, usually hanging out together, which our guide said they do as a form of protection to have more eyes out for predators. Sometimes apparently Zebra and Kudu tag along as well.

We came across some Zebra too, as well as Baboons, Giraffe and Elephant. We just spent the day driving around.
When the afternoon rolled around, we went on a walk with two Rangers from the park, who take you out for about 2 hours just before the sun sets. Each one had a .458 rifle, so there wasn't too much to worry about. We wandered around, spotting smaller animals, before coming across a large Elephant, followed by a younger male. Luckily, we were down wind from them, so they didn't really realize we were there, even though we were only about 70 feet away. They stopped and ate for a bit before moving on.

Finally we spotted a Hippo on the other side of a creek, and once we got within about 40-50 feet of it, it up and bolted through the bush, taking a few trees with it on the way. Hippos kill more people in Africa each year than any other animal, as people sometimes happen upon them in the bush when they are going from watering hole to watering hole. I was surprised at the sheer size of it, and how quickly it could move and accelerate. We were told they can reach up to 4000 pounds.

After that we came upon some remains of a Cheetah, but didn't manage to find anything else. Returning to camp, we had another excellent meal, and spent the rest of the night around the fire, looking at the Hyenas 10 feet away, on the other side of the fence.