Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 18

Tags

bateleur, black-backed jackal, Botswana, buffalo, Chacma baboon, China, Chobe river, coppery-tailed coucal, elephant, hippo, Impala, Kori bustard, Lion, lioness, marabou stork, osprey, red-billed hornbill, Trumpeter hornbill, White-fronted Bee-eater, Zambezi, Zambia, zebra, Zimbabwe

Thursday 7th March, morning. As mentioned already, Neil and Jakes were not licensed to lead game drives in Botswana, but we had the opportunity to go on an optional (= paying) game drive organised by the lodge, leaving at 6.00 a.m. Most of us decided to do so, but in the event found we very much missed the quality of our own guides. We were again in two vehicles, open ones this time, and with a couple of other people staying at the lodge in each as well.

With a start at 6.00 a.m., it was still far from fully light.

The guides were clearly not interested/didn’t see birds at all, and it was the German lady in our jeep who spotted these and asked to stop for photos.

Marabou storks

The tour laid on by the hotel clearly caters for the general public just passing though, not knowledgeable (well, most of them) fanatics like us! But we did nevertheless see some interesting and new things, before we got back for a hasty breakfast at 9.00 a.m., and departure as soon as possible afterwards. For we were to leave Botswana finally for a brief sojourn in Zambia, before setting off on the long journey back to the UK.

It was interesting, for example, to see the Chobe River from a different angle than from the river itself.

Impala

Lots of impala

Chacma baboon

Here was a new one – a coppery-tailed coucal

A string of buffalo

I would have liked a chance to get a better picture of these Kori bustard, but the jeep didn’t stop.

This next was perhaps the most interesting sighting of the game drive. A black-backed jackal came trotting towards us, clearly carrying some very fresh meat. It stopped, dropped the meat, scrabbled a bit, and then moved on – without the meat – and passed behind our jeep. What was going on?

Over there is a hippo, but again the jeep didn’t stop

I think this might be a not-quite-adult female Bateleur, but I’m not sure

White-fronted bee-eaters

Perhaps this was the reason the jeep was rushing. We found ourselves in a bunch of at least a dozen other vehicles, all straining to catch a sight of…

.. a handsome male lion padding across at a great distance.

He was followed by a procession of five or six of his females – I lost count.

But they were a very long way off. On the other hand, had we not had the very good lion sightings earlier on in the trip, we would have been thrilled to see even these.

We turned round, and on the way back for breakfast caught sight of …

Zebra and impala

Buffalo

and Osprey

…………..

Crossing from Botswana into Zambia (the former Northern Rhodesia) was a more complicated affair than nipping between Namibia (the old South West Africa) and Botswana (the old Bechuanaland) had been.

I’m not sure what took the time at the Botswana emigration post, but hanging around gave us the chance to observe this Red-billed hornbill.

Entering Zambia involved crossing the ‘mighty’ Zambezi River. We hadn’t the time to wait for this bridge, being financed by China, to be completed. [Edit, 12th April 2020. I have discovered, quite by chance today, that this bridge, the Kazungula Bridge, is being financed not by China, but by the Japan International Co-operation Agency and the African Development Bank. How easily we accept that China is behind all development in Africa. And indeed China is financing much of the railway which will use this bridge.]

So we were going to cross by this.

Which was actually more fun.

Our vehicles were dwarfed by the HGVs also waiting to cross by ferry.

We were not allowed to stay in the vehicles,

But had to walk on, and stand for the crossing. Which was also more fun.

Looking east, please see Zambia (ex-Northern Rhodesia) to the left and Zimbabwe (ex-Southern Rhodesia) to the right.

And looking west, there are Botswana to your left and Namibia to your right. [Edit 12th April, 2020. No, Botswana and Namibia are left, only Zambia on the right. See map in article here.] Whether you can see them or not. The sun on Neil’s left shoulder appears to be coming from the north. That’s because it is – we’re south of the Equator.

We had been warned that here we would have to wait for anything between one hour and three. (Neil had FOUR sets of taxes to pay at different offices!) In the event it was two hours, in great heat, but at least we were in the roofed vehicles by now. There were some interesting things going on, like women picking up really heavy bundles of foodstuffs from the side of some huge HGVs which the latter had carried across the river in addition to their main freight, then putting them on their heads at walking off. I would love to know the story behind that, and I have no idea why I didn’t take photos. Perhaps because of a general reluctance to intrude on people’s daily lives.

Fortunately it was not too long, once we set off, before we stopped for lunch. Though at one point we all leapt up from table (outdoors of course) to seek out a trumpeting Trumpeter hornbill, of which this was the best photo I could get!

Would you even know it was a bird?!

We heard, and indeed saw, plenty of these – very loud – at our next and final lodge.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 16

Tags

Botswana, brown-throated weaver, buffalo, Chobe National Park, Chobe river, Chobe Safari Lodge, Darter, elephant, elephant crossing river, Giant kingfisher, Glossy ibis, hippo, Impala, jacana, Nile crocodile, Red bishop, Reed cormorant, Squacco heron, water monitor, white-crowned lapwing, wire-tailed swallow

Wednesday, 6th March. While our guides were not licensed for Botswanan wildlife trips, there was nothing to stop them explaining things if we took established boat rides from Chobe Safari Lodge within the Chobe National Park. So at 9 a.m. we set off for the first of two boats rides today – in which we saw lots of elephants! On the whole, to begin with, we kept to the south bank of the Chobe River.

Facing north. Darter and reed cormorants.

This little fellow, a wire-tailed swallow, hitched a ride for a short while.

Red bishop. So striking.

Brown-throated weaver

Jacanas

Giant kingfisher

Nile crocodile, not very big, only about 5 feet (1.5 metres) long…

When we saw elephants, I took enormous numbers of photographs and videos. Just a very few are here.

Play fighting

This big bull isolated himself to his own mud bank, very near to us.

The eyes have it.

Not threatening nor hassling, just cooling I think.

I had this taken just to prove that I was really there. I’m still on the boat!

We continued on our way, to a ‘lovely’ muddy area.

Glossy ibis

Two glossy ibises

We had pulled in, nudging the bank. The local guide had to draw this to my attention – right under my nose. Squacco heron.

The Flanders and Swann song is, I believe, about hippopotamuses. Clearly elephants like mud too.

As do Buffalos (or Buffaloes – take your pick)

We started wending our way back, mainly along the northern bank of the river now.

These impala were on the far southern bank.

White-crowned lapwing

There’s a water monitor in there

The we became aware of lots, and lots, and lots of elephant lining the southern bank.

On the northern bank was already this leader, presumably the matriarch of at least some of them. She summoned them over.

And they came. The elephants here are well-known for swimming across the river.

Just as mum holds her trunk out of the water, so does her tiny baby, keeping very close to her right ‘hip’.

Still there

Presumably those that crossed were all of the same family.

And after a good wallow for some, they continued on their way.

As did we, ready for our lunch.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 15

Tags

Botswana, buffalo, Carmine bee-eater, Chobe river, Chobe Safari Lodge, Chobe Safari Park, Collared sunbird, Common myna, Dark-capped bulbul, emerald-spotted wood-dove, golden weaver, Impala, Lucky bean tree, Magpie shrike, Malachite kingfisher, Namibia, Openbill, Red-billed quelea, Schalow's turaco, tree squirrel, white-winged widowbird, Zambezi River

Tuesday 5th March. Last few hours in Namibia. During our customary pre-breakfast walk around the grounds of our lodge, the Zambezi River looks much the same as it did the evening before.

These splendid flowers are those of the Lucky bean tree.

Poor early morning light , and distance, made it difficult to get a good take on these woodland kingfishers.

Dark-capped bulbuls

On our way to a different border crossing…

Emerald-spotted wood-dove

But before getting there, we stopped for coffee at a very small lodge, with, I think, the hope of seeing a particular bird.

Not this tiny one, spotted first by me (a rare occurrence!), a collared sunbird…

but this large pigeon-sized one, very elusive high in the tree, a Schalow’s Turaco, only found immediately round here, and in the same group as the Go-away-birds.

This is the young man who showed us round. He was raising the tree squirrel, hoping to release it into nature in due course. It was very tame.

Continuing, and near the border crossing…

Malachite kingfisher

Another of those Openbills

By lunchtime we had reached the Chobe Safari Lodge, right by the Chobe Safari Park, where we were to spend two nights. I have to say, very comfortable and smart as it was, it was my least favourite resting place. It was HUGE! As a result the dining area sounded like a large works canteen, very noisy, though I had no complaint about the food. There was a large swimming pool which had many people around it, as if we were at a seaside resort. And my room, on the second floor (there hadn’t been any second floors so far) was really just a very modern, characterless, hotel room, from which this was the view, onto the Chobe River.

Not to be blamed on the lodge, but the temperature that day was the highest we were to know – 38° C max – and, with an overnight temperature of 20°C min, at last I gave in and put some air conditioning on. I had been resisting up to that point on environmental grounds.

A corridor area and part of the dining area, with, rarely, no-one else immediately around

Our leaders, being themselves visitors from Namibia, were not licensed to show us round the national park, so later in the afternoon, we went out for a drive to … another sewage works. Some good sightings though. Here are a few.

Carmine bee-eater

Magpie shrike

We kept a wary eye on this buffalo. It does not appear close because I used a lot of zoom. It appears close because it was close!

Common myna

Impala, solitary, and a long way off.

Red-billed quelea

Red-billed buffalo weaver

African Golden weaver

White-winged widowbird, related to the Red bishop.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 12

Tags

Blue waxbill, giraffe, Grey go-away-bird, Impala, lanner falcon, Little bee-eater, Mahango National Park, Red lechwe, red-crested korhaan, Sable antelope, termite mound, Tsessebe, warthog, Wattled crane

Saturday afternoon, 2nd March. I was delighted to see as I got up from lunch to return to my room for a siesta, that there were several Sable antelopes on the opposite bank.

Such beautiful long horns

I took a few photos of and in my room.

Camera had difficulty in the darkish room. This was not the most luxurious of our lodges. Perhaps that was why I felt very much at my ease there.

More pillow embroidery

This is the lodge’s bar area.

And here is a Go-away-bird in the tree beside me as I waited there for us all to assemble for another drive in the Mahango National Park. Many had really been hoping to see a cheetah these last two days. For myself, I had seen – just – one before, but I had never seen a leopard. We had been told that still might see one of these later in the trip, but this was the last time we might see a cheetah.

I do love the mohican hairstyle.

We covered the same ground as we had in the morning but in very different light.

Oops, I failed to note the name of this bird.

Common impala (i.e. not Black-faced ones)

Inside of am old termite mound, giving just a hint of the amazing engineering which keeps the mound – which is mainly below ground – aerated and cool.

Little bee-eater

This morning’s three wattled cranes again – presumably

Red lechwe

Blue waxbill. It’s a very small bird.

Red-crested korhaan

Tsessebe

Warthogs. They must have toughened ‘knees’.

More Tsessebe, in evening light. (Being so near the equator, about 18° South, sundown is early, even in summer.)

Lanner falcon

Sadly, no cheetah.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 7

Tags

African white-backed vulture, blacksmith lapwing, Burchell's sandgrouse, Double-banded courser, elephant, giraffe, grey heron, grey-headed gull, Impala, kudu, marabou stork, marsh terrapin, Mokuti lodge, northern black korhaan, Pale chanting goshawk, pied avocet, Tawny eagle, termite mound

As I walked back to my room at Mokuti Lodge for a rest after lunch, I felt uncomfortable, not for the last time, to see lawn-watering going on for the pleasure of tourists, in a country so afflicted by drought.

In due course, we went out for our late afternoon drive.

Blacksmith lapwings, impala, and the only elephant who visited this watering hole while we were there.

… Though more elephants were hanging around at a distance when we arrived, facing in both directions, and took some time to move off. It was as if they couldn’t decide whether to come closer. (I refrain from making current political analogies.)

Marabou stork and White-backed vulture

The vulture (which is tagged) does not seem bothered by the giraffe passing behind it.

A grey heron lords it over the blacksmith lapwings

I don’t think you can have too much of giraffes.

Pied avocets. (It’s not for nothing that in French the avocet is ‘Avocette élégante.)

Grey-headed gulls

We moved on – as I recollect to a sewage works.

The Marsh terrapin hangs his legs out to air the rest of his body, as I see it.

As we drove back to the lodge, I tried to capture some of the termite mounds which were to be seen almost everywhere.

Kudu

These korhaans started a lekking display but moved off into the privacy (?) of the bushes so we were unable to observe it. Pity!

A kudu in our way

Burchell’s sandgrouse

Double-banded courser

The weather threatened…

… and came to nothing. Tawny eagle.

But still kept threatening. Pale chanting goshawk.

We spent our second night at Mokuti Lodge, to move on the next day.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 5

Tags

black-backed jackal, Cattle egret, elephant, Etosha National Park, European bee-eater, flamingo, gemsbok, giraffe, greater flamingo, grey heron, honey badger, Impala, Kori bustard, leopard tortoise, lilac-breasted roller, Lion, Mokuti lodge, Namibia, Namutoni camp, northern black korhaan, oryx, Ostrich, Pale chanting goshawk, red-billed hornbill, red-necked falcon, Safariwise, Spotted hyena, Striped mongoose, swallow-tailed bee-eater, warthog, white rhino, Wildebeest, zebra

Tuesday 26th February. Today we were leaving Halali Camp and moving on to Mokuti Lodge at the eastern end of Etosha National Park in time for lunch, and to stay two nights. While we were waiting for our vehicles to collect us, some of us were amused to see a honey badger arrive at the row of bins opposite us, (all closed at that stage), sniff at each, and, clearly much practised, neatly flip open the lid of the end one – holding it open with its back leg to prevent it falling shut – go inside and take out this packet of meat, then calmly tear it open and eat the contents, slice by slice. It then proceeded to do exactly the same with a packet of cheese slices. Not the way you really want to observe wildlife, but a clear illustration of adaptation to human presence. They were there first!

We set off through the national park, taking our time, stopping at the roadside and waterholes, making for our new lodge.

Lilac-breasted roller?

Impala

Kori bustard (BL)

I was in Jakes’s vehicle this day, and he was particularly excited to see this rhino. It is a White rhino, quite rare (and, as I discovered later, a reintroduction). ‘White’ is a corruption of, I believe, Dutch ‘wijd’, referring to its wide mouth. The White rhino also has a prominent neck hump. It is noticeably larger than the Black rhino. The Black rhino is also called the Browse rhino.

Hooded vulture (BL)

Spotted hyena

At the roadside

European bee-eaters

Oryx. Answers also to the name Gemsbok

It’s not only giraffes who have to splay their legs to drink. So do impala

When we saw elephant approaching from our right, we not only stopped, we backed up a little. We were clearly in the path they were going to take.

This is how near they were, even as they were going away.

When we were only a few miles from or next lodge, we stopped at Namutoni Camp, a former German colonial fort, now another government-run lodge.

There was a small museum there, and a family of striped mongooses.

But our next lodge was privately run, and a distinct notch or four up on those we had already stayed at. After a leisurely lunch, and a siesta, we were due to go out, though this was put slightly in doubt by rain, the first of only two occasions when we wondered whether our plans might be affected in this way. But the storm was brief, nothing like enough to help do anything about the drought, and we went out at the planned time.

Southern red-billed hornbill

Leopard tortoise

Red-necked falcons

Signs of the recent rain soon disappeared

Our first ostriches. We were to get better views in later days

Swallow-tailed bee-eater

Northern black korhaan (aka White-quilled bustard)

Adult warthog

But it was nowhere near these three little hoglets we saw later, running out of a culvert, no parent in sight

Pale chanting goshawk

Black-backed jackal

Wildebeest and cattle egrets

All of life is here! Impala (as far as I can tell), zebra, giraffe, grey heron, and just two Greater flamingos. But for the drought, there would have been huge flocks of flamingo we were told. As it was, we were very lucky to see any.

Although it was very warm, we had little sun all afternoon, and rain threatened much of the time, though never fulfilling its threats. Such rain as there was anywhere was very localised. This part rainbow accompanied us for a good while as we made our way back to the lodge in the late afternoon. I wondered whether its curious shape was because the sun was so high, but this theory was well disproved nine days later.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 4

Tags

bateleur, bee-eater, black rhino, giraffe, Halali camp, hippo, Impala, Kori bustard, lioness, slender mongoose, Springbok, Striped mongoose, turtle dove, zebra

Monday afternoon and evening, 25th February. After a siesta we went out for another drive, aiming for another waterhole. On the way:

Kori bustard – a very big bird which ‘flies reluctantly’

These may resemble our collared doves, but they are African (aka Cape) turtle doves. I rather mind the name, given that our own turtle doves are now such a rarity.

Once at the waterhole we were royally entertained.

Springbok trying to keep cool. It was particular hot this afternoon.

Adult and juvenile Bateleurs. ‘Bateleur’ is French for an acrobat, and the bird is so-named for its sideways rocking flight. like the rocking of the high-wire artist’s pole.

Black-faced impala

Juvenile baleteur

Zebra with a springbok

A scattering of giraffes

I thought I was taking the juvenile Bateleur cooling itself. But, as I take photos on burst setting, I found I had also taken a sequence of a bee-eater coming in, hoping to catch a fish. Sadly the sequence did not include the entry to the pool, but here it is emerging – with no fish.

? I’m tempted to suggest a juvenile African fish-eagle, but our records say we did not see one that day.

A lioness appeared some way off,

and joined another.

Springbok

During our return to Halali Camp for our second night there:

A slender mongoose

some striped mongooses,

and another black rhino! Most unexpected to see so many and so soon:

After an early dinner we returned to the morning’s waterhole, by now floodlit, in the vehicles this time even though it was only a short walk away.

As we arrived, a hippo was leaving, and there was the twittering of hundreds of sandgrouse (?) arriving and drinking their fill for quite a while until they left.

A mother hippo and youngster arrived.

Another (the first?) arrived. Mother was very protective, though the youngster seemed curious about the newcomer.

But sadly, having stayed an hour we had to leave before we could see the outcome of the confrontation.

Namibia/Botswana/Zambia 3

Tags

black rhino, black-backed jackal, blacksmith lapwing, elephant, Etosha National Park, Etosha Pan, glossy starling, Halali camp, Hyena, Impala, kudu, laughing dove, Lion, marabou stork, Namibia, red hartebeest, rhino, Rock kestrel, Scops owl, secretary bird, Spotted hyena, Springbok, Striped mongoose, whydah, zebra

Monday, morning, 25th February. Here is a map of Etosha National Park. “>http://a href=”https://www.etoshanationalpark.org”><img src=”https://www.etoshanationalpark.org/media/Etosha-Map2.jpg” alt=”Etosha National Park Map” title=”Etosha National Park Map”/></a>

It’s huge. Etosha Pan itself is 75 miles/120 kilometres long. This is a dried up lake, the salt from which affects the land to its south. We had entered the NP by Anderson Gate, in the middle of the Park, and Halali Camp is a little over a third of the way along the Pan to the northwest of the Gate. The map shows the many waterholes.

After a very early breakfast, we went out for a ‘game’ drive. It was not quite as light as my camera made out to begin with.

Black-backed jackal

Our first lion, a female with a nasty but healing wound. She seems to have the remains of a kill.

Springbok and Striped Mongooses

Secretary bird, the last we were to see

Our first elephant, much further off than it appears from this maximum zoom photo

The Pan in the middle ground

Rock kestrel?. No, a lesser kestrel according to BL.

And then we heard a lion was on its way. Our leaders positioned the vehicles near the pool it was thought to be heading for.

What a handsome beast!

He roared for his females. It was loud! Nothing like the gentle huffing in the following video taken from a new spot we had moved to

He stopped, examined us …

… and then moved off. We did not see his females.

We continued on our way, and I’m starting to recognise a blacksmith lapwing.

What’s that venturing its head out of a (dried up of course) culvert?…

… A spotted hyena

Another black rhino – or rather two!

When we got back to Halali Camp, it was still relatively early, and we had a couple of hours off. The Camp had no free wifi, but our vehicles did, and I spent some time in one of them (as it was being driven to get fuel and then parked somewhere in the camp) catching up with vital home political news. (For those interested in such things, I learned that THAT vote, due already for the nth time on 27th February, was being put off again for two weeks.)

Before lunch, the group walked five minutes to the waterhole a few had visited the previous evening. En route we saw in the camp grounds, among other things, …

a Cape glossy starling (we were to see many varieties of beautiful starling in the two weeks),

and an African Scops owl, trying to sleep, a bit fed up with the attention. To quote from my bird book, ‘ … its cryptic colouring makes detection difficult. This camouflage is further enhanced by its habit of depressing its fathers to appear long and thin, raising its ear tufts and half-closing its eyes, creating the illusion of a tree stump.’

Once at the waterhole, where we were comfortably seated, we saw plenty of life.

Kudu and Marabou stork

Red-billed teal

Kudu

Laughing dove and Long-tailed paradise whydahs (?)

I think this is the male of a species of Paradise whydah in transition to breeding plumage, but I’m not sure

Impalas practising. Elephant dung gets everywhere.

Marabou stork

Long-tailed Paradise-Whydahs, male and female

The pool was not empty for long

Red hartebeest

And this I how the pool was when we left for our lunch.

It had been quite a morning!

Tanzania 4

Tags

Cokes hartebeest, giraffe, Grantj's gazelle, hornbill, Hyena, Impala, lion cub, marabou stork, Ndutu, Shifting Sands, Tanzania, Thomson's gazelle, Von der Decken's hornbill, White stork, Wildebeest, zebra

The afternoon’s safari

Marabou storks

Thomson’s gazelle (with horizontal black stripe), Grant’s gazelle (without) and Impala (Tawny colour)

included observing how difficult it is for giraffes to drink,

How do giraffes drink? Inelegantly

Von der Decken’s hornbill

a herd of wildebeest and zebras migrating firstly alongside us and then crossing our path, many of the zebras stopping to drink, though not the wildebeest,

Cokes hartebeest

and an enchanting time again, as night fell, with some lions.  It took some while for us to realise just how many there were in the heap and in the bushes, but in the end we counted seven cubs and three lionesses.  A delightful moment was when one of the latter just went and lay down on top of the heap of cubs.

The next day, Monday 15th February, meant it was time to leave Ndutu and move on, or rather to retrace our path.  This involved a much sunnier drive across the plain than when we arrived, and some great wildlife moments: a spotted hyena washing its meat, dozens of white storks at a watering hole and wheeling in the sky (sorry, no decent picture of that), and baby Thomson’s gazelle and wildebeest.

White storks coming in to land

We also stopped at ‘Shifting Sands’, an isolated sand dune that moves under the effect of the wind, a most curious phenomenon.  Shortly afterwards we were out of the Park.

(Soon: Ngorogoro Crater)

Tanzania 1

Tags

Bat-eared fox, Blacksmith plover, Common jackal, Dik dik, Egyptian goose, Fischer's lovebird, flamingo, Francolin, Genet, Grant's gazelle, Hyena, Impala, Kori bustard, lesser flamingo, Lion, Lovebird, Ndutu, Ngorogoro, Ostrich, Serengeti Select Safaris, Spotted hyena, Superb starling, Tanzania, Tawny eagle, Thomson's gazelle, White stork, Wildebeest, zebra

This Saturday, 27th February, I returned from a fortnight-plus-travelling trip to see the wildlife of Tanzania.

Ostriches

Over the next two or three weeks  I shall be sharing just a very few of the photographs I took of the rich wildlife that the country is conserving in its national parks.

We landed at Kilimanjaro Airport late in the evening of Wednesday 10th February after a violent rainstorm.  February is the middle of the wet season in Tanzania, though it has slightly less rain than the months surrounding it. Our leader, IW, had been fortunate in previous visits at this time of year in not having experienced much rain.  We had a fair amount over the two weeks though it only affected us seriously during the last part of our visit.

We (IW plus eight of us) left our overnight hotel in rain, which continued for much of the five-hour journey across the Ngorogoro Conservation Area to Ndutu Safari Lodge. We had first sights of many animals, but weather conditions did not make for good photos. We were pleased to be able to settle in our accommodation, and that the weather had cleared considerably.

We enjoyed the view.

After lunch and a good rest, we went out for our first safari drive.

Egyptian goose

Blacksmith plover

Tawny eagle

It was the time of the great wildebeest migration, and we saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these animals during our stay.

Bat-eared fox

It was not long before we came across our first lions (thanks to the expert knowledge of the drivers of Serengeti Select Safaris who were with us for a week).

Apologies to those of a sensitive disposition. The male had two lionesses with him, mating with each turn by turn every ten minutes. The stand-off at the end of the encounter is because it hurts the female.

White storks

The knee-high Dik dik

This beautiful nocturnal creature is a not a feline but a genet, related to mongooses.  We should not see it, but for years three of them have been visiting the dining room of the Lodge each evening, no doubt because they know that the kitchen will see them alright if they do.

The following morning dawned grey and overcast, but we hoped that, as the previous day, it would clear up later. Our first viewing of the spotted hyena led us to consider that it was fluffier than it seems on TV, and not nearly as ugly as we had hitherto thought, even when carting off a baby Thomson’s gazelle to eat.

Almost immediately afterwards we saw a Grant’s gazelle in the minutes before and after giving birth.

She had cause to be worried about hyena and jackal, but her only concern about this wildebeest is whether it will tread on her calf.

Kori bustard

Common jackals

Lesser flamingos

One of the most common birds around, the Superb starling

Impala

Francolin/Spurfowl

Fischer’s lovebirds

Back to the Lodge for lunch.

(To be continued)