Africa - Day 11

I am not a morning person. So when planning this trip I had imagined that the 5am wake up call would not be pleasant. Thankfully, I was wrong! This morning, after a very heavy sleep, I was wide awake at 4am, when the sun was beginning to rise. Shanon was already awake, having heard a lion roaring nearby. Before our drive we went to the main deck to get Shanon a coffee. Everyone was talking about the lion, and about the other animals they'd heard wandering around in the night. It seems that while I was fast asleep everyone else had been sitting up in their beds, their eyes wide open and their hearts beating fast.

On our morning drive we got to meet Batman, the dominant male leopard in the area, while he was stalking impala. We stayed close in the hope of seeing him make a kill. At one point he walked right up to the vehicles (max. 2 vehicles are allowed at a sighting at a time), and sat down right in front of another vehicle from our lodge, leaving the tracker Oscar sitting precariously close and smiling nervously. At that moment we witnessed one of the most 'stupid tourist' moments you could imagine as the group of middle-aged Swiss guests stood up and clambered to the side of the vehicle to get a look, shaking poor Oscar in front of Batman and earning themselves a big telling off.

On the way back to the lodge we came across an elephant standing right next to road. We were able to stop for a while and observe him very closely...amazing.

After a delicious breakfast on the main deck there was an optional walk which we all chose to go on. Arend, armed with his rifle, advised us to all walk in a straight line behind him. By this time of day it was stinking hot, but I’m so glad we chose to go. The focus is on smaller things, such as plants and insects, which get missed when you're in the vehicle. The walk started well when we all went to look at a plant, and then spotted the tiniest of frogs clinging to one of the leaves. Next stop was a huge pile of dung where hundreds of dung beetles of various sizes were making balls of dung and rolling them away, maneuvering them around our feet. It sounds gross I'm sure, but it's actually quite comical and very, very cute. We continued on, past baboons and antelope, to the river. Standing on the bank we watched hippos resting in the water and a couple of elephants walking past on the opposite bank, while colourful dragonflies flew around us.

By the time we got back to the lodge we were overheating, but soon cooled down while enjoying nice cold drinks on the deck. The middle of the day is relax time at the lodge. The whole place turns dead silent as people nap, relax, or take a dip in the plunge pool. The deck in front of our tent was an excellent place to sit and pass the time.

Lunch was at 3:30, and then it was time for our afternoon drive. We'd only just left the lodge when we came across a herd of elephants, including a gorgeous wee baby one. After watching them for a while we went to see a crocodile. We got out of the vehicle and followed Arend to her. Crocodiles are deadly of course, but in this case we were able to safely observe her from just a couple of metres away. She was lying on her eggs, and was much too concerned about protecting them to bother attacking us. We also found the lions again, although this time the male was not with them. They were napping and we all had a good giggle when one of them rolled over and farted. On the way back in the dark Arend suddenly stopped the vehicle and disappeared into a tree. He came back holding a chameleon. A perfect end to another perfect day in African paradise!