Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Tuesday, November 7, 2017 Old River Mdonya camp
Wake up call was at 6 am for an early departure at 6:30. Rebecca was at the dining table and there was coffee or tea and a biscuit before heading out. Our guide Hassan, driver Thomas, and a trainee Sonsten were waiting for us at the jeep.
Off we go for a full day of hunting for more wonderful creatures. It was a bit cool at the onset but by 9:00 we had our long sleeve shirts off and making shorts out of our pants. We saw giraffes, elephants, of course impalas, in the first few hours. Around 9:00, we arrived at our breakfast destination. It was at a hollowed-out baobab tree. The tree was amazing. The guys set up a table and chairs and laid out our food. Breakfast consisted of boiled eggs, crepes, toasts, jam, coffee and tea and hotdogs/sausages. Everything was cold as it had all been cooked earlier.
Two Bat-Eared Foxes- nocturnal so normally very difficult to see during the day.


Our Jeep

Our guides and driver setting up for breakfast.
Ron standing in the hole of the Baobab tree.

André taking a picture of the Baobab tree.

We set out again and saw many different animals such as the Greater Kudus, zebras, elephants, 2 leopards in two different locations. One was sleeping in a tree and the other was sleeping under a tree. There were 12 lions, mostly female, some with a recent kill of an elephant. They were very sleepy with full bellies and because of the heat. 
One female lion

Early morning Giraffe

A leopard in a tree

Female lion, checking out the prey.
 
We stopped for lunch in a designated area with a bathroom. (stand up toilet only) They served three kinds of salads for lunch. 
We continued on at around 1:30 to see lots of great wildlife. We saw a group of 35 elephants in a river bed. That was amazing. There are lots of babies this time of year. Near there we saw our first monitor lizard and we saw a group of Banded Mongoose. There had to be a little over a dozen of them. We also saw a few Bat-Eared foxes, a small antelope Duiker, more jackals, and a beautiful Ostrich, pink neck, pink legs, and a puffy tail.  
Family of elephants at a water hole

Ostrich running away.
Cape Buffalo

Leopard under a tree

A large herd of elephants

Adult and baby Baboon 

Two Bat-Eared Foxes

A Guinea Fowl

A Hornbill

An Ostrich running away

A Lilac-Breasted Roller

A Banded-Mongoose

A sleeping lioness

A Wart Hog

We returned to camp around 5:30 pm and were very ready for a shower. But before that, we were thirsty and hot, so each couple shared a beer. Even Wendy, a non-beer drinking enjoyed it. After spending the whole day in an open jeep, on dirt roads, we were in desperate need of washing up. 
A quick beer before supper.

Part of the outdoor bar

A Red-Headed Rock Agama lizard at camp.

Around 7:00, we were rounded up by the Masai who needs to accompany us when it’s dark. There could be wild animals lurking. We sat around a bonfire with other campers and had a drink. Wendy and I had red wine and the boys had beers. We were called to dinner at 8 pm. The menu was a vegetable and a beef lasagna, beetroot salad, which was delicious, and broccoli. Dessert was a banana cake. Back at our tents by 9:15 and in bed after uploading and looking at pictures for 50 minutes. 

No comments:

Post a Comment