We didn’t know what to expect when we finally arrived at the Varty Camp at Londolozi Game Reserve in northeast South Africa. The property was spectacular and soon we were in a Ranger Rover built for nine. Luckily for us, we had four private safari drives with our ranger Matt and tracker Terrence. On every drive, Matt and Terrence have no idea exactly where the animals are. Terrence watches for tracks on the dirt paths we drive on, vultures in the sky and listens for sounds we barely hear but he recognizes as warning cries from birds, antelopes and the other creatures constantly on guard for attacks from lions and leopards hiding, cleverly as we soon learned, and ready to attack. We started early evening but after about 20 minutes south deep into the bush it was as if someone switched the floodlights on. Showtime! First zebra and blue wildebeest. Next ostrich. Then rhinoceros. The headliners of the day were a herd of elephants that included two babies that put on a how only a few yards from us. We learned all the animals in the reserve are used to the Range Rovers driving up close to them. A high level of trust had developed between the native animals and the intruding humans. They see the vehicles and occupants as one entity so that if we stayed seated, made no sudden moves or loud sounds, we were perfectly safe. This theory would be tested several times during the next few drives and proved to be true. As the sun set, we came upon a large, large herd of Cape Buffalo. Strangely, we never saw this large troop of powerful animals again.