As we had no means to prepare breakfast we had to take it in the resort restaurant, which did not open until 0700, so by safari standards a very late start. By the time we did get going the sun was up and our chances of seeing any cats had gone.
The north part of the park, where were we now, had more vegetation and denser bush. Good for the hungry animals but bad for us as we couldn’t see them. It’s amazing how something the size of an elephant or giraffe can wander into the trees and just disappear. We drove on for while, catching sight of the odd antelope, until we came to a river bridge. The river had long since dried up but the long grass growing in the bed provided a feast for the elephants. When we arrived a herd of 10-15 were already greedily shoving mouthfuls of grass into their hungry mouths with a small herd of zebra behind and as we watched we saw another, even larger, herd amble across the road behind us in single file. After a few moments they made their way through the trees and joined the others. It was a tremendous sight watching so many in one place. By the time we watched them a while it was getting to lunch time so we drove on a little further to a picnic spot.
The picnic spot was on the high bank of a small river and as we sat at a table a herd of bush buck were eating their way upstream. Once we’d finished the distraction of food we grabbed our binoculars and started looking around. There were a couple of small crocodiles in the river, a herd of elephants working their way through the trees on the opposite bank then in the distance we noticed a couple of giraffes munching on the trees. Just as we were about to leave the elephants emerged from the trees and made their way to the water’s edge to drink, swim and generally be very playful and have a good time. Good to see.
Afterwards we drove on some more on the dirt track loop along the river encountering elephants loafing past us at uncomfortably close quarters and were startled by a huge bull elephant who had wedged his tusks and trunk into a tree. We’re not sure what he was up to but he got pretty grumpy with us around so we left him to it.
During the heat of the afternoon we drove around but did not really see anything worthwhile then as the day grew late and we were heading back to the exit gate things really livened up. Screeching to a halt when Yvonne thought she’d seen a lion sitting atop some rocks we found instead a small antelope we’d not seen before. Then we passed a huge troop of baboons all wandering purposeful along the road and some other large antelope we think were Kudo going the same way. Consulting the map we saw there was a water hole a short way ahead so we off we went.
Just as we arrived and drove down the gravel road we met another huge bull elephant coming out of the tree line. He looked most displeased to find us between him and the water so we hastily turned the car around and got out of his way. Once in the water he seemed to calm down and we edged cautiously back until we were on the bank very close to him, probably 10m away. He dipped his trunk into the water then put it in his mouth and drank, eyes closed in delight. The noise was incredible, like a bucket of water being poured into a bath. We watched for some while then checked the time to see we had to dash for the park gate before it closed. As we raced along the road, ignoring the 50kmh speed limit, the sun began to set and three elegant giraffes loped across the road in front of us to snack on a tree. A great ending to our two days in the park.
We arrived at the gate with 10 mins to spare then made our way to the home of Magda and Robert, our South African AirBnB hosts for the night. They had only just listed the self contained apartment at the rear of their house and we were their first guests so they were excited by our arrival. Joining them in their lounge for a cuppa we had a long chat about the woes of the country and the corrupt officials who syphon money off for themselves and let the country decline. Sad really.
Although quite early we were tired from our early mornings and the lasting effects of jetlag so gratefully accepted the offer of dinner from Magda then retired to the large apartment. As a bonus the internet worked - erratically, but it did work - at least enough to confirm we had somewhere to stay tomorrow. Tired and fed we retired to bed to recount all the animals we’d seen over the last two days.
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| Somehow it's safe to get out the car on a bridge |
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| Nice spot for lunch |
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| The thirsty boy |
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| Sunset giraffe |
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