After an hour or so downtime we made our way back to the main area which unfortunately is a good 5+ mins walk from our tent so I'd better made sure I don't forget anything (especially at night when we need an escort) and met up with Chachos for the afternoon drive. It would seem we are on our own which is an unexpected luxury but strangely Chachos didn't have the usual "what are your interests/what would you like to see" conversation with us, merely stating that we'd see what nature had to offer. I understand this is always the case, but somehow the way he said it set off alarm bells ringing in our heads.
And quite rightly as it seems there was even less wildlife around than there was at Okuti. So desperate was I to see/photograph something I think I took about 100 photos each time of everything we saw and probably still failed to get a decent shot of anything. So here is a rather repetitive selection from the afternoon, with a few comments dropped in where I remember.
African Fish Eagle - despite it being a long way off Ian spotted it instantly and we managed to persuade Chachos to go a little closer.
Hippo, briefly out of the water and fortunately quite relaxed.
Tsessebe - we've not seen one of these before. A close relative of the Masai Mara's Topi, but not nearly as interesting as it's just brown all over.
Wattled Cranes (another first for us)
The scenery is just lovely, beautiful light and wide open spaces; it's just a shame there aren't many animals around.
A magnificent tree growing out of a termite mound.
Being a Delta there is obviously a lot of water around and we frequently drove through shallow puddles however when I asked Chachos if the water ever comes into the vehicle (my camera bags were on the truck floor!) he assured us he'd give us prior warning. However the mere fact that it does sometimes come it was enough for us to rearrange our bags well off the floor. I'm so glad we did as driving through this we certainly did take on water.
Lucky it drains out just as quickly as it fills up and with the heat of the day the floor is dry again before too long.
My obsession with starlings is beginning to rival that with LBRs!
Slaty Egret
These Wildebeest wouldn't hang around to pose.
Side Striped Jackals and, I'm pleased to say, a much better photo than the first one I took at Okuti.
I get excited enough anyway when I see zebra but tonight I was even more happy to stop with the herd a while and see what I could get.
As is often the case they looked more blue and white so I fiddled around a little with some of these.
Finally as we were heading for our sundowner spot we followed this troop of Chacma baboon heading for their home for the night.
A nice enough spot to watch the sun go down and certainly danger free.
The wine was served in glass once again so neither of us has resorted to G&Ts this holiday, but the sundowner snacks were pretty dire - just dried apricots and biltong (non red meat version I’m sure).
Compare this photo to previous ones I've taken, on this and other safaris, of Ian with our guides; I think it sums up perfectly the "relationship" between us.
Mmmm, let's see what tomorrow brings!
This is the first camp that is almost full and most of the other 16 or so guests were Americans. We all sat around on the deck for pre dinner drinks and chatting before being treated to the now customary singing before dinner.
This one seemed to go on forever and there was a lot of bottom waggling and screeching included before the staff tried to persuade some guests to join in. Finally we sat down for dinner and the main course was beef but fish had been prepared for me and a couple of others. The only trouble was on seeing the fish several others decided they'd "prefer" fish and so I ended up giving one of my pieces away to someone else. I understand that all food has to be brought into the area and so supplies are often limited but there really wasn't enough for everyone to have a choice which I feel there should have been. Interestingly, there are also two vegans staying and they seem to have a wide variety of food prepared especially for them.
