Shinde - Day 2 AM

We were awake pre dawn and a tray of tea and coffee duly arrived and after we'd showered and dressed we met Chachos at the end of our little walkway as it was still dark and he escorted us to the main area for breakfast - I know camps have their own styles but I do prefer just coffee/cake pre drive and then food afterwards as waiting for breakfast to be cooked/served wastes precious time when animals are more active.

It was gone 0700 before we set off, again it was just us in the truck as despite Chachos trying to convince us we'd like to do a boat trip in the morning, we stuck to our guns that we preferred that to be the afternoon's “activity” (first a short trip in a mokoro (dug out canoe) and then a longer trip in a powered boat).

Chachos told us that although there was a pack of painted or wild dogs in the area it was currently their breeding season and so they were only active until about 1000 each day and also that their hunting ground could be upto 25kms away from the den, so a vast distance.  Also, given that the guides don't yet know where the den actually is, I think we'll be "lucky" to see any.

Unfortunately as well as my enthusiasm I think I've lost my ability to take a decent photo so I'm just going to have to include every sighting, good or bad, as otherwise this post will be remarkably short.

Coppery-tailed Coucal

Reedbuck f.

Just before 0800 Chachos suddenly spotted a wild dog running in the far distance.

But then he had to get out of the truck to assess whether it was viable to try and follow it.

Quick NB in case you didn't spot it: out after 0700, spotted the wild dog just before 0800 and how many photos have I posted in between = 2!!!

And having seen the wild dog Chachos was then on a mission and we just drove round and round trying to find the hunting pack.  I was getting increasingly annoyed although Ian, bless him, did try and diffuse the situation explaining to me that we (ie. Chachos, us and our truck) had to play our part in the hunt for the dogs otherwise the whole search fell apart but to be honest I wasn't particularly bothered as I don't find wild dogs that exciting and I would rather be able to take pictures of something, rather than nothing.  These are the only shots I managed in almost 2 hours.

This looks a most uncomfortable perch for a Chacma baboon.

Whereas the older, more sensible, relative is sitting quietly contemplating the day.

This is a God awful shot, but I do love the light shining through the little one's ears.

Lone hyena skipping home after a good night out - I can almost hear its laughter.

Whilst the tall, golden, grasses make for stunning scenery they do make photography a little tricky - a good test for the new camera's autofocus capabilities which, sadly, fell below expectations.

Maybe I was expecting a little too much here!

I'd have liked to spend longer with this small herd as there were a couple of youngsters, but the call Chachos had been waiting for finally came through - another truck had seen a wild dog!!!  So off we went, chasing after the dogs for what seemed like an eternity, but in actual fact was only about 15 minutes.  I took many shots of disappearing backsides and out of focus dogs in the long grass.

Occasionally I got one in focus but just look at the blades of grass right over its face - you couldn't odds it!

A couple of slightly better ones.

The pack was 10-12 strong but these 7 are the most we saw at any one time 

Finally out in the open, but of course just one for the A of A Album although it does show the "painting" rather well.

Huge admiration for Chachos for man-handling the truck over pretty impossible terrain, at times we drove so deep into the long grass I was convinced we'd just run them all over.

Well that's that out of the way!

This is a Sausage Tree (Kigelia africana) - the only one we've seen here in Botswana although we did see some a few years ago in Zambia

A quick stop to go behind the bushes and have a cup of coffee/tea and once again the snacks were quite mediocre; just plain biscuits.

I don't think any words are needed!

My camera was well and truly confused by the long grasses but I doubt I'd have done any better relying on my own eyesight.  It's amazing how you don't notice all the stems in front of you when you're taking the shot.  Wattled Crane again

These are different wiggies - how amazing are the side whiskers on the left one's face.

And finally as we were heading back to camp, I took this little video to show you what crossing some stretches of deep water is like.