Safari - Day 2

It was a little tough to arise at 5 a.m. when we had just finished dinner 8 hours previously. It seemed too dark, but by the time we had eaten breakfast and were on the road it was a lovely time of day for viewing wildlife and the surrounding landscape. Just look at the feast for the eyes with which we were met once we were out.



Most animals are the most active in the morning before the temperature gets too hot. We immediately came across a journey of giraffes moving along through the bush and were next met in our road by an elephant taking the easy way. It stepped off into the mupani trees which grow prevalently in the area and which they eat.

A beautiful dragonfly landed on the seat pocket in front of me. It was one of the more pleasant insects we saw. Our guide was constantly swerving to miss crushing the dung beetles in our path. The male creates a ball of elephant dung and rolls it along making it larger all the while. A female climbs aboard the ball and gets rolled along with it until they find a spot to bury it in the ground along with the eggs she lays, which will hatch and feed off the dung some time later. Since the beetles are about two inches in length I preferred seeing them on the ground rather than flying towards me.

Carlton was in constant contact with the other trackers in the area over the radio, so we soon learned that a pack of wild dogs was in the area. The wild dogs are endangered and it is not common to see them on safari. We took off in the direction they had been spotted to see them for ourselves. There were only a couple out hunting that morning, but later in our stay we would have the opportunity to see many more. While tracking the dogs we spotted a gnu making a stand and a herd of kudu dining in the bush.

We heard a call over the radio saying that a pride of lions had been spotted nearby so we followed the call and went to see them for ourselves.  I was surprised that we could drive up next the the lions and not disturb them. They simply glanced up as we approached and then went back to sleep. Carlton told us that as long as we held fairly still and didn't make much noise that the lions see us as part of a large thing that approaches, stays still without threatening them, then moves on. So we quietly took photos and enjoyed the view.










In our afternoon drive went and observed the pack of wild dogs, but they were just laying around trying to keep cool in the shade. We saw impala and more impala, which are quite skittish and wouldn't hold still for a photo shoot. We passed by a troop of baboons moving through the bush.

When we returned to the camp for dinner, we relaxed in the main lodge and the boys played a game of chess. Other games that they had on hand, which we played at other times, were bocce ball and Uno.


We were always called to dinner by the playing of drums. The dinner menu was announced to us before we filled our plates at the buffet. We usually drank water because we were so thirsty. Some of the dinner items served were chickpea, potato, butternut squash, salad, and meat from the grill. We did eat a dish made with springbok one night.  The food was delicious and nutritious, although it wasn't always what we are used to. The chefs made Nathan pizza a couple of nights, which he devoured. The hospitality we enjoyed was beyond our expectations.