The routine was the same each day with breakfast beverages
and biscuits and then off on a game drive. We again were in the back and it was
a bit cooler out this morning, though it was sunnier.
sunrise from the safari vehicle
The first sighting was Rhinos! That completed our Big Five!
We saw one and then another one. It appeared to be a male and female. Then a
really huge one came out of the bush and it was the dominant male. The other bull
ran up to him and faced off with him, but soon he backed down and returned to
his female. They were quite active eating and wandering about. They then
crossed the road behind and in front of the vehicle. Just awesome huge animals.
wow, what a flow.....
After driving some more, we came across an old rhino that
had been forced out of the herd. He had been in a fight with another male and
was injured. He was still bleeding and looked old and defeated. Calton said he
will be fine and live out his life in solitude. He won’t have any predators, so
once he gets over his injuries and his pride is less wounded, he will do fine.
We came across a couple of Warthogs running by curled tails
in the air. It looked like they were running on springs (no good photos). CUTE!
Warthogs
Southern Ground Hornbill (there were 3 of these rare birds)
After climbing a steep road, we stopped to get out and see
a Millipede that was eating a pile of dung. Calton picked it up and asked if
anyone wanted to hold it. A few of us did. It felt really interesting as it
crawled around on my hand. I passed it to Greg, so he could hold it too.
me holding it
Greg holding it
Then it was time for our morning coffee break. After that
we got back in the vehicle and I noticed a small yellow spider on the seat in
front of me. Calton told me it was a Lynx spider and was harmless. It was very
pretty. We also saw a few Golden Orb Spiders.
morning refreshment break
Magpie Shrikes
Lynx Spider
We stopped to see some Red-billed Weaver nests, Magpie
Shrikes, Southern Ground Hornbills, a pair of Amur Falcons and more Guinea
Fowl. I’m sure we will have more birds to count as we get through all the
photos.
Amur Falcons - female & male
Amur Falcon - male
Amur Falcon - female
Golden Web Orb Spider
Helmeted Guinea Fowl
our lodge from the back
animal tracks
our lodge from the back
We made another pass by the leopard in the tree with what
was left of her kill. You could hear her crunching bones. The Hyenas were still
waiting for any scraps to fall.
Then we went back to the lodge for breakfast. Again, we
were greeted with cold towels and drinks. We had different choices for
breakfast than yesterday. Our ranger told us that we could go on a bush walk
after breakfast.
Cape Starling
French toast
We were the only 2 that wanted to go and Calton gave us the
bush walk instructions should be encounter wild animals. He was armed with his
rifle and showed us the rounds in the chamber. He said he has never had to use
it. Should we see anything large or threatening, we were to be single file
behind him and follow his instructions.
We saw quite a few different plants and he showed us or
told us how they were used. One was like a hand sanitizer when he used a bit of
my water to make it slippery. When it soaked in, my hands were very soft.
I think I mentioned that Calton was a comedian. On one game
drive he stopped the vehicle and backed up and said “wow, did you see that?” We
all looked and saw nothing. Then he says, “neither did I”. So, when he said
“did you see that leopard run across the road?” I thought it was a joke. He
then had us walk single file behind him and he led us around to try and find
the leopard. We found her and then her cub ran across the street to join her.
He had us slowly go back to the road while he guarded us with his rifle. We
then motioned we were OK and then he joined us. How awesome! No photos as it
all happened so fast and he said around the animals no photos as even the
slightest noise might spook them. (not as important when you are in the
vehicle)
We made our way back to the lodge and we did see a lot of cool
spiders and birds.
Golden Web OrbSpider
Garden Orb Spider
an animal's den
weaver's nest
Garden Orb Spider
Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
Southern Gray-headed Sparrow with an insect feeding her babies
Impala
Ashy Flycatcher
We had some time before afternoon tea and the afternoon
game drive, so we spent some time sitting outside watching the zebras and the
Kudu in the dry watering hole. I felt like a shower and used the lovely private
outside shower. It took an enormous amount of time picking out the stickers and
burs on our pants from the bush walk. I had a couple of small sticks attached
to mine as well.
Waterbuck
Impala
After tea we went on the afternoon game drive. We thought
we would take the front seats next to Harriet since the couple that always sat
there left after lunch, but the other couple put their hats on those seats
before arriving at the lodge for tea. I was going to suggest that since we only
had 2 drives left, perhaps they could have them for one and we could have them
for the other.
We spotted some birds and then some Terapins. Next, we saw
Wildebeest and Zebras. Then, we came around a corner after climbing a steep
road and there was a huge bull elephant. We got out of it’s way and then
positioned to get a better look at him.
Brown Snake-Eagle
Annette & Harriet
After we left him, we found some bleached bones of an
elephant. It appeared to be a pelvis and some other bones scattered around. We
also came across one of the smallest antelopes called a Duiker.
Duiker
Kudu
On our way to have our sundowner, we found 3 Cape Buffalo
in a pond cooling off. After stopping for various birds and things we missed
the best of the sunset.
Hadada Ibis
Hadada Ibis & Egyptian Geese
Red-billed Buffalo Weaver
We had our sundowner drinks and snacks and then
continued on our night drive. They found a snake in a tree and next a very
small owl; a Pearl-Spotted Owlet. Thanks to the spotlight we were able to get
good photos.
sunset Greg, Reifos, Annette, Harriet & Charley
snake in a tree
Pearl-Spotted Owlet
the leopard and her carcass in the tree
We also came across a Rhino family (2 adults and a baby),
but they didn’t want to shine the light on them for long because of the young
one.
Among some of the birds we saw were Spotted Bush-shrike,
Black-backed Puff-back, Red-billed Oxpecker, Red-billed Buffalo weaver, Brown
Snake-eagle, Broad-tailed White-eye, Crested Francolin. I may not have all the
correct spellings, but I wanted a notation so we can look them up when we
return home. We also saw a Mongoose and her baby and a brief sighting of
“Squirrel sex”.
Then when we thought were going back to the lodge, we stopped
to do stargazing on the airport runway. Calton got photos of us in the vehicle with
the stars as a backdrop.
We got back just in time for dinner and no time for a shower. We were greeted with another Aperitif and cold towels back at the lodge. We had our dinner at the boma that was closest to the lodge. The dry watering hole was filled with Impala and a hyena.
We got back just in time for dinner and no time for a shower. We were greeted with another Aperitif and cold towels back at the lodge. We had our dinner at the boma that was closest to the lodge. The dry watering hole was filled with Impala and a hyena.
Then it was off to bed and we gathered a few things
together since we would check out tomorrow after our morning game drive.
Safari Day 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZWUYnJPFnhoShBNu9
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